Working with Paragraphs

14 Aug 202622 minutes to read

Adding Paragraph to slide

All the textual contents in a Presentation document is represented by Paragraphs. You can have any number of paragraphs within a TextBody of a textbox or shape in a PowerPoint presentation.

The following code example demonstrates how to add a paragraph in a slide.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Creates a PowerPoint Presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the PowerPoint
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.AddTextBox(0, 0, 500, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company. The company manufactures and sells metal and composite bicycles to North American, European and Asian commercial markets. While its base operation is located in Washington with 290 employees, several regional sales teams are located throughout their market base.";
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a PowerPoint Presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the PowerPoint
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.AddTextBox(0, 0, 500, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company. The company manufactures and sells metal and composite bicycles to North American, European and Asian commercial markets. While its base operation is located in Washington with 290 employees, several regional sales teams are located throughout their market base.";
//Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a PowerPoint Presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds a slide to the PowerPoint
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank)
'Adds a textbox to the slide
Dim textboxShape As IShape = slide.AddTextBox(0, 0, 500, 500)
'Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph()
'Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
Dim textPart As ITextPart = paragraph.AddTextPart()
'Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company. The company manufactures and sells metal and composite bicycles to North American, European and Asian commercial markets. While its base operation is located in Washington with 290 employees, several regional sales teams are located throughout their market base."
'Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Applying Paragraph Formatting

Each paragraph in a slide can have its own formatting types such as alignment, indent, and so on. The following code example demonstrates how to format a paragraph in a PowerPoint presentation.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Loads or opens a PowerPoint Presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Gets the slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Gets the shape in the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Gets the instance of a paragraph in the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Applies the first line indent of the paragraph
paragraph.FirstLineIndent = 10;
//Applies the horizontal alignment of the paragraph
paragraph.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentType.Left;
//Applies the left indent of the paragraph
paragraph.LeftIndent = 8;
//Modifies the end paragraph font name
paragraph.EndParagraphFont.FontName = "Times New Roman";
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Loads the PowerPoint Presentation
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Gets the slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Gets the shape in the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Gets the instance of a paragraph in the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Applies the first line indent of the paragraph
paragraph.FirstLineIndent = 10;
//Applies the horizontal alignment of the paragraph
paragraph.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentType.Left;
//Applies the left indent of the paragraph
paragraph.LeftIndent = 8;
//Modifies the end paragraph font name
paragraph.EndParagraphFont.FontName = "Times New Roman";
//Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Loads the PowerPoint Presentation
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Gets the slide from the Presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides(0)
'Gets the shape in the slide
Dim textboxShape As IShape = TryCast(slide.Shapes(0), IShape)
'Gets the instance of a paragraph in the textbox
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = textboxShape.TextBody.Paragraphs(0)
'Applies the first line indent of the paragraph
paragraph.FirstLineIndent = 10
'Applies the horizontal alignment of the paragraph
paragraph.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignmentType.Left
'Applies the left indent of the paragraph
paragraph.LeftIndent = 8
'Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Working with Text

With Essential^® Presentation, you can add or modify text in a Presentation. Within the paragraph, textual contents are grouped into one or more child elements as TextParts. Each TextPart represents a region of text with a common set of formatted text. The following code example demonstrates how to add text with different formatting into a single paragraph.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Creates the PowerPoint Presentation instance
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a new slide to the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape2 = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph2 = textboxShape2.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPartFormatting = paragraph2.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico. The plant manufactures several critical subcomponents for the AdventureWorks Cycles product line. These subcomponents are shipped to the another location for final product assembly. In 2001, the plant, became the sole manufacturer and distributor of the touring bicycle product group.";
//Sets the underline color
textPartFormatting.UnderlineColor = ColorObject.AliceBlue;
//Retrieves the existing font for modification
IFont font = textPartFormatting.Font;
//Sets the underline type
font.Underline = TextUnderlineType.Single;
//Sets the font weight
font.Bold = true;
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPartFormatting2 = paragraph2.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting2.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico.";
//Retrieves the existing font for modification
IFont font2 = textPartFormatting2.Font;
//Sets the font color
font2.Color = ColorObject.BlanchedAlmond;
//Sets the underline type
font2.Underline = TextUnderlineType.WavyDouble;
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates the PowerPoint Presentation instance
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape2 = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph2 = textboxShape2.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPartFormatting = paragraph2.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico. The plant manufactures several critical subcomponents for the AdventureWorks Cycles product line. These subcomponents are shipped to the another location for final product assembly. In 2001, the plant, became the sole manufacturer and distributor of the touring bicycle product group.";
//Sets the underline color
textPartFormatting.UnderlineColor.SystemColor = Color.Black;
//Retrieves the existing font for modification
IFont font = textPartFormatting.Font;
//Sets the underline type
font.Underline = TextUnderlineType.Single;
//Sets the font weight
font.Bold = true;
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPartFormatting2 = paragraph2.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting2.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico.";
//Retrieves the existing font for modification
IFont font2 = textPartFormatting2.Font;
//Sets the font color
font2.Color.SystemColor = Color.Blue;
//Sets the underline type
font2.Underline = TextUnderlineType.WavyDouble;
//Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates the PowerPoint Presentation instance
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds a slide to the Presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank)
'Adds a textbox to the slide
Dim textboxShape2 As IShape = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500)
'Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
Dim paragraph2 As IParagraph = textboxShape2.TextBody.AddParagraph()
'Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
Dim textPartFormatting As ITextPart = paragraph2.AddTextPart()
'Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico. It manufactures several critical subcomponents for the AdventureWorks Cycles product line. These subcomponents are shipped to the another location for final product assembly. In 2001, the plant, became the sole manufacturer and distributor of the touring bicycle product group."
'Sets the underline color
textPartFormatting.UnderlineColor.SystemColor = Color.Black
'Retrieves the existing font for modification
Dim font As IFont = textPartFormatting.Font
'Sets the underline type
font.Underline = TextUnderlineType.[Single]
'Sets the font weight
font.Bold = True
'Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
Dim textPartFormatting2 As ITextPart = paragraph2.AddTextPart()
'Adds text to the TextPart
textPartFormatting2.Text = "In 2000, AdventureWorks Cycles bought a small manufacturing plant, located in Mexico."
'Retrieves the existing font for modification
Dim font2 As IFont = textPartFormatting2.Font
'Sets the font color
font2.Color.SystemColor = Color.Blue
'Sets the underline type
font2.Underline = TextUnderlineType.WavyDouble
'Saves the Presentation
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Modifying Text

You can modify text by accessing the existing paragraphs in a Presentation. The following code example demonstrates how to modify the content in a paragraph.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Loads or opens a PowerPoint Presentation that contains a shape with a text body
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Retrieves the first shape
IShape shape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
IParagraph paragraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Retrieves the first TextPart of the shape
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.TextParts[0];
//Modifies the text content of the TextPart
textPart.Text = "Hello Presentation";
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Opens an existing Presentation from the file system
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Retrieves the first shape
IShape shape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
IParagraph paragraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Retrieves the first TextPart of the shape
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.TextParts[0];
//Modifies the text content of the TextPart
textPart.Text = "Hello Presentation";
//Saves the Presentation to the file system
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Opens an existing Presentation from the file system
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides(0)
'Retrieves the first shape
Dim shape As IShape = TryCast(slide.Shapes(0), IShape)
'Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs(0)
'Retrieves the first TextPart of the shape
Dim textPart As ITextPart = paragraph.TextParts(0)
'Modifies the text content of the TextPart
textPart.Text = "Hello Presentation"
'Saves the Presentation to the file system
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Changing the Language of a TextPart

With Essential^® Presentation, you can modify the language of a Presentation TextPart. This allows viewer applications to check spelling and grammar according to the language of each TextPart. The following code example demonstrates how to modify the language of a Presentation TextPart.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Creates a Microsoft PowerPoint instance
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles";
//Sets a language as "Spanish (Argentina)" for the TextPart
textPart.Font.LanguageID = (short)LocaleIDs.es_AR;
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a Microsoft PowerPoint instance
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Create();
//Adds a slide to the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
//Adds a textbox to the slide
IShape textboxShape = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500);
//Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
IParagraph paragraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph();
//Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
ITextPart textPart = paragraph.AddTextPart();
//Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles";
//Sets a language as "Spanish (Argentina)" for the TextPart
textPart.Font.LanguageID = (short)LocaleIDs.es_AR;
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a Microsoft PowerPoint instance
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds a slide to the Presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank)
'Adds a textbox to the slide
Dim textboxShape As IShape = slide.AddTextBox(500, 0, 400, 500)
'Adds a paragraph to the textbody of the textbox
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph()
'Adds a TextPart to the paragraph
Dim textPart As ITextPart = paragraph.AddTextPart()
'Adds text to the TextPart
textPart.Text = "AdventureWorks Cycles"
'Sets a language as "Spanish (Argentina)" for the TextPart
textPart.Font.LanguageID = CType(LocaleIDs.es_AR,Short)
'Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Enabling the Shrink Text on Overflow Option

In a PowerPoint slide, if you add more text than a shape can hold, the text overflows from the shape. By using the Shrink text on overflow option, you can fit large text within a shape. The following code example demonstrates how to enable this property.

C# [Cross-platform]

//The Essential Presentation Library does not provide support for FitTextOption in C# (Cross-platform) platforms.

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a new PowerPoint file
using (IPresentation ppDoc = Presentation.Create())
{
    //Adds a slide to the PowerPoint file
    ISlide slide = ppDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
    //Adds a textbox to the slide
    IShape textBox = slide.AddTextBox(100, 100, 100, 100);
    //Adds a paragraph with text to the textbox
    textBox.TextBody.AddParagraph("AdventureWorks Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company.");
    //Sets the property to shrink text on overflow
    textBox.TextBody.FitTextOption = FitTextOption.ShrinkTextOnOverFlow;
    //Saves the PowerPoint file
    ppDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
}

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a new PowerPoint file
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Create()
'Adds a slide to the PowerPoint
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides.Add(SlideLayoutType.Blank)
'Adds a textbox to the slide
Dim textboxShape As IShape = slide.AddTextBox(0, 0, 500, 500)
'Adds a paragraph with text to the textbox
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = textboxShape.TextBody.AddParagraph("AdventureWorks Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company.")
'Sets the property to shrink text on overflow
textboxShape.TextBody.FitTextOption = FitTextOption.ShrinkTextOnOverFlow
'Saves the PowerPoint file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the PowerPoint file
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

NOTE

The shrink text on overflow option is not supported in UWP, C# (Cross-platform), and Xamarin platforms.

Removing a Paragraph

The following code example demonstrates how to remove a paragraph from a slide.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Loads or opens a PowerPoint Presentation that contains a shape with at least one paragraph
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Retrieves the first shape
IShape shape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
IParagraph paragraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Removes the first paragraph from the textbody of the shape
shape.TextBody.Paragraphs.Remove(paragraph);
//Saves the PowerPoint Presentation to a file
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Opens an existing Presentation from the file system
IPresentation pptxDoc = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx");
//Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
ISlide slide = pptxDoc.Slides[0];
//Retrieves the first shape
IShape shape = slide.Shapes[0] as IShape;
//Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
IParagraph paragraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs[0];
//Removes the first paragraph from the textbody of the shape
shape.TextBody.Paragraphs.Remove(paragraph);
//Saves the Presentation to the file system
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx");
//Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Opens an existing Presentation from the file system
Dim pptxDoc As IPresentation = Presentation.Open("Sample.pptx")
'Retrieves the first slide from the Presentation
Dim slide As ISlide = pptxDoc.Slides(0)
'Retrieves the first shape
Dim shape As IShape = TryCast(slide.Shapes(0), IShape)
'Retrieves the first paragraph of the shape
Dim paragraph As IParagraph = shape.TextBody.Paragraphs(0)
'Removes the first paragraph from the textbody of the shape
shape.TextBody.Paragraphs.Remove(paragraph)
'Saves the Presentation to the file system
pptxDoc.Save("Output.pptx")
'Closes the Presentation
pptxDoc.Close()

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

See Also

• How to change all font names in PowerPoint using C#