Editing Workflow

Read editing.md for full details.

Analyze template with thumbnail.py
Unpack → manipulate slides → edit content → clean → pack

Creating from Scratch

Read pptxgenjs.md for full details. Use when no template or reference presentation is available.

Design Principles

Before Starting

Pick a bold, content-informed color palette: if swapping your colors into a different presentation would still "work," your choices aren't specific enough
Dominance over equality: one color dominates (60–70%), 1–2 supporting tones, one sharp accent
Dark/light contrast: dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, light for content ("sandwich" structure)
Commit to a visual motif: pick one distinctive element and repeat it (rounded image frames, icons in colored circles, thick single-side borders)

Color Palettes

Theme	Primary	Secondary	Accent
Midnight Executive	`1E2761` (navy)	`CADCFC` (ice blue)	`FFFFFF`
Forest & Moss	`2C5F2D` (forest)	`97BC62` (moss)	`F5F5F5`
Coral Energy	`F96167` (coral)	`F9E795` (gold)	`2F3C7E`
Warm Terracotta	`B85042` (terracotta)	`E7E8D1` (sand)	`A7BEAE`
Ocean Gradient	`065A82` (deep blue)	`1C7293` (teal)	`21295C`
Charcoal Minimal	`36454F` (charcoal)	`F2F2F2` (off-white)	`212121`
Teal Trust	`028090` (teal)	`00A896` (seafoam)	`02C39A`
Berry & Cream	`6D2E46` (berry)	`A26769` (dusty rose)	`ECE2D0`
Sage Calm	`84B59F` (sage)	`69A297` (eucalyptus)	`50808E`
Cherry Bold	`990011` (cherry)	`FCF6F5` (off-white)	`2F3C7E`

Per-Slide Guidelines

Every slide needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape.

Layout options:

Two-column (text left, illustration right)
Icon + text rows (icon in colored circle, bold header, description below)
2×2 or 2×3 grid with content blocks
Half-bleed image with content overlay

Data display:

Large stat callouts (60–72pt numbers with small labels)
Comparison columns (before/after, pros/cons)
Timeline or process flow (numbered steps, arrows)

Typography

Choose a header font with personality paired with a clean body font:

Header	Body
Georgia	Calibri
Arial Black	Arial
Cambria	Calibri
Trebuchet MS	Calibri
Palatino	Garamond

Element	Size
Slide title	36–44pt bold
Section header	20–24pt bold
Body text	14–16pt
Captions	10–12pt muted

Spacing

0.5" minimum margins
0.3–0.5" between content blocks
Leave breathing room

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Repeating the same layout across slides — vary columns, cards, and callouts
Centering body text — left-align paragraphs and lists; center only titles
Insufficient size contrast — titles need 36pt+ to stand out from 14–16pt body
Defaulting to blue — pick colors reflecting the specific topic
Inconsistent spacing — choose 0.3" or 0.5" gaps and use consistently
Styling one slide but leaving the rest plain — commit fully or keep it simple throughout
Text-only slides — add images, icons, charts, or visual elements
Missing text box padding — when aligning lines/shapes with text edges, set margin: 0 or offset to account for padding
Low-contrast elements — icons and text both need strong contrast against background
Accent lines under titles — these read as AI-generated; use whitespace or background color instead

QA (Required)

Approach QA as a bug hunt. Your first render is almost never correct.

Content QA

python -m markitdown output.pptx
python -m markitdown output.pptx | grep -iE "xxxx|lorem|ipsum|this.*(page|slide).*layout"

Fix any leftover placeholder text before declaring success.

Visual QA

Use subagents for visual inspection — even for 2–3 slides. Fresh eyes catch what you miss after staring at code.

Convert slides to images (see below), then have the subagent inspect with this prompt:

Visually inspect these slides. Assume there are issues — find them.

Look for:
- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, stacked elements)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or uneven spacing
- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
- Low-contrast text or icons
- Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping
- Leftover placeholder content

For each slide, list issues found.

Verification Loop

Generate slides → convert to images → inspect
List issues found
Fix issues
Re-verify affected slides — one fix often creates another problem
Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues

Complete at least one fix-and-verify cycle before declaring success.

Converting to Images

python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide
# Creates slide-01.jpg, slide-02.jpg, etc.

# Re-render specific slide after fix:
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 -f N -l N output.pdf slide-fixed

Dependencies

pip install "markitdown[pptx]" — text extraction
pip install Pillow — thumbnail grids
npm install -g pptxgenjs — creating from scratch
LibreOffice (soffice) — PDF conversion (auto-configured via scripts/office/soffice.py)
Poppler (pdftoppm) — PDF to images

Task	Guide
Read/analyze content	`python -m markitdown presentation.pptx`
Edit or create from template	Read editing.md
Create from scratch	Read pptxgenjs.md

pptx_original

PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Reading Content