Working with PowerPoint Presentation

13 Aug 202624 minutes to read

Cloning a PowerPoint Presentation

To quickly get started with merging PowerPoint presentations, please check out this video:

Cloning a PowerPoint presentation creates a new copy of the PowerPoint presentation, and the changes made in the cloned copy do not affect the source PowerPoint presentation. The Clone() method performs a deep copy of slides, layouts, masters, and theme.

//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open(inputFileName);
//Clones the Presentation
IPresentation clonedPresentation = pptxDoc.Clone();
//Gets the first slide from the cloned PowerPoint presentation
ISlide firstSlide = clonedPresentation.Slides[0];
//Adds a textbox in a slide by specifying its position and size
IShape textShape = firstSlide.AddTextBox(100, 75, 756, 200);
//Adds a paragraph in the body of the textShape
IParagraph paragraph = textShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a textPart in the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart("Essential Presentation");
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation
clonedPresentation.SaveAs(outputFileName);
//Closes the cloned PowerPoint presentation
clonedPresentation.Close();
//Closes the source PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation sourcePresentation = Presentation.Open(fileName);
//Clones the Presentation
IPresentation clonedPresentation = sourcePresentation.Clone();
//Gets the first slide from the cloned PowerPoint presentation
ISlide firstSlide = clonedPresentation.Slides[0];
//Adds a textbox in a slide by specifying its position and size
IShape textShape = firstSlide.AddTextBox(100, 75, 756, 200);
//Adds a paragraph in the body of the textShape
IParagraph paragraph = textShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a textPart in the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart("Essential Presentation");
//Saves the modified cloned PowerPoint presentation
clonedPresentation.Save("ClonedPresentation.pptx");
'Opens a PowerPoint presentation
Dim sourcePresentation_1 As IPresentation = Presentation.Open(fileName)
'Clones the Presentation
Dim clonedPresentation_1 As IPresentation = sourcePresentation_1.Clone()
'Gets the first slide from the cloned PowerPoint presentation
Dim firstSlide As ISlide = clonedPresentation_1.Slides(0)
'Adds a textbox in a slide by specifying its position and size
Dim textShape As IShape = firstSlide.AddTextBox(100, 75, 756, 200)
'Adds a paragraph in the body of the textShape
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = textShape.TextBody.AddParagraph()
'Adds a textPart in the paragraph
Dim textPart As ITextPart = paragraph.AddTextPart("Essential Presentation")
'Saves the modified cloned PowerPoint presentation
clonedPresentation_1.Save("ClonedPresentation.pptx")

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Splitting a PowerPoint Presentation

Splitting a PowerPoint presentation separates the slides from different sections into individual presentation files. This is useful when you want to organize slides by sections and create independent presentations for each section. The split operation clones the slides from each section and saves them as separate PPTX documents.

The following code example demonstrates how to split a PowerPoint presentation by sections:

//Opens the source PPTX document
IPresentation sourcePptx = Presentation.Open(Path.GetFullPath(@"Data/Template.pptx"));
//Iterates through each section
foreach (ISection section in sourcePptx.Sections)
{
    //Creates a destination PPTX document. Existing presentations can also be used here
    IPresentation destinationPptx = Presentation.Create();
    //Clones the slides from the section and moves to new PPTX document
    foreach (ISlide slide in section.Slides)
    {
        destinationPptx.Slides.Add(slide.Clone(), PasteOptions.SourceFormatting, sourcePptx);
    }
    //Saves the destination PPTX document
    string outputPath = Path.Combine(Path.GetFullPath("Output"), section.Name + "_Slides.pptx");
    destinationPptx.Save(outputPath);
    destinationPptx.Close();
}
//Closes the PPTX document
sourcePptx.Close();
//Opens the source PPTX document
IPresentation sourcePptx = Presentation.Open(fileName);
//Iterates through each section
foreach (ISection section in sourcePptx.Sections)
{
    //Creates a destination PPTX document. Existing presentations can also be used here
    IPresentation destinationPptx = Presentation.Create();
    //Clones the slides from the section and moves to new PPTX document
    foreach (ISlide slide in section.Slides)
    {
        destinationPptx.Slides.Add(slide.Clone(), PasteOptions.SourceFormatting, sourcePptx);
    }
    //Saves the destination PPTX document
    string outputPath = Path.Combine("Output", section.Name + "_Slides.pptx");
    destinationPptx.Save(outputPath);
    destinationPptx.Close();
}
//Closes the PPTX document
sourcePptx.Close();
'Opens the source PPTX document
Dim sourcePptx As IPresentation = Presentation.Open(fileName)
'Iterates through each section
For Each section As ISection In sourcePptx.Sections
    'Creates a destination PPTX document. Existing presentations can also be used here
    Dim destinationPptx As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
    'Clones the slides from the section and moves to new PPTX document
    For Each slide As ISlide In section.Slides
        destinationPptx.Slides.Add(slide.Clone(), PasteOptions.SourceFormatting, sourcePptx)
    Next
    'Saves the destination PPTX document
    Dim outputPath As String = Path.Combine("Output", section.Name + "_Slides.pptx")
    destinationPptx.Save(outputPath)
    destinationPptx.Close()
Next
'Closes the PPTX document
sourcePptx.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Printing a PowerPoint Presentation

You can print the Presentation document by converting the PowerPoint presentation slides to images. For more information about converting the PowerPoint presentation slides to images, see Conversion. You can use the System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument class to print the converted images by the default printer or to any of the available printer with customized settings.

Prerequisites

Add the following using directives at the top of the file:

using System.Drawing;
 using System.Drawing.Printing;
 using System.Windows.Forms;
 using Syncfusion.Presentation;
Imports System.Drawing
 Imports System.Drawing.Printing
 Imports System.Windows.Forms
 Imports Syncfusion.Presentation

The following code example demonstrates how to convert the slides of a PowerPoint presentation to images.

//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Converts the slides to images
Image[] images = pptxDoc.RenderAsImages(Syncfusion.Drawing.ImageType.Bitmap);
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Opens a PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Converts the slides to images
Dim images As Image() = pptxDoc.RenderAsImages(Syncfusion.Drawing.ImageType.Bitmap)
'Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

The following code example demonstrates how to print the converted images.

//Initializes the start and end page index for printing
int startPageIndex = 1;
int endPageIndex = images.Length;
//Creates new PrintDialog instance
System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog printDialog = new System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog();
//Sets new PrintDocument instance to print dialog
printDialog.Document = new PrintDocument();
//Enables the print current page option
printDialog.AllowCurrentPage = true;
//Enables the print selected pages option
printDialog.AllowSomePages = true;
//Sets the start and end page index
printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage = 1;
printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage = images.Length;
//Opens the print dialog box
if (printDialog.ShowDialog() == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK)
{
    //Checks whether the selected page range is valid or not
    if (printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage > 0 && printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage <= images.Length)
    {
        //Updates the start page of the document to print
        startPageIndex = printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage - 1;
        //Updates the end page of the document to print
        endPageIndex = printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage;
        //Hooks the PrintPage event to handle drawing pages for printing
        printDialog.Document.PrintPage += new PrintPageEventHandler(PrintPageMethod);
        //Prints the document
        printDialog.Document.Print();
    }
}

private void PrintPageMethod (object sender, PrintPageEventArgs e)
{
    //Gets the print start page width
    int currentPageWidth = images[startPageIndex].Width;
    //Gets the print start page height
    int currentPageHeight = images[startPageIndex].Height;
    //Gets the visible bounds width for print
    int visibleClipBoundsWidth = (int)e.Graphics.VisibleClipBounds.Width;
    //Gets the visible bounds height for print
    int visibleClipBoundsHeight = (int)e.Graphics.VisibleClipBounds.Height;
    //Checks whether the page layout is landscape or portrait
    if (currentPageWidth > currentPageHeight)
    {
        //Translates the position
        e.Graphics.TranslateTransform(0, visibleClipBoundsHeight);
        //Rotates the object at 270 degrees
        e.Graphics.RotateTransform(270.0f);
        //Draws the current page image
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(images[startPageIndex], new System.Drawing.Rectangle(0, 0, currentPageWidth, currentPageHeight));
    }
    else
    {
        //Draws the current page image
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(images[startPageIndex], new System.Drawing.Rectangle(0, 0, visibleClipBoundsWidth, visibleClipBoundsHeight));
    }
    //Disposes the current page image after drawing
    images[startPageIndex].Dispose();
    //Increments the start page index
    startPageIndex++;
    //Updates whether the document contains more pages to print or not
    e.HasMorePages = startPageIndex < endPageIndex;
}
'Initializes the start page index for printing
Dim startPageIndex As Integer = 1
Dim endPageIndex As Integer = images.Length
'Creates new PrintDialog instance
Dim printDialog As New System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog()
'Sets new PrintDocument instance to print dialog
printDialog.Document = New PrintDocument()
'Enables the print current page option
printDialog.AllowCurrentPage = True
'Enables the print selected pages option
printDialog.AllowSomePages = True
'Sets the start and end page index
printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage = 1
printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage = images.Length
'Opens the print dialog box
If printDialog.ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
    'Checks whether the selected page range is valid or not
    If printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage > 0 AndAlso printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage <= images.Length Then
        'Updates the start page of the document to print
        startPageIndex = printDialog.PrinterSettings.FromPage - 1
        'Updates the end page of the document to print
        endPageIndex = printDialog.PrinterSettings.ToPage
        'Hooks the PrintPage event to handle drawing pages for printing
        AddHandler printDialog.Document.PrintPage, AddressOf PrintPageMethod
        'Prints the document
        printDialog.Document.Print()
    End If
End If

Private Sub PrintPageMethod(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As PrintPageEventArgs)
    'Gets the print start page width
    Dim currentPageWidth As Integer = images(startPageIndex).Width
    'Gets the print start page height
    Dim currentPageHeight As Integer = images(startPageIndex).Height
    'Gets the visible bounds width for print
    Dim visibleClipBoundsWidth As Integer = CInt(e.Graphics.VisibleClipBounds.Width)
    'Gets the visible bounds height for print
    Dim visibleClipBoundsHeight As Integer = CInt(e.Graphics.VisibleClipBounds.Height)
    'Checks whether the page layout is landscape or portrait
    If currentPageWidth > currentPageHeight Then
        'Translates the position
        e.Graphics.TranslateTransform(0, visibleClipBoundsHeight)
        'Rotates the object at 270 degrees
        e.Graphics.RotateTransform(270.0F)
        'Draws the current page image
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(images(startPageIndex), New System.Drawing.Rectangle(0, 0, currentPageWidth, currentPageHeight))
    Else
        'Draws the current page image
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(images(startPageIndex), New System.Drawing.Rectangle(0, 0, visibleClipBoundsWidth, visibleClipBoundsHeight))
    End If
    'Disposes the current page image after drawing
    images(startPageIndex).Dispose()
    'Increments the start page index
    startPageIndex += 1
    'Updates whether the document contains more pages to print or not
    If startPageIndex < endPageIndex Then
        e.HasMorePages = True
    Else
        startPageIndex = 0
    End If
End Sub

NOTE

In the C# sample, images is the Image[] array produced by the previous “convert slides to images” snippet. The PrintPageMethod must be defined on the form/class hosting the code. If you invoke the print operation multiple times, reset startPageIndex and endPageIndex between calls.

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Working with PowerPoint Presentation Properties

Document properties, also known as metadata, are details about a file that describe or identify it. Document properties are classified into two categories:

  • Built-in Document Properties — include details such as title, author name, subject, and keywords that identify the document’s topic or contents.
  • Custom Document Properties — define the user-defined document properties.

Built-in Document Properties

You can access and modify the built-in document properties of a PowerPoint presentation with the Essential® Presentation library. The built-in document properties of a PowerPoint presentation are represented by the IBuiltInDocumentProperties type.

The following table lists the available built-in properties and their return types.

Property Type
ApplicationName string
AppVersion string
Author string
Category string
Comments string
Company string
ContentStatus string
Created DateTime
Keywords string
LastAuthor string
LastModified DateTime
LastPrinted DateTime
Manager string
Modified DateTime
PresentationRevisionNumber int
RevisionNumber int
Subject string
Template string
Title string
TotalEditingTime TimeSpan 
//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Accesses the built-in document properties
Console.WriteLine("Title - {0}", pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Title);
Console.WriteLine("Author - {0}", pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Author);
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Opens a PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Accesses the built-in document properties
Console.WriteLine("Title - {0}", pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Title)
Console.WriteLine("Author - {0}", pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Author)
'Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

The following code example demonstrates how to modify the existing built-in document properties.

//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open(inputFileName);
//Modifies the built-in document properties
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Category = "Sales reports";
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Company = "Northwind traders";
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation
pptxDoc.SaveAs(outputFileName);
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Modifies the built-in document properties
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Category = "Sales reports";
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Company = "Northwind traders";
//Saves the modified PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the modified PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Opens a PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Modifies the built-in document properties
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Category = "Sales reports"
pptxDoc.BuiltInDocumentProperties.Company = "Northwind traders"
'Saves the modified PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the modified PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Custom Document Properties

You can create and modify the custom document properties of a PowerPoint presentation with the Essential® Presentation library. The collection of custom document properties in a PowerPoint presentation is represented by the ICustomDocumentProperties object. Each property value is exposed as an IDocumentProperty and supports the Text, DateTime, Number, Bool, or Blob representations.

Adding Custom Document Properties

The following code example demonstrates how to add new custom document properties.

//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open(inputFileName);
//Adds custom document properties
ICustomDocumentProperties documentProperty = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties;
documentProperty.Add("PropertyA");
documentProperty["PropertyA"].Text = "@!123";
documentProperty.Add("PropertyB");
documentProperty["PropertyB"].Text = "B";
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.SaveAs(outputFileName);
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
//Creates a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds custom document properties
ICustomDocumentProperties documentProperty = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties;
documentProperty.Add("PropertyA");
documentProperty["PropertyA"].Text = "@!123";
documentProperty.Add("PropertyB");
documentProperty["PropertyB"].Text = "B";
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Creates a PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds custom document properties
Dim documentProperty As ICustomDocumentProperties = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties
documentProperty.Add("PropertyA")
documentProperty("PropertyA").Text = "@!123"
documentProperty.Add("PropertyB")
documentProperty("PropertyB").Text = "B"
'Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

TIPS

Use the overloads of Add (for example, Add(string, string), Add(string, DateTime), Add(string, double), Add(string, bool)) to register a property with an initial value in a single call.

Accessing and Modifying Custom Document Properties

The following code example demonstrates how to access and modify an existing custom document property.

//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open(inputFileName);
//Accesses an existing custom document property
IDocumentProperty property = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties["PropertyA"];
//Modifies the value of DocumentProperty
property.Value = "Hello world";
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.SaveAs(outputFileName);
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
//Opens a PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Accesses an existing custom document property
IDocumentProperty property = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties["PropertyA"];
//Modifies the value of DocumentProperty
property.Value = "Hello world";
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Opens a PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Accesses an existing custom document property
Dim [property] As IDocumentProperty = pptxDoc.CustomDocumentProperties("PropertyA")
'Modifies the value of DocumentProperty
[property].Value = "Hello world"
'Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Presentation Settings

This section covers presentation-level settings such as marking the presentation as final and configuring the first slide number.

Marking a PowerPoint Presentation as Final

A PowerPoint presentation can be made read-only to prevent readers from making inadvertent changes. However, marking a presentation as final is not a security feature — anyone can disable the final status and edit the presentation. When opened in PowerPoint, the file displays a yellow “Marked as Final” banner with an “Edit Anyway” button.

The IPresentation.Final API is available in Syncfusion® Presentation version 18.4.0.30 and later.

The following code snippet demonstrates how to create a final, non-editable presentation:

//Creates an instance of the PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Marks the presentation as final
pptxDoc.Final = true;
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.SaveAs(outputFileName);
//Closes the presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
//Creates an instance of the PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Marks the presentation as final
pptxDoc.Final = true;
//Saves the presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
'Creates an instance of the PowerPoint presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds a slide to the presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank)
'Marks the presentation as final
pptxDoc.Final = True
'Saves the presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

First Slide Number

You can change the first slide number of the PowerPoint presentation using the FirstSlideNumber API. The default value is 1. The value affects the number displayed in slide footers, slide-number placeholders, and printed page numbers.

The following code sample illustrates how to modify the first slide number in the PowerPoint presentation.

//Opens an existing PowerPoint presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Data/Input.pptx");
//Gets the FirstSlideNumber of the presentation
int firstSlideNumber = pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber;
//Modifies the value for the FirstSlideNumber
pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber = 10;
//Saves the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.SaveAs("Result.pptx");
//Closes the PowerPoint presentation
pptxDoc.Close();
using (IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Data/Input.pptx"))
{
    //Gets the FirstSlideNumber of the presentation
    int firstSlideNumber = pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber;

    //Modifies the value for the FirstSlideNumber
    pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber = 10;

    //Saves the PowerPoint presentation
    pptxDoc.Save("Result.pptx");
}
Using pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Data/Input.pptx")
    'Gets the FirstSlideNumber of the presentation
    Dim firstSlideNumber As Integer = pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber

    'Modifies the value for the FirstSlideNumber
    pptxDoc.FirstSlideNumber = 10

    'Saves the PowerPoint presentation
    pptxDoc.Save("Result.pptx")
End Using

NOTE

The first slide number is the starting slide number of the presentation, and this API allows you to set the first slide number from 0 to 9999.

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

See Also