Create Text Box in PowerPoint file

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Kevin
Kevin on 18 Feb 2022
Commented: Kevin on 19 Feb 2022
Hi everyone,
I have the MATLAB Report Generator.
i want to create a powerpoint file with just one slide. In this slide, I want to add text boxes in some exact locations and some text inside the text boxes.
How do I do that?
Kevin

Answers (2)

Kevin Holly
Kevin Holly on 18 Feb 2022
This shows how to attach both images and text. It has mulitple slides, you can reduce this.
%% Open PowerPoint as a COM Automation server
h = actxserver('PowerPoint.Application')
% Show the PowerPoint window
h.Visible = 1;
% Bring up the PowerPoint session help window - this contains the API, the
% complete function list. At first it's a little intimidating, but after
% acclimating it's not hard to find the methods you're looking for. Also,
% the function signatures are given in VBA syntax, so they takes a little
% deciphering.
h.Help
%% ADD PRESENTATION
% View the methods that can be invoked
h.Presentation.invoke
% Add a presentation via "Add" method
Presentation = h.Presentation.Add
%% ADD SLIDES
% View the methods that can be invoked
Presentation.Slides.invoke
% Add a slide via "Add" method
% IF USING OFFICE 2003, use these commands:
Slide1 = Presentation.Slides.Add(1,'ppLayoutBlank')
Slide2 = Presentation.Slides.Add(2,'ppLayoutBlank')
% IF USING OFFICE 2007, use these commands:
blankSlide = Presentation.SlideMaster.CustomLayouts.Item(1);
Slide1 = Presentation.Slides.AddSlide(1,blankSlide);
Slide2 = Presentation.Slides.AddSlide(1,blankSlide);
%% GENERATE MATLAB IMAGES
figure;
plot(1:10)
print('-dpng','-r150','<full path>\test1.png')
figure;
image(ceil(64*rand(20,20)))
print('-dpng','-r150','<full path>\test2.png')
% Note: it is still necessary to save these files to disk, and then import
% them into PowerPoint from a disk file, because PowerPoint does not
% understand MATLAB data types. However, we can script this all from
% MATLAB.
%% ADD IMAGES TO SLIDES WITH TITLES
% Note: Change the image file full path names to where you save them
Image1 = Slide1.Shapes.AddPicture('<full path>\test1.png','msoFalse','msoTrue',100,20,500,500)
Image2 = Slide2.Shapes.AddPicture('<full path>\test2.png','msoFalse','msoTrue',100,20,500,500)
Title1 = Slide1.Shapes.AddTextbox('msoTextOrientationHorizontal',200,10,400,70)
Title1.TextFrame.TextRange.Text = 'plot(1:10)'
Title2 = Slide2.Shapes.AddTextbox('msoTextOrientationHorizontal',200,10,400,70)
Title2.TextFrame.TextRange.Text = 'image(ceil(64*rand(20,20)))'
%% SAVE PRESENTATION
% Note: Change the presentation full path name to where you save it
Presentation.SaveAs('C:\...\ExamplePresentation.ppt')
%% Close PowerPoint as a COM Automation server
h.Quit;
h.delete;
  7 Comments
Kevin Holly
Kevin Holly on 19 Feb 2022
I was able to remove the date&time and footer information with a template. See "Add a Slide Layout" section in the link below.
I saved my blank template PowerPoint file as BlankPresentation.pptx
I then ran the following (kudos to Sean for method to insert textbox):
import mlreportgen.ppt.*
ppt = Presentation('myTextBoxAddPresentation.pptx',"BlankPresentation.pptx");
slide = add(ppt,'Blank');
tb = TextBox();
tb.X = '1in';
tb.Y = '1in';
tb.Width = '4 in';
tb.Height = '2in';
add(ppt.Children(1),tb);
para = add(tb,'This is the content');
para.Bold = true;
close(ppt);
rptview(ppt);
Kevin
Kevin on 19 Feb 2022
So I guess it is not possible to create a totally blank PPT file without using a template.

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Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 19 Feb 2022
Edited: Sean de Wolski on 19 Feb 2022
All you have to do is set X/Y/Width/Height properties of the TextBox presentation element. See this example that does exactly what you want:

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