PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Reading Content

# Text extraction
python -m markitdown presentation.pptx

# Visual overview
python scripts/thumbnail.py presentation.pptx

# Raw XML
python scripts/office/unpack.py presentation.pptx unpacked/

Editing Workflow

Read editing.md for full details.

1. •Analyze template with thumbnail.py
2. •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 System (MANDATORY)

You MUST follow this specific design system for all presentation generation and editing tasks. This overrides any generic design advice.

Presentation Metadata

• •Theme Concept: "Digital Empowerment & Minimalist Trust" (俐落知性 / Cathay CUBE APP留白美學 / 數位賦能)
• •Style: Professional, cool (專業冷靜), with warm accents (暖色系點綴) and minimalist aesthetics (留白美學).
• •Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• •Language: Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

Color Palette (60-30-10 Rule)

Gradients:

1. •#B2D9FC to #186AFF to #0843AD (Top-Left to Bottom-Right)
2. •#CDF2F6 to #82DFE8 to #36CBDA

Typography

• •English Font: Arial
• •Chinese Font: Microsoft JhengHei (微軟正黑體)
• •Hierarchy:
  • •Slide Title: 30pt, Bold, #0843AD (Cathay Dark Blue)
  • •Section Header: 28pt, Bold, #262626
  • •Subtitle: 22pt, Regular, #186AFF (Tech Blue)
  • •Body Text: 14pt, Regular, #262626 (Line Height: 1.5)
  • •Annotation: 12pt, #A5A5A5

Layout Rules

• •Whitespace: High (Minimum 30% of slide area MUST be empty).
• •Grid System: 12-column modular grid for charts and content blocks.
• •Visual Style:
  • •Use rounded corners for images and content blocks (simulating App UI).
  • •Avoid heavy borders; use whitespace or light gray fills (#F2F2F2) to separate sections.
  • •Icons should be outlined (stroke style) in Dark Blue or Gray.

Instructions for Generation

1. •Tone: Maintain a professional, corporate yet innovative tone.
2. •Charts: Ensure all charts are clear, flat design, informative and use the specified palette.

• •Bar Charts: Use Tech Blue (#186AFF) for current data, Light Blue (#B2D9FC) for historical.
• •KPI Highlights: Large font size (40pt+) in Dark Blue, accented with Orange line or dot.

1. •Imagery: Images should be high-quality, representing "Connectivity", "Scale", and "future".

• •Abstract tech imagery (fiber optics, building abstract) or Gradient Blue backgrounds are preferred.

1. •Forbidden: Do not use Serif fonts. Do not use generic, low-effort layouts.

QA (Required)

Assume there are problems. Your job is to find them.

Your first render is almost never correct. Approach QA as a bug hunt, not a confirmation step. If you found zero issues on first inspection, you weren't looking hard enough.

Content QA

python -m markitdown output.pptx

Check for missing content, typos, wrong order.

When using templates, check for leftover placeholder text:

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

If grep returns results, fix them before declaring success.

Visual QA

⚠️ USE SUBAGENTS — even for 2-3 slides. You've been staring at the code and will see what you expect, not what's there. Subagents have fresh eyes.

Convert slides to images (see Converting to Images), then use this prompt:

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

Look for:
- Overlapping elements (text through shapes, lines through words, stacked elements)
- Text overflow or cut off at edges/box boundaries
- Decorative lines positioned for single-line text but title wrapped to two lines
- Source citations or footers colliding with content above
- Elements too close (< 0.3" gaps) or cards/sections nearly touching
- Uneven gaps (large empty area in one place, cramped in another)
- Insufficient margin from slide edges (< 0.5")
- Columns or similar elements not aligned consistently
- Low-contrast text (e.g., light gray text on cream-colored background)
- Low-contrast icons (e.g., dark icons on dark backgrounds without a contrasting circle)
- Text boxes too narrow causing excessive wrapping
- Leftover placeholder content

For each slide, list issues or areas of concern, even if minor.

Read and analyze these images:
1. /path/to/slide-01.jpg (Expected: [brief description])
2. /path/to/slide-02.jpg (Expected: [brief description])

Report ALL issues found, including minor ones.

Verification Loop

1. •Generate slides → Convert to images → Inspect
2. •List issues found (if none found, look again more critically)
3. •Fix issues
4. •Re-verify affected slides — one fix often creates another problem
5. •Repeat until a full pass reveals no new issues

Do not declare success until you've completed at least one fix-and-verify cycle.

Converting to Images

Convert presentations to individual slide images for visual inspection:

python scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide

This creates slide-01.jpg, slide-02.jpg, etc.

To re-render specific slides after fixes:

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 for sandboxed environments via scripts/office/soffice.py)
• •Poppler (pdftoppm) - PDF to images