PPTX Slide Creation
Claude reads, edits, and builds PowerPoint decks from scratch — with a built-in design system so they don't look AI-generated
What it does & when to use it
Anthropic's official PPTX skill, one of the implementations behind Claude.ai's file capabilities. Beyond the basic read/edit/create mechanics, its standout feature is a genuinely detailed slide design guide baked in — color palettes, font pairings, layout ideas, and a list of common mistakes — aimed squarely at stopping Claude from producing the flat, obviously-AI-made decks everyone recognizes on sight.
Reads existing pptx text content (via markitdown), generates thumbnail previews, and unpacks raw XML; edits existing decks against a template (unpack → modify → repack); creates new decks from scratch with pptxgenjs; ships 10 curated color palettes, font-pairing tables, and layout ideas (two-column, icon+text rows, 2x2 grids, half-bleed images); and enforces a mandatory QA loop — render to images and have a fresh subagent visually inspect for overlaps, overflow, misalignment, and contrast issues.
- Turn a Word-doc project proposal into a pitch deck
- Swap the chart and numbers on one slide of an existing company-template deck to produce a weekly report
- Generate a polished summary deck directly from meeting notes
- Extract all the text from an existing pptx to write an email summary
- Audit and fix overlapping/overflowing elements in an already-generated deck
Pros & cons
- Not just mechanics — a design spec down to specific hex codes and point sizes, which meaningfully cuts the "obviously AI-made" cheapness
- Mandatory QA loop (render to images + fresh-eyes subagent review) catches overlap/overflow/contrast issues that are easy to miss by eye
- Covers reading, editing, and from-scratch creation — the two most common real scenarios (edit an existing template vs. build new)
- Licensed as Proprietary (source-available) — no free redistribution or commercial repackaging
- From-scratch creation depends on pptxgenjs (needs npm), editing existing files depends on LibreOffice for format conversion — you need these installed locally
- The design guidance leans generic-business-professional; for a tightly controlled brand identity you'll still want a human pass on the final result
How to install
Three options:
- Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills, then/plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills(bundled with pdf, docx, xlsx) - Claude.ai: enabled by default on paid plans
- Claude API: upload via the Skills API per Anthropic's docs
How to use
Just describe what you want in plain language — mentioning "deck," "slides," "presentation," or a .pptx filename triggers it automatically. E.g. "Make an 8-slide deck on our Q3 retro, dark theme," or "Replace the chart on slide 3 of this pptx with a bar chart."
Compared to similar skills
Compared to hand-writing python-pptx or a raw pptxgenjs script, the real gain here is design judgment — most code-generated decks default to bullet points on a white background. This skill hard-codes rules like "every slide needs a visual element," "one color should hold 60-70% visual weight," and "never use an accent line under the title (a classic AI-slide tell)." The sibling docx/pdf/xlsx skills are more purely mechanical and don't have an equivalent design layer.