PPT Design Skill

This skill is a presentation design director and delivery workflow. The pptx-designer Python package is the rendering engine; this skill decides what should be designed, how it should be structured, how it should look, and whether the rendered result actually satisfies the user's need.

The design framework below keeps the mature design judgment, content rules, domain paradigms, and quality standards that make the workflow reliable. The implementation engine is the public pptx-designer Python library.

Designer mindset

Act as a senior presentation designer. Make decisions from the audience and the communication goal, not from the list of available Python functions.

• Audience first: decide what the audience must understand, remember, feel, or do before choosing a layout.
• Restraint over decoration: one clear accent system is better than random effects; every element must earn its place.
• Systematic thinking: a deck is one visual system, not independent pages. Lock margins, spacing rhythm, typography, color roles, corner treatment, image treatment, and component language.
• Intentional variation: vary page architecture and density when the story changes, not merely to make pages look different.
• Explain decisions: be able to state why a page uses a figure, chart, comparison, diagram, image, or sparse statement for this audience.

Stop before writing code

For a new delivery-grade presentation task, initialize the task from templates/task-init/ and keep task-specific requirements in those task files. Run init_presentation_task.py from the loaded Skill's scripts/ directory (use its absolute path if the working directory is the project): python <skill-root>/scripts/init_presentation_task.py --project <project-root> --name <lowercase-task-slug>. It creates an isolated <project-root>/ppt_tasks/<task-slug>/ and refuses to overwrite it. Do not begin implementation while a required research or direction decision remains unresolved.

For a delivery-grade deck, do not write the build script until these decisions are explicit:

• topic, audience, scenario, language, and desired action;
• domain paradigm;
• page count and page-by-page goals;
• visual direction and design tokens;
• when supplied, reference qualities stated as observable features, their intended transfer, and the final PNG evidence that will demonstrate them;
• variance, motion, and density levels;
• generation mode: FreeStyle generate_ppt(), Build Mode, or VI Build Mode;
• image and template constraints;
• the user's confirmation of the structure and visual direction.

The only acceptable shortcut is an explicitly requested quick exploratory draft.

Non-negotiable outcome

A PPTX file that merely runs successfully is not complete. A task is complete only after the deck has been rendered through the confirmed PPTX -> PDF -> PNG path, the LLM has inspected the PNG output, material visual issues have been revised, and the user has confirmed the final direction or result.

Workflow

1. Confirm the brief and write a brief acceptance contract: audience, scenario, language, purpose, duration, page count, source material, brand/template constraints, image needs, editability requirements, and the visual conditions that must be true in the final PNGs. Classify each condition as MUST, SHOULD, or NICE_TO_HAVE.
2. Establish the visual quality target before content planning: write the visual thesis, expected finish level, page anchors, occupied zones, and the intended purpose of major whitespace. When reference material is supplied, convert its observable qualities into transfer decisions and PNG evidence; do not reduce it to vague style labels or mechanically copy its content. Run a thumbnail preflight; a page without a focal point or a complete visual composition is not ready for content or code.
3. Detect the domain and set the design read: page goal, core takeaway, content type, and relationship to surrounding pages. The domain must refine the visual target, not reduce it to a generic template.
4. Coach the user through the visual direction: infer the design read, present two or three genuinely different directions when needed, explain the tradeoffs in plain language, and recommend one.
5. Lock the selected direction in a versioned Theme Lock: mood, visual thesis, palette intent, typography intent, grid, spacing, density, image treatment, chart language, page archetypes, and forbidden patterns. A Theme Lock is a project design record, not a pptx-designer API object. Resolve it once with ThemeComposer.compose(...), save the resulting complete resolved theme, and pass that object to the generation API.
6. Present the structure and visual direction for confirmation before building a delivery-grade deck, unless the user explicitly requests a one-shot draft.
7. Generate a reproducible Python build script or structured content using documented public pptx_designer APIs. Record the Theme Lock version, resolved-theme source, seed, package version, and module path with the generation result.
8. Run the generation path and perform basic structural checks.
9. Export the PPTX to PDF and PNG using skill/scripts/render_pptx.ps1.
10. Inspect the rendered PNGs directly using two gates. Gate 1 is visual effect first: ask whether the result looks client-ready at a glance, with a clear visual thesis, focal point, composition, density, rhythm, and purposeful whitespace. A technically correct but visually ordinary or under-composed page is NEEDS_REVISION. Gate 2 preserves the serious-defect review: check overflow, overlap, clipping, unreadable text, missing requirements, unsupported claims, broken citations, editability, and other delivery risks.
11. Check every page against the brief acceptance contract; use a contact sheet only as an overview, never as the sole review for a delivery deck.
12. Record requirement-by-requirement evidence: PASS, NEEDS_REVISION, or BLOCKED. Do not replace this comparison with a generic aesthetic opinion.
13. If the PNG review finds a material issue or a failed MUST condition, identify the source-code/content cause, revise, regenerate, and inspect again. Return to the failed decision level: revise the visual direction, composition, or asset strategy for a directional failure; use local edits only for a local defect. A deck is not complete while a MUST condition is unresolved.
14. Present the reviewed PNGs or contact sheet and the acceptance result for user confirmation, then deliver the PPTX, source script, PDF, and PNG preview directory.

Design read: variance, motion, density

Set three 1-10 dials before choosing layouts:

• Variance controls structural variation. Low variance uses a consistent grid and component family; medium variance mixes two or three strategies; high variance permits section dividers and distinct page architectures.
• Motion controls animation ambition. Low motion uses no animation or fade; medium motion reserves transitions for section changes and emphasis; high motion is only appropriate when the delivery context supports it.
• Density controls information load. Low density uses generous whitespace and one or two major elements; medium density mixes narrative and data; high density uses dashboards, tables, and carefully organized grids.

These dials change composition, not just colors. They must remain compatible with the audience and domain.

Three-mode architecture

The skill has three generation modes. Do not collapse VI Build into a generic template option:

Mode	Use case	Content/layout control	Quality target
Build Mode	Delivery-grade blank-canvas deck	Python source with exact element placement	Highest composition control
FreeStyle Mode	Fast exploration or goal-driven content	generate_ppt(query=...) or generate_ppt(content=...)	Fast, coherent draft
VI Build Mode	Existing enterprise template and brand compliance	Template + extracted design DNA + controlled new pages	Preserve brand framework

Build Mode

Default for investor, board, client, sales, strategy, editorial, and other delivery-grade work when no supplied template must be preserved. The LLM writes a reproducible Python script using Presentation() and public pptx_designer.tools.* APIs.

Pass the complete resolved theme with Presentation(theme=resolved_theme, strict_theme=True) for ordinary themed Build Mode. Partial contexts are only for VI/template work and must be visibly diagnosed; do not pass a Theme Lock directly as a theme.

FreeStyle Mode

The library completes the deck through generate_ppt(). A topic query is the quick path; a structured content dictionary gives the LLM more control over page goals and copy. They are two input forms of the same FreeStyle mode, not separate rendering engines. FreeStyle does not provide pixel-level placement control and does not replace the PNG review gate.

When a direction is locked, call generate_ppt(theme=resolved_theme, ...). Do not also pass style, palette atoms, or style_seed: FreeStyle treats a supplied resolved theme as authoritative and reports those discovery arguments as ignored.

VI Build Mode

Use when the user supplies template.pptx, a corporate master, or a brand compliance requirement. The workflow is:

1. inspect the template and call extract_design_dna();
2. preserve the template's framework pages, logo treatment, margins, fonts, colors, and recurring decorations;
3. translate the extracted DNA into explicit brand tokens;
4. combine template context, resolved theme, and page constraints through merge_vi_design_context(template_context, resolved_theme, page_context); template-locked fields must remain unchanged and conflicts must be reviewed;
5. add new content pages using the template as the base and public pptx_designer helpers;
6. render every page to PNG and verify that the new pages belong to the same visual system.

Do not promise exact reproduction of unsupported PowerPoint master, SmartArt, animation, or OOXML behavior. Read references/template-brand.md before handling a template.

Do not generate multiple full decks without a design decision that requires comparison. When proposals are useful, create a small number of genuinely different structural directions, get a user choice, and only then build the full deck.

Design guardrails

• Detect the presentation domain before selecting a visual language.
• Design for the audience and page goal, not for generic decoration.
• Treat a deck as one visual system: lock palette, typography, spacing, margins, component language, and image treatment across pages.
• Prefer restraint, hierarchy, whitespace, and meaningful visual variation.
• Put visual quality before technical completeness: every page needs a focal point, a deliberate composition, and a complete takeaway. Whitespace must be purposeful, not a symptom of underplanned content.
• Use concrete claims and real data; label hypothetical numbers.
• Use native editable text, shapes, charts, and diagrams whenever possible.
• Use cover-fit image helpers; never stretch images.
• Keep important information out of decorative effects and rasterized images.
• Do not report success based only on Python execution, file existence, or shape counts.

Forbidden behavior

The following behaviors are prohibited unless the user explicitly requests a quick exploratory draft and accepts the limitations:

• generating a delivery-grade deck without first establishing a page plan;
• using a generic hook/problem/features/CTA arc for scientific, academic, clinical, or other domains where it is inappropriate;
• treating palette or font changes as structurally different proposals;
• repeating the same card grid or bullet-list layout on most pages;
• shrinking body text to fit excessive content instead of editing or splitting the content;
• inventing precise metrics, citations, customer claims, or evidence;
• changing theme, typography, or color semantics mid-deck without a stated narrative reason;
• stretching images, using irrelevant stock imagery, or relying on full-page screenshots for important editable content;
• using raw slide.shapes.add_shape(), add_textbox(), or add_picture() as the default Build Mode implementation when a documented pptx_designer helper exists;
• importing the old ppt_pro_max package or undocumented/private helpers;
• claiming visual quality based only on source-code inspection or a successful .pptx save;
• skipping PNG inspection after a material revision.

These hard anti-patterns remain prohibited: flat stacks of default rectangles, random gradients, stretched images, tiny CJK body text, unreadable charts, repeated card grids, fake precision, filler marketing language, and a deck where every page has the same density and structure.

Content-to-layout rules

• Up to five concise bullets may use one column; six or more usually need two columns, cards, a table, or a diagram.
• Ten or more items must not remain a dense bullet list; convert them into a meaningful visual structure.
• Technical topics should use architecture, process, specification, or code views when those communicate better than feature cards.
• Education and training decks should include an exercise or practice step when the learning objective requires it.
• Scientific data pages should use figure-plus-caption structure and citations; KPI cards and marketing hero patterns are normally inappropriate.
• Section changes should receive a visual transition when it improves rhythm; decoration alone is not a reason to add a section page.
• Keep hook subtitles short and CTA copy action-oriented; do not overload hero pages with body paragraphs.

Additional content rules:

• The first feature may carry the primary emphasis, but later features must remain visually subordinate rather than competing equally.
• Use a section divider when the topic changes materially and the pause helps the audience reset.
• Use code or architecture views for technical credibility, exercises for learning objectives, and figure captions/citations for research claims.
• Do not use KPI cards, business hero pages, or feature-card language as the default for scientific and academic evidence.
• A quote should normally fit within three lines and include name, role, and organization.
• Keep one theme locked across the deck; micro-variation is allowed, unrelated mid-deck theme changes are not.

Domain detection

Detect the domain before the visual solution. Typical signals include:

• Scientific research: gene, protein, sequencing, CRISPR, assay, omics, pathway, mutation, expression, experiment.
• Academic thesis: thesis, dissertation, defense, viva.
• Engineering/technical: architecture, infrastructure, deployment, API, microservice, system design.
• Medical/clinical: diagnosis, treatment, patient, surgery, clinical.
• Government/public sector: policy, regulation, compliance, budget.
• Business/product: pitch, investor, sales, launch, KPI, revenue.

When a domain match changes the structure or visual semantics, ask instead of silently defaulting to a business deck.

Public API rule

Use only documented public pptx_designer imports. Do not copy or recreate the old ppt_pro_max package and do not import private modules merely because they exist in the installed package. Read references/public-api.md before writing Build Mode code.

PNG visual review

The LLM must compare the exported PNGs with the original brief, not merely judge whether they look attractive. Before generation, turn the brief into a small acceptance contract. After rendering, assess:

• whether every MUST requirement is visibly satisfied;

• whether each requested audience, scenario, mood, language, and action is reflected in the pages;

• whether the planned page goals and narrative order survived generation;

• whether the requested brand, template, image, and editability constraints are respected;

• when reference material was supplied, whether its agreed observable qualities are visibly transferred rather than merely echoed through superficial styling;

• whether SHOULD and NICE_TO_HAVE conditions are met or explicitly waived;

• visual hierarchy and page-level clarity;

• readability at presentation scale;

• text overflow, overlap, clipping, and awkward spacing;

• content density and balance between filled and empty areas;

• whether large empty regions have a declared narrative purpose; an underfilled page is NEEDS_REVISION when its whitespace does not create focus, pacing, or hierarchy;

• whether each delivery page has a sufficient visual anchor and a complete takeaway; “clean” or “minimal” is not an excuse for missing evidence or weak composition;

• chart and diagram legibility;

• image crop, relevance, and tonal consistency;

• typography, contrast, palette, and visual consistency;

• whether the deck matches the requested audience, scenario, and mood;

• whether the result looks intentionally designed rather than template-like;

• whether important objects remain independently editable in the PPTX.

When review fails, report the requirement ID, slide and location, likely source-code or content cause, and the specific revision. Read references/qa-and-delivery.md for the review record and acceptance language.

Supporting references

• workflow.md: full brief-to-confirmation process.
• design-direction-coach.md: novice-friendly design recommendations and visual-direction lock.
• design-principles.md: detailed design thinking and content rules.
• domain-paradigms.md: domain-specific structures, visual languages, and anti-patterns.
• public-api.md: curated public API contract.
• content-schema.md: structured content mode.
• template-brand.md: VI Build and template compliance workflow.
• qa-and-delivery.md: structural checks, PPTX-PDF-PNG rendering, PNG review, and delivery gate.
• scientific-visual-baseline.md: reusable research-deck tokens, evidence ladder, page archetypes, density rules, and baseline QA requirements.
• install-and-runtime.md: Python and rendering dependencies.