PowerPoint Presentations

Quick Reference

Design Ideas

Don't create boring slides. Plain bullets on a white background won't impress anyone.

Before Starting

• •Pick a bold, content-informed color palette: The palette should feel designed for THIS topic.
• •Dominance over equality: One color dominates (60-70% visual weight), with 1-2 supporting tones and one sharp accent. Never give all colors equal weight.
• •Dark/light contrast: Dark backgrounds for title + conclusion slides, lighter tints for content slides. Or commit to dark throughout for a premium feel.
• •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

Choose colors that match your topic — don't default to generic blue.

For Each Slide

Every slide needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides are forgettable.

Layout options: two-column, icon + text rows, 2x2 grid, half-bleed image with overlay, large stat callouts (48-120pt), timeline/process flow.

Typography

Font pairings: Georgia + Calibri (classic), Arial Black + Arial (modern), Calibri Bold + Calibri Light (corporate). Left-align body text; center only titles and stats.

Spacing

• •0.5″+ margins from edges. 0.3-0.5″ between elements. 0.5″+ below titles.

Avoid (Common Mistakes)

• •Plain bullets on white background
• •Default PowerPoint blue (#4472C4)
• •Accent lines directly under titles
• •Text-only slides without visual elements
• •More than 4 bullet points per slide
• •Repeating the same layout on every slide

See design-guide.md for visual element code patterns (accent bars, icon circles, side stripes) and detailed anti-pattern explanations.

Workflow

1. •Create: Call get_slide_code_examples first (use "design_reference" for palettes and font pairings) → then create_presentation with slides parameter.
2. •Edit: Read editing-guide.md for detailed editing workflows. Then: analyze_presentation → identify element IDs → update_slide_content.
3. •Verify: Call preview_presentation_slides after any modification. Assume there are problems — inspect carefully.

Rules

• •Batch all edits in ONE update_slide_content call. Parallel calls cause data loss.
• •output_name must differ from presentation_name.
• •All slide indices are 0-based EXCEPT preview_presentation_slides which uses 1-based slide_numbers.
• •Filenames: letters, numbers, hyphens only.

Tool Reference

get_slide_code_examples

Get python-pptx code examples as reference for creating slides.

create_presentation

Create a new presentation with custom-designed slides (16:9 widescreen).

Example tool_input:

{
  "presentation_name": "my-deck",
  "slides": [
    {"custom_code": "from pptx.util import Inches, Pt\nfrom pptx.dml.color import RGBColor\nfrom pptx.enum.text import PP_ALIGN\ntitle = slide.shapes.add_textbox(Inches(1), Inches(1), Inches(8), Inches(1.5))\ntf = title.text_frame\np = tf.paragraphs[0]\np.text = 'Welcome'\np.font.size = Pt(44)\np.font.bold = True\np.font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF)\nslide.background.fill.solid()\nslide.background.fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(0x1E, 0x27, 0x61)"}
  ]
}

IMPORTANT: The slides parameter takes a list of {"custom_code": "..."} dicts. Available in custom_code: prs, slide, slide_width, slide_height, Inches, Pt, RGBColor, PP_ALIGN, MSO_SHAPE.

analyze_presentation

Analyze structure with element IDs and positions for editing.

update_slide_content

Update one or more slides with operations in a single call.

add_slide

Add a new slide at a specific position.

delete_slides

Delete slides by indices.

move_slide

Move a slide from one position to another.

duplicate_slide

Duplicate a slide to a specified position.

update_slide_notes

Update speaker notes for a specific slide.

list_my_powerpoint_presentations

List all presentations in workspace. No parameters needed.

get_presentation_layouts

Get available slide layouts from a presentation.

preview_presentation_slides

Get slide screenshots for visual inspection.