PPTX Import

The @polotno/pptx-import package converts a PowerPoint .pptx file into Polotno design JSON, in the browser or in Node.js. Shapes, text boxes, pictures, tables and 2-D charts arrive as separate, editable elements, never as a flattened slide image.

Importing other formats? See PDF Import, PSD Import and SVG Import for the equivalent packages.

Installation

npm install @polotno/pptx-import

It runs in the browser and in Node.js 22.13 or newer.

Basic Usage

Browser – read bytes from a file input:

import { pptxToJson } from '@polotno/pptx-import';

const file = input.files[0];
const json = await pptxToJson({
  pptx: await file.arrayBuffer(),
  onWarning: (w) => console.warn(w.code, w.message, w.details),
});

store.loadJSON(json);

Node.js – read bytes from disk:

import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
import { pptxToJson } from '@polotno/pptx-import';

const json = await pptxToJson({ pptx: await readFile('./deck.pptx') });

pptxToJson takes an ArrayBuffer or Uint8Array and returns a Design Format document, ready for store.loadJSON().

Output

• One page per slide, sized to the slide, in pixels at 96 dpi. A hidden slide is imported too, and its page carries custom: { pptxHidden: true }.
• The master's and layout's own shapes are copied onto every page behind the slide's shapes, unless the slide or layout hides them.
• Pictures, videos, picture backgrounds and embedded fonts are inlined as data URLs, so the design needs nothing else to load. Every element carries its own copy of its picture, so a deck that repeats one picture on many slides imports to a much larger design. To host media yourself, replace the data URLs after the import.

Fonts

Each font a deck names is resolved in this order:

1. A Google Fonts family with the same name.
2. A font the deck embeds, unless its licence forbids reuse in an editable design.
3. A metric-compatible clone, so lines break where PowerPoint's do: Calibri → Carlito, Cambria → Caladea, Arial and Helvetica → Arimo, Times New Roman → Tinos, Courier New → Cousine.
4. Selawik, bundled, for Segoe UI.
5. The closest Google Fonts family (Aptos → Inter, Gill Sans → Lato, Futura → Jost, Japanese, Chinese and Korean system fonts → Noto CJK, and more).
6. A generic Noto Serif, Roboto Mono or Roboto.

Every substitution is reported once as a FONT_SUBSTITUTED warning. The @polotno/pptx-import README has the full map.

Warnings

The import succeeds when a feature cannot be reproduced exactly: onWarning receives { code, message, details } for every feature approximated or dropped, with the page as details.pageIndex. The codes are FONT_SUBSTITUTED, EMBEDDED_FONT_UNUSABLE, TEXT_FEATURE_UNSUPPORTED, COLOR_TRANSFORM_UNSUPPORTED, IMAGE_UNSUPPORTED, MEDIA_TOO_LARGE, MEDIA_EXTERNAL, OBJECT_PLACEHOLDER, PART_MISSING, FILL_UNSUPPORTED and SHAPE_FEATURE_UNSUPPORTED; the README lists each one's details.

Limitations

• Charts: 2-D bar, column, line, area, scatter, pie and doughnut charts become editable shapes and text. Other chart types import as their fallback picture or a placeholder.
• Text: custom bullet glyphs draw as a disc, and text outlines, highlights, underline colours, custom tab stops and WordArt warps are dropped.
• Animations, transitions and speaker notes are not imported.
• Untrusted uploads: there are no size limits and no zip-bomb guard. A server that accepts public uploads caps its input itself.

Error Handling

A file that cannot be imported rejects with a plain Error whose code is IMPORT_FAILED and whose details are { format: 'pptx', reason }. See Error Handling.