pptx-to-pdf

name	pptx-to-pdf
description	Convert PowerPoint decks to PDF with full visual fidelity (fonts, images, charts, theme, layout) by driving the real PowerPoint or LibreOffice engine. Use whenever the user asks to convert .pptx/.ppt to PDF, export slides or a deck as PDF, or 'turn this presentation into a PDF'. Triggers on /pptx-to-pdf, 'pptx to pdf', 'convert PowerPoint to PDF', 'export slides as PDF', 'save deck as PDF'.

PPTX → PDF

Faithful PowerPoint → PDF conversion. Backed by scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py, which renders the deck through a real engine (not text extraction), so the PDF matches the slides exactly — fonts, images, charts, SmartArt, theme, positioning.

When to use

• User wants a .pptx/.ppt turned into a .pdf (single file or batch).
• User wants to share/print/archive a deck as a fixed-layout PDF.

Do not use the wiki-extract-pptx.py script for this — that pulls text out of a deck for ingestion; it does not render slides.

Run it

# One deck -> <deck>.pdf beside the source
uv run ~/.claude/scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py "<abs path to deck.pptx>"

# Explicit output (single input only)
uv run ~/.claude/scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py "<deck.pptx>" --output "<out.pdf>"

# Batch into a folder
uv run ~/.claude/scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py a.pptx b.pptx --outdir "<dir>"

# Structured result (paths, page counts, sizes)
uv run ~/.claude/scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py "<deck.pptx>" --json

The script prints the absolute path of each produced PDF (one per line). Exit codes: 0 ok · 1 runtime/conversion error · 2 usage error. After converting, confirm the PDF exists and report its path back to the user.

Engines (auto-detected)

• --engine auto (default): PowerPoint if installed → else LibreOffice. PowerPoint is preferred because it honors PowerPoint's "shrink text on overflow" autofit; LibreOffice ignores autofit and can clip overflowing text boxes on export (verified 2026-06-04 — LibreOffice dropped the bottom of an autofit slide that PowerPoint rendered in full).
• This machine has both PowerPoint (Office16) and LibreOffice installed, so auto uses PowerPoint for full fidelity.
• --engine libreoffice — force the free, fully-headless path (no PowerPoint session). Fine for decks that don't rely on autofit; risks clipping on dense slides.
• --engine powerpoint — force perfect fidelity.
• No engine found → exit 1 with install hints.

Notes & limits

• PowerPoint path uses COM in the user's session; it only closes the deck it opened (never the user's other open decks) and leaves no orphaned process.
• A rendering engine must be present on the host (PowerPoint or LibreOffice).
• First run resolves wheels via uv (~10–30s) and generates the PowerPoint type-library wrapper once; cached afterward.
• Self-check anytime: uv run ~/.claude/scripts/convert-pptx-to-pdf.py --self-test (builds a 2-slide deck, converts, asserts a 2-page PDF, exits 0/1).

User-facing entry point

Slash command: /pptx-to-pdf <path-to-deck.pptx> (see commands/pptx-to-pdf.md) — same capability, user-invocable.