md-to-pptx

name	md-to-pptx
description	Build executive-ready PowerPoint decks (.pptx) programmatically with a consistent visual language — navy header, red accent, banded footer — for research findings, status reviews, and stakeholder briefings
lastReviewed	2026-07-23T00:00:00.000Z

Md To Pptx

Composable Python primitives for building on-brand executive decks from Python — no template shopping, no manual box-nudging in PowerPoint.

Purpose-built for turning a manuscript, plan/PROJECT_STATUS.md, or a set of findings into a 10-slide executive-review deck in one command. Ships as a small set of reusable helpers (deck_helpers.py) plus a worked example (early_findings.py) that produced Early-Findings.pptx at the repo root.

When to use this

Situation	Reach for this?
5–15 slide executive review of a research pipeline or project	Yes
Status brief to a stakeholder who won't read the paper	Yes
Findings summary alongside a Quarto manuscript	Yes
Slides where you need version control (git diff on the source)	Yes — Python source is diffable, .pptx is not
40+ slide training deck with lots of authored transitions	No — use PowerPoint directly
Real-time collaborative editing	No — this is a one-way build tool
One-off ad-hoc slide someone will edit heavily	No — build in PowerPoint

What you get

• Consistent visual language — navy #0B2A50 header band + red #C0392B accent + muted grey body + light-grey card fill. Matches the project's manuscript typography.
• 16:9 widescreen (13.333 × 7.5 in) by default.
• Diffable source — every deck lives as a Python file in git. Rebuilding is one command.
• No template dependency — starts from a blank Presentation(), so no reference .pptx to maintain.

Quick start

1. Install python-pptx

pip install -r .github\skills\local\md-to-pptx\scripts\requirements.txt

2. Rebuild the reference deck

python .github\skills\local\md-to-pptx\examples\early_findings.py

Produces Early-Findings.pptx at the repo root (~50 KB, 10 slides).

3. Build your own

The recommended pattern is to separate content from layout: keep slide copy in a markdown spec file, and use Python only for rendering. See examples/early_findings.content.md for a worked example — it declares each slide's title, bullets, and tables in plain markdown, and examples/early_findings.py mirrors that content into deck_helpers calls.

The two files are kept in sync by hand. There is deliberately no automated markdown-to-pptx parser — layout decisions (which slide is a 4-card summary vs. a 2-column status vs. a hero number) are best made in Python where you can see the shape math. The content file is authoritative for wording, sourcing, and the audit trail from paper → deck.

Copy examples/early_findings.py and edit. All the primitives live in scripts/deck_helpers.py:

from pptx.util import Inches
from deck_helpers import (
    new_presentation, add_header, add_footer, add_bullets, add_text,
    add_rect, NAVY, ACCENT, INK, BG_BAND, WHITE, GOOD, MUTED,
)

prs = new_presentation()
BLANK = prs.slide_layouts[6]

s = prs.slides.add_slide(BLANK)
add_header(s, "Findings", "Two dimensions explain most variance",
           slide_width=prs.slide_width)
add_bullets(s, Inches(0.6), Inches(1.8), Inches(12), Inches(4),
            ["First point", "Second point"], size=16)
add_footer(s, 1, 1, subtitle="Project · Section",
           slide_width=prs.slide_width, slide_height=prs.slide_height)

prs.save("my-deck.pptx")

Primitives

Function	Purpose
new_presentation(w=13.333, h=7.5)	16:9 blank Presentation
add_rect(slide, x, y, w, h, fill, line=None)	Filled rectangle
add_text(slide, x, y, w, h, text, size, bold, color, align, font)	Single-run text box
add_bullets(slide, x, y, w, h, items, size, color, bullet, space_after_pt)	Bulleted list
add_header(slide, kicker, title, slide_width)	Navy top band + kicker + title + accent rule
add_footer(slide, page_no, total, subtitle, slide_width, slide_height)	Grey band with page counter

Palette constants exported: NAVY, INK, MUTED, ACCENT, GOOD, BG_BAND, WHITE.

Slide patterns (from early_findings.py)

Pattern	Where in example
Title slide with stat cards	Slide 1
Bulleted narrative	Slide 2
Two-column status (answered vs open)	Slide 3
Three-column feature grid	Slide 4
Hero number + supporting cards	Slide 5
Numbered findings with badges	Slide 6
Left-accent-bar callout stack	Slide 7
Side-by-side priority lists	Slide 8
Bullets + reproducibility spec card	Slide 9
Ask + zebra-striped roadmap table	Slide 10

Each pattern is 10–40 lines of Python. Copy-paste the pattern you need, adjust content, and go.

Customising the palette

Override the palette constants before you call the helpers:

import deck_helpers
from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor

deck_helpers.NAVY = RGBColor(0x00, 0x2B, 0x5C)   # Microsoft blue
deck_helpers.ACCENT = RGBColor(0xE8, 0x1B, 0x23) # brighter red

# now all add_header / add_footer / add_rect calls use the new palette

Rendering & distribution

.pptx files open in:

• PowerPoint (desktop + web)
• Google Slides (upload → view/edit)
• LibreOffice Impress
• Keynote (import)

To convert to PDF:

# Windows — via PowerPoint COM
Start-Process powerpnt -ArgumentList '/quiet','/pt','deck.pdf','deck.pptx'

# Or open in PowerPoint and File → Export → PDF

To render slides as PNG for embedding in markdown:

# Cross-platform via LibreOffice
libreoffice --headless --convert-to png deck.pptx

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
TypeError: add_text() got an unexpected keyword argument 'italic'	You passed italic=True — the primitives don't support it yet	Use a separate add_text(..., bold=True) and set .runs[0].font.italic after
Header title overflows the slide	Title too long for 12" width	Break to two lines, or reduce size from 28 to 24
Rectangles have unwanted borders	add_rect called without line=None	Always pass line=None (default) unless you want a border
Bullets don't render as bullets in Google Slides	Different bullet-glyph handling	Passing bullet="•" (default) works everywhere
Wrong font on Mac	Calibri not installed	Change default via font="Helvetica Neue" in add_text calls

Related skills

Skill	Relationship
md-to-word	Same visual identity, .docx target — use for prose-heavy reports
md-to-html	Web-viewable HTML with same styling
status-reporting	The prose skill; this skill is the delivery vehicle

Falsifiability

• This skill is wrong if the produced .pptx fails to open in PowerPoint desktop / web or Google Slides.
• The primitives are wrong if the same code produces visibly different layouts on Windows vs macOS at the same python-pptx version.
• Not earning its keep if every new deck requires hand-editing in PowerPoint after generation — that means the primitives don't cover the patterns actually needed. Extend deck_helpers.py rather than editing in PowerPoint.