Editing
`) - Duplicate slides you want to reuse (`add_slide.py`) - Reorder slides in `
` - **Complete all structural changes before step 5** 5. **Edit content**: Update text in each `slide{N}.xml`. **Use subagents here if available** — slides are separate XML files, so subagents can edit in parallel. 6. **Clean**: `python scripts/clean.py unpacked/` 7. **Pack**: `python scripts/office/pack.py unpacked/ output.pptx --original template.pptx` --- ## Scripts | Script | Purpose | |--------|---------| | `unpack.py` | Extract and pretty-print PPTX | | `add_slide.py` | Duplicate slide or create from layout | | `clean.py` | Remove orphaned files | | `pack.py` | Repack with validation | | `thumbnail.py` | Create visual grid of slides | ### unpack.py ```bash python scripts/office/unpack.py input.pptx unpacked/ ``` Extracts PPTX, pretty-prints XML, escapes smart quotes. ### add_slide.py ```bash python scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slide2.xml # Duplicate slide python scripts/add_slide.py unpacked/ slideLayout2.xml # From layout ``` Prints `
` to add to `
` at desired position. ### clean.py ```bash python scripts/clean.py unpacked/ ``` Removes slides not in `
`, unreferenced media, orphaned rels. ### pack.py ```bash python scripts/office/pack.py unpacked/ output.pptx --original input.pptx ``` Validates, repairs, condenses XML, re-encodes smart quotes. ### thumbnail.py ```bash python scripts/thumbnail.py input.pptx [output_prefix] [--cols N] ``` Creates `thumbnails.jpg` with slide filenames as labels. Default 3 columns, max 12 per grid. **Use for template analysis only** (choosing layouts). For visual QA, use `soffice` + `pdftoppm` to create full-resolution individual slide images—see SKILL.md. --- ## Slide Operations Slide order is in `ppt/presentation.xml` → `
`. **Reorder**: Rearrange `
` elements. **Delete**: Remove `
`, then run `clean.py`. **Add**: Use `add_slide.py`. Never manually copy slide files—the script handles notes references, Content_Types.xml, and relationship IDs that manual copying misses. --- ## Editing Content **Subagents:** If available, use them here (after completing step 4). Each slide is a separate XML file, so subagents can edit in parallel. In your prompt to subagents, include: - The slide file path(s) to edit - **"Use the Edit tool for all changes"** - The formatting rules and common pitfalls below For each slide: 1. Read the slide's XML 2. Identify ALL placeholder content—text, images, charts, icons, captions 3. Replace each placeholder with final content **Use the Edit tool, not sed or Python scripts.** The Edit tool forces specificity about what to replace and where, yielding better reliability. ### Formatting Rules - **Bold all headers, subheadings, and inline labels**: Use `b="1"` on ``. This includes: - Slide titles - Section headers within a slide - Inline labels like (e.g.: "Status:", "Description:") at the start of a line - **Never use unicode bullets (•)**: Use proper list formatting with `` or `` - **Bullet consistency**: Let bullets inherit from the layout. Only specify `` or ``. --- ## Common Pitfalls ### Template Adaptation When source content has fewer items than the template: - **Remove excess elements entirely** (images, shapes, text boxes), don't just clear text - Check for orphaned visuals after clearing text content - Run visual QA to catch mismatched counts When replacing text with different length content: - **Shorter replacements**: Usually safe - **Longer replacements**: May overflow or wrap unexpectedly - Test with visual QA after text changes - Consider truncating or splitting content to fit the template's design constraints **Template slots ≠ Source items**: If template has 4 team members but source has 3 users, delete the 4th member's entire group (image + text boxes), not just the text. ### Multi-Item Content If source has multiple items (numbered lists, multiple sections), create separate `` elements for each — **never concatenate into one string**. **❌ WRONG** — all items in one paragraph: ```xml Step 1: Do the first thing. Step 2: Do the second thing. ``` **✅ CORRECT** — separate paragraphs with bold headers: ```xml Step 1 Do the first thing. Step 2 ``` Copy `` from the original paragraph to preserve line spacing. Use `b="1"` on headers. ### Smart Quotes Handled automatically by unpack/pack. But the Edit tool converts smart quotes to ASCII. **When adding new text with quotes, use XML entities:** ```xml the “Agreement” ``` | Character | Name | Unicode | XML Entity | |-----------|------|---------|------------| | `“` | Left double quote | U+201C | `“` | | `”` | Right double quote | U+201D | `”` | | `‘` | Left single quote | U+2018 | `‘` | | `’` | Right single quote | U+2019 | `’` | ### Other - **Whitespace**: Use `xml:space="preserve"` on `` with leading/trailing spaces - **XML parsing**: Use `defusedxml.minidom`, not `xml.etree.ElementTree` (corrupts namespaces)