pptx-render

name	pptx-render
description	Use when the user asks to "render pptx", "show pptx slide", "compare with pptx", "pptx to image", "export pptx slide", "original slide", "show me the original", "what does the pptx look like", or needs to extract a specific PPTX slide's content for visual comparison.
user-invocable	false

Announce: "I'm using pptx-render to extract PPTX slide content."

PPTX Slide Inspector

Extracts content from PPTX slides using python-pptx. Primary use case: understanding what a PPTX slide contains (shapes, text, positions, images) for comparison against Typst slides, especially diagrams and visual items (VIS-* in content inventories).

Prerequisites

Tool	Source
python-pptx	pixi project dependency

Step 1: Identify the PPTX File and Slide Number

If the user references a content inventory item (e.g., VIS-3, DQ-7), look up its PPTX slide number:

grep "VIS-3\|the-item-id" inventory/content-inventory-XX.md

Step 2: Extract Slide Shapes

from pptx import Presentation
import json

prs = Presentation('path/to/slides.pptx')
slide = prs.slides[SLIDE_NUM - 1]  # 0-indexed

for shape in slide.shapes:
    info = {
        'name': shape.name,
        'left_in': round(shape.left / 914400, 2),
        'top_in': round(shape.top / 914400, 2),
        'width_in': round(shape.width / 914400, 2),
        'height_in': round(shape.height / 914400, 2),
    }
    if shape.has_text_frame:
        info['text'] = shape.text_frame.text
    if shape.shape_type == 13:  # MSO_SHAPE_TYPE.PICTURE
        info['is_image'] = True
    if shape.has_table:
        info['is_table'] = True
        info['rows'] = len(shape.table.rows)
        info['cols'] = len(shape.table.columns)
    print(json.dumps(info))

Step 3: Extract Images (if needed)

To save embedded images from a slide:

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.enum.shapes import MSO_SHAPE_TYPE

prs = Presentation('path/to/slides.pptx')
slide = prs.slides[SLIDE_NUM - 1]

for i, shape in enumerate(slide.shapes):
    if shape.shape_type == MSO_SHAPE_TYPE.PICTURE:
        image = shape.image
        ext = image.content_type.split('/')[-1]
        with open(f'/tmp/pptx-slide-{SLIDE_NUM}-img-{i}.{ext}', 'wb') as f:
            f.write(image.blob)
        print(f'Saved image {i}: {image.content_type} ({shape.width/914400:.1f}x{shape.height/914400:.1f} in)')

Step 4: Interpret the Layout

Shape positions use inches from top-left corner:

• left_in / top_in: position of shape's top-left corner
• Standard slide is 10" × 7.5" (widescreen) or 10" × 5.63" (16:9)
• Shapes with is_image: true and generic names ("Picture 5") are usually clipart
• Group shapes may contain sub-shapes (connectors, arrows) — inspect .shapes on groups

Classifying Slide Content

Shape Pattern	Likely Content
Multiple text boxes + arrows/lines at specific positions	Substantive diagram — reproduce in Typst
Single large Picture shape filling the slide	Clipart/stock photo — skip or replace
Table shape	Data table — reproduce as Typst #table
Text boxes only, no connectors	Text slide — no diagram needed
Group shapes with AutoShapes inside	Flow diagram — extract sub-shapes

Quick Reference

# One-liner to dump all shapes from slide N
uv run python3 -c "
from pptx import Presentation; import json
prs = Presentation('PPTX_PATH')
for s in prs.slides[N-1].shapes:
    d = {'name': s.name, 'text': s.text_frame.text if s.has_text_frame else None,
         'pos': f'{s.left/914400:.1f},{s.top/914400:.1f}',
         'size': f'{s.width/914400:.1f}x{s.height/914400:.1f}'}
    print(json.dumps(d))
"

Rendering slides to PDF/PNG

For actual rasterization (not content extraction), use the shared x2t wrapper — ONLYOFFICE x2t is stateless and parallel-safe, unlike soffice:

# pptx -> PDF (all slides, then split with pdftoppm if per-slide PNGs needed)
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/doc_render.py deck.pptx deck.pdf
# pptx -> PNG (first slide only)
python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/doc_render.py deck.pptx slide1.png

Do NOT call soffice --headless directly — it silently fails on macOS (returns 0, no output) due to profile lock issues. The wrapper prefers x2t and only falls back to soffice where x2t is absent.