Presentations to Images¶

Convert PowerPoint and Keynote presentations to high-quality images.

Basic Conversion¶

Convert slides to images with automatic cropping:

from figwizz import slides_to_images

slides_to_images(
    input_path='presentation.pptx',
    output_path='figures/',
    crop_images=True
)

This works with: - PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pptx) - Keynote files (.key) on macOS

Custom Filenames¶

Specify a naming pattern:

slides_to_images(
    input_path='talk.key',
    output_path='slides/',
    filename_format='slide{:02d}.png'  # slide01.png, slide02.png, ...
)

Cropping Options¶

Control whitespace cropping and margins:

slides_to_images(
    input_path='presentation.pptx',
    output_path='figures/',
    crop_images=True,
    margin_size='0.5cm',  # Add 0.5cm margin after cropping
    dpi=300  # High quality output
)

Without Cropping¶

Skip the automatic cropping:

slides_to_images(
    input_path='deck.pptx',
    output_path='raw_slides/',
    crop_images=False
)

Manual Cropping¶

Crop whitespace from existing images:

from figwizz.stitchkit import crop_whitespace

# Single image
crop_whitespace(
    image_path='slide.png',
    output_path='cropped_slide.png',
    margin_size='1cm',
    dpi=300
)

# Directory of images
crop_whitespace(
    image_path='slides/',  # Directory
    margin_size='0.5cm'
)

Converting to PDF¶

Convert slides to individual PDFs:

from figwizz.stitchkit import convert_to_pdf

# Single image to PDF
convert_to_pdf('slide1.png', dpi=300)

# Directory of images to PDFs
convert_to_pdf('figures/', dpi=300)

Platform Support¶

macOS¶

Uses AppleScript (built-in):

# PowerPoint
slides_to_images('presentation.pptx', 'output/')

# Keynote
slides_to_images('presentation.key', 'output/')

Requirements: - Microsoft PowerPoint (for .ppt/.pptx) - Keynote (for .key)

Windows¶

Uses COM interface:

pip install pywin32

slides_to_images('presentation.pptx', 'output/')

Requirements: - Microsoft PowerPoint installed

Linux¶

Uses LibreOffice command-line:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install libreoffice

# Fedora
sudo dnf install libreoffice

slides_to_images('presentation.pptx', 'output/')

Complete Workflow¶

Full workflow from presentation to publication-ready figures:

from figwizz import slides_to_images
from figwizz.stitchkit import convert_to_pdf

# 1. Convert slides to images
slides_to_images(
    input_path='conference_talk.pptx',
    output_path='figures/',
    filename_format='figure{:01d}.png',
    crop_images=True,
    margin_size='1cm',
    dpi=300
)

# 2. Convert to PDF for publication
convert_to_pdf('figures/', dpi=300)

print("Figures ready for publication!")

Batch Processing¶

Process multiple presentations:

from pathlib import Path
from figwizz import slides_to_images

presentations = Path('presentations')

for pptx in presentations.glob('*.pptx'):
    output_dir = Path('figures') / pptx.stem
    slides_to_images(
        str(pptx),
        str(output_dir),
        crop_images=True,
        margin_size='1cm'
    )

Advanced: ImageMagick Conversion¶

For even more control, use ImageMagick:

from figwizz.stitchkit import mogrify_images_to_pdf

# Requires ImageMagick installed
mogrify_images_to_pdf('figures/', pdf_only=True)

Troubleshooting¶

macOS Permission Issues¶

If AppleScript fails: 1. Open System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy 2. Grant Terminal/IDE access to "System Events" 3. Grant access to PowerPoint/Keynote

Windows COM Errors¶

If conversion fails: 1. Ensure PowerPoint is installed 2. Run Python as administrator 3. Check pywin32 is installed: pip install pywin32

Linux LibreOffice Not Found¶

If soffice command not found:

which soffice  # Check if installed
sudo apt-get install libreoffice  # Install if needed