pptx

A pure-Rust library for reading and writing PowerPoint (.pptx) files. Open existing presentations, inspect every element, modify them, and save — or build new ones from scratch. Only 4 dependencies, no unsafe code.

Why pptx?

• Read and write — Not just generation. Open an existing .pptx, parse its shapes, text, tables, and charts, modify them, and round-trip back to a valid file. Most Rust PPTX crates are write-only.
• Feature-rich — Animations, 3D effects, SmartArt parsing, freeform shapes, group shapes — things other Rust PPTX crates don't cover.
• Lightweight — 4 runtime dependencies (zip, quick-xml, thiserror, sha1). No regex, no HTTP client, no syntax highlighter bundled in.
• Safe — #![forbid(unsafe_code)] at the crate root. All key types are Send + Sync.

The API design draws from python-pptx, so concepts and naming will feel familiar if you've used it. See COMPATIBILITY.md for the detailed feature matrix.

Features

Slides & Layout

• Create, delete, reorder slides
• 11 built-in slide layouts with placeholder inheritance
• Slide backgrounds (solid, gradient, image)
• Speaker notes, sections, comments

Shapes & Text

• 180+ preset geometries (AutoShape)
• Freeform shapes with custom paths (line_to, curve_to, close)
• Group shapes with nesting
• Rich text: bold, italic, color, size, alignment, bullets, strikethrough, sub/superscript
• Right-to-left text direction (TextDirection enum)
• Hyperlinks and action settings on shapes and text

Tables & Charts

• Tables with cell merging, borders, and per-cell formatting
• 20+ chart types (bar, line, pie, scatter, bubble, area, radar, stock, surface, 3D variants)
• Combo charts with dual axes (bar + line via ComboChartData)
• Chart axes, legends, data labels, markers
• Embedded Excel data for charts

Media

• Images with SHA1 deduplication and SVG support
• Image cropping (LTRB crop via set_crop, set_crop_left, etc.)
• Video and audio embedding

Effects & Animations

• Shadow effects (outer, inner, perspective)
• 3D effects: Bevel, Camera, LightRig, Scene3D, Shape3D
• Slide transitions (11 types)
• Animations: entrance, exit, emphasis effects with trigger and sequence control

Export

• PPTX to self-contained HTML (export_html())

Advanced

• SmartArt reading and node-tree parsing
• Theme color scheme reading and modification
• Core properties (Dublin Core metadata)
• Print/handout settings (PrintSettings: color mode, page orientation, handout layout)
• PPTX validation and repair (PptxValidator, PptxRepairer)
• Digital signature metadata (structural XML; cryptographic signing not included)
• OLE object support
• Custom XML parts
• VBA macro support (.pptm save)
• Embedded fonts

Installation

[dependencies]
pptx = "0.1"

CLI Tool

A command-line interface for working with PPTX files is available:

cargo install pptx --features cli

Subcommands:

• pptx-cli info — Show presentation metadata and slide count
• pptx-cli slides — List slides with titles and layouts
• pptx-cli export-html — Export a presentation to self-contained HTML
• pptx-cli validate — Check a PPTX file for structural issues
• pptx-cli repair — Attempt to fix common PPTX problems

Quick Start

Create a new presentation

use pptx::Presentation;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let mut prs = Presentation::new()?;
    let layouts = prs.slide_layouts()?;
    let slide = prs.add_slide(&layouts[0])?;
    prs.save("hello.pptx")?;
    Ok(())
}

Open and inspect an existing file

use pptx::{Presentation, ShapeTree};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let prs = Presentation::open("existing.pptx")?;

    for slide_ref in prs.slides()? {
        let xml = prs.slide_xml(&slide_ref)?;
        let tree = ShapeTree::from_slide_xml(xml)?;
        for shape in &tree.shapes {
            println!("{}: {}x{}", shape.name(), shape.width(), shape.height());
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

Add a chart

use pptx::Presentation;
use pptx::chart::data::CategoryChartData;
use pptx::enums::chart::XlChartType;
use pptx::units::{Emu, Inches};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let mut prs = Presentation::new()?;
    let layouts = prs.slide_layouts()?;
    let slide = prs.add_slide(&layouts[0])?;

    let mut data = CategoryChartData::new();
    data.add_category("Q1");
    data.add_category("Q2");
    data.add_series("Revenue", &[100.0, 150.0]);

    prs.add_chart_to_slide(
        &slide, &data, XlChartType::ColumnClustered,
        Inches(1.0).into(), Inches(1.5).into(),
        Inches(6.0).into(), Inches(4.0).into(),
    )?;

    prs.save("chart.pptx")?;
    Ok(())
}

Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV)

Rust 1.85 or later.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.