Devexpress Office File Api Presentation

DevExpress Presentation API

The Presentation API is a cross-platform .NET library for creating, loading, modifying, saving, and printing PowerPoint presentations in code — without requiring Microsoft Office. It supports PPTX, PPTM, POTX, and POTM formats and can export to PDF. You can use it in console, desktop, and web applications targeting .NET 6+.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Create PowerPoint presentations (.pptx) programmatically without Microsoft Office
• Load and read existing .pptx/.pptm/.potx/.potm files
• Modify existing presentations (add/remove slides, update shapes and text)
• Manage slides: add, remove, reorder, clone, or copy slides between presentations
• Work with shapes: add geometric shapes, picture shapes, and configure fill and outline
• Add and format text inside shapes (paragraphs, runs, bullets, font settings)
• Create and customize tables on slides (rows, columns, cells, styles, borders)
• Set slide backgrounds (solid color, gradient, pattern, picture)
• Configure slide masters and layouts for consistent presentation design
• Export presentations to PDF with options (security, image quality, signatures)
• Merge or split presentations
• Add, read, or remove speaker notes
• Configure headers and footers on slides
• Search, replace, or remove text across a presentation
• Extract text and images from presentation slides
• Print presentations
• Configure themes, view settings, and document properties

Prerequisites & Installation

NuGet Packages

| Package | Purpose | |---------|---------| | DevExpress.Docs.Presentation | Core presentation processing (create, load, edit, save, export) |

.NET (6/7/8+)

dotnet add package DevExpress.Docs.Presentation

Important: All DevExpress packages in a project must share the same version number. A valid DevExpress license is required.

Before You Start — Ask the Developer

Before generating code, ask these questions to avoid rework:

General Questions

1. Target framework: Are you using .NET 8+, .NET 6/7, or .NET Framework 4.x?
2. New or existing project?: Are you creating a new project or adding to an existing one?
3. Hosting model: Console app, ASP.NET Core, Blazor, MAUI, WinForms, WPF, or something else?

Presentation-Specific Questions

1. Operation type: Create new presentation / read existing / modify slides / merge-split / export to PDF?
2. Features needed: Slides / shapes / text / tables / backgrounds / themes / notes / headers-footers?
3. Output: Do you need to extract content or produce a .pptx / PDF?

> Rule: If the developer's answer is ambiguous or missing, ask before generating code. Do not guess.

Component Overview

The Presentation API provides:

• Document management: Create, load, and save presentations (Presentation, DocumentFormat)
• Slide management: Add, remove, reorder, clone, and copy slides (Slide, SlideCollection)
• Masters and layouts: Define consistent slide designs (SlideMaster, SlideLayout, SlideLayoutType)
• Shapes and text: All shape types, text areas, paragraphs, runs, and formatting (Shape, TextArea, TextParagraph, TextRun)
• Tables: Create and customize slide tables (Table, TableCell, TableRow, TableColumn)
• Export and print: PDF export with options, printing (ExportToPdf, PdfExportOptions, PrintOptions)

Core Entry Point

using DevExpress.Docs.Presentation;

// Create a new presentation (contains one default slide)
Presentation presentation = new Presentation();

// Load from file
using FileStream fs = File.OpenRead("input.pptx");
Presentation loaded = new Presentation(fs);

// Load from byte array
Presentation fromBytes = new Presentation(File.ReadAllBytes("input.pptx"));

// Save
using FileStream output = new FileStream("output.pptx", FileMode.Create);
presentation.SaveDocument(output);

// Export to PDF
presentation.ExportToPdf("output.pdf");

Documentation & Navigation Guide

Getting Started

Refer to [references/getting-started.md](references/getting-started.md)

When you need to:

• Set up the Presentation API for the first time
• Understand NuGet packages and assembly references
• Create your first .pptx presentation
• Load an existing presentation from a file or stream
• See a complete working example

Slides and Shapes

Refer to [references/slides-and-shapes.md](references/slides-and-shapes.md)

When you need to:

• Add, remove, reorder, clone, or copy slides
• Add geometric shapes, picture shapes, or group shapes to a slide
• Position and size shapes (X, Y, Width, Height in document units)
• Configure shape fill (solid, gradient, pattern, picture) and outline
• Add and format text inside shapes (paragraphs, runs, font, bullets)
• Create and customize tables (rows, columns, cells, styles, borders)
• Set slide backgrounds
• Configure slide masters and layouts

Charts (v26.1+)

Refer to [references/charts.md](references/charts.md)

When you need to:

• Add a standard chart (bar, line, pie, scatter, area, etc.) to a slide
• Add an Office 2016+ chart type (waterfall, funnel, treemap, sunburst, etc.)
• Configure chart data series with ChartStringData and ChartNumericData
• Choose between Chart (standard types) and ChartEx (Office 2016+ types)
• Customize individual data points (CustomDataPoints, DataPoint, Marker, MarkerStyle)
• Configure the chart legend (position, appearance, custom entries)

Export

Refer to [references/export.md](references/export.md)

When you need to:

• Export a presentation to PDF
• Configure PDF export options (security, image optimization, signatures, attachments)
• Export slides to images (DXImage[]) with configurable resolution (v26.1+)
• Merge two or more presentations
• Split a presentation into separate files
• Print a presentation

Advanced Features

Refer to [references/advanced-features.md](references/advanced-features.md)

When you need to:

• Add, edit, or remove speaker notes
• Configure slide headers and footers (footer text, date, slide number)
• Search, replace, or remove text across the presentation or a specific slide
• Extract text or images from slides programmatically
• Customize presentation themes (color scheme, font scheme)
• Configure view settings (active view, grid spacing, normal view layout)
• Read or set document properties (title, author, keywords, custom properties)

Quick Start Example

Create a presentation with a title slide and one content slide:

using DevExpress.Docs.Office;
using DevExpress.Docs.Presentation;
using System.Drawing;

// Create a new presentation
Presentation presentation = new Presentation();

// Remove the default slide
presentation.Slides.Clear();

// Access the default slide master and its Title layout
SlideMaster master = presentation.SlideMasters[0];
master.Background = new CustomSlideBackground(new SolidFill(Color.FromArgb(230, 240, 255)));

// Add a title slide
Slide titleSlide = new Slide(master.Layouts.Get(SlideLayoutType.Title));
foreach (Shape shape in titleSlide.Shapes) {
    if (shape.PlaceholderSettings.Type is PlaceholderType.CenteredTitle)
        shape.TextArea = new TextArea("My Presentation");
    if (shape.PlaceholderSettings.Type is PlaceholderType.Subtitle)
        shape.TextArea = new TextArea("Created with DevExpress Presentation API");
}
presentation.Slides.Add(titleSlide);

// Add a content slide
Slide contentSlide = new Slide(master.Layouts.GetOrCreate(SlideLayoutType.Object));
foreach (Shape shape in contentSlide.Shapes) {
    if (shape.PlaceholderSettings.Type is PlaceholderType.Title)
        shape.TextArea = new TextArea("Key Points");
    if (shape.PlaceholderSettings.Type is PlaceholderType.Body) {
        TextArea body = new TextArea();
        body.Paragraphs.Clear();
        body.Paragraphs.Add(new TextParagraph("First bullet point"));
        body.Paragraphs.Add(new TextParagraph("Second bullet point"));
        body.Paragraphs.Add(new TextParagraph("Third bullet point"));
        shape.TextArea = body;
    }
}
presentation.Slides.Add(contentSlide);

// Add footer with slide numbers
presentation.HeaderFooterManager.AddSlideNumberPlaceholder(presentation.Slides);

// Save as .pptx
using FileStream outStream = new FileStream("output.pptx", FileMode.Create);
presentation.SaveDocument(outStream);

What This Does

Creates a two-slide presentation with a styled blue background. The first slide is a title slide; the second slide has a title and a bullet list. The result is saved as output.pptx.

Key Properties & API Surface

Presentation

| Property/Method | Type | Description | |----------------|------|-------------| | Slides | SlideCollection | Access all slides in the presentation | | SlideMasters | SlideMasterCollection | Access slide masters | | SlideSize | SlideSize | Get or set slide dimensions and orientation | | HeaderFooterManager | HeaderFooterManager | Manage headers and footers | | NotesMaster | NotesMaster | Access the notes master layout | | ViewProperties | ViewProperties | Configure view settings | | DocumentProperties | DocumentProperties | Access metadata (title, author, etc.) | | SaveDocument(Stream) | void | Save presentation to a stream | | ExportToPdf(string) | void | Export to PDF file path | | ExportToPdf(Stream, PdfExportOptions) | void | Export to PDF with options | | Print() | void | Print with default printer | | Print(PrintOptions) | void | Print with specified options | | FindText(string, TextSearchOptions) | IList | Search text across all slides | | ReplaceText(string, string, TextSearchOptions) | void | Replace text across all slides | | GetActualShapeBounds(Slide, Shape) | RectangleF | Get effective bounds of a shape |

Slide

| Property/Method | Type | Description | |----------------|------|-------------| | Shapes | ShapeCollection | Shapes on this slide | | Background | SlideBackground | Slide background fill | | Notes | NotesSlide | Speaker notes for this slide | | Visible | bool | Whether the slide is shown during presentation | | ShowMasterShapes | bool | Whether master/layout shapes are inherited | | Clone() | Slide | Create a copy of this slide | | FindText(string, TextSearchOptions) | IList | Search text within this slide | | ReplaceText(string, string, TextSearchOptions) | void | Replace text within this slide | | ActualFooterPlaceholder | Shape | Footer placeholder shape | | ActualSlideNumberPlaceholder | Shape | Slide number placeholder shape | | ActualDateTimePlaceholder | Shape | Date/time placeholder shape |

Shape

| Property/Method | Type | Description | |----------------|------|-------------| | X, Y | float | Top-left position in document units (1/300 inch) | | Width, Height | float | Size in document units | | Fill | OfficeFill | Fill style (SolidFill, GradientFill, etc.) | | Outline | LineStyle | Border/outline style | | TextArea | TextArea | Text content and formatting | | PlaceholderSettings | PlaceholderSettings | Placeholder type, index, size | | Effects | ShapeEffectProperties | Visual effects (shadow, glow, etc.) | | Name | string | Shape name |

Common Patterns

Add a Text Shape to a Slide

Shape shape = new Shape(ShapeType.Rectangle, x: 100, y: 100, width: 2000, height: 600);
shape.Fill = new SolidFill(Color.LightBlue);
shape.Outline = new LineStyle { Fill = new SolidFill(Color.SteelBlue), Width = 2 };
shape.TextArea = new TextArea("Hello, Presentation API!");
slide.Shapes.Add(shape);

Add a Table to a Slide

// Table(rows, columns, x, y, width, height)
Table table = new Table(3, 4, 100f, 200f, 3000f, 1200f);
table.Style = new ThemedTableStyle(TableStyleType.LightStyle1Accent4);
table[0, 0].TextArea.Text = "Header 1";
table[0, 1].TextArea.Text = "Header 2";
table.HasHeaderRow = true;
slide.Shapes.Add(table);

Load, Modify, Save

Presentation presentation = new Presentation(File.ReadAllBytes("input.pptx"));
Slide slide = presentation.Slides[0];
foreach (Shape shape in slide.Shapes) {
    if (shape is Shape s && s.TextArea != null)
        s.TextArea.ReplaceText("old text", "new text");
}
using FileStream fs = new FileStream("output.pptx", FileMode.Create);
presentation.SaveDocument(fs);

Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Cause | Solution | |---------|-------|----------| | PresentationUnsupportedFormatException | File is not a valid PPTX/PPTM/POTX/POTM | Verify file format; only Open XML formats are supported | | InvalidOperationException on save | SlideMasters collection is empty | Always keep at least one SlideMaster in the presentation | | ArgumentOutOfRangeException on table access | Row or column index is out of range | Check table.Rows.Count and table.Columns.Count before indexing | | SmartArt/Charts not in PDF export | Known limitation: these elements are not exported | Accepted limitation; use image workarounds if needed | | Version mismatch error at build | Mixed DevExpress package versions | Ensure all DX packages use the exact same version (e.g., all 25.2.x) | | License error at runtime | Missing or invalid DevExpress license | Register license key per the DevExpress installation guide | | Shapes not visible on exported slide | Shape coordinates exceed slide bounds | Check Presentation.SlideSize and adjust shape X/Y/Width/Height |

Constraints & Rules

CRITICAL — follow these rules in every interaction:

1. Build verification: After making changes, verify the project builds with dotnet build. Check for errors before reporting success.
2. NuGet packages: Use DevExpress.Docs.Presentation for core features. Do not guess other package names.
3. Namespace imports: Always include using DevExpress.Docs.Presentation; and using DevExpress.Docs.Office; (for text types, fills, and effects). Add DevExpress.Docs.Presentation.Export and DevExpress.Docs.Presentation.Printing as needed.
4. Version consistency: All DevExpress packages must use the same version.
5. License: DevExpress requires a valid license. Remind the developer if they encounter license-related errors.
6. No destructive changes: Preserve existing code structure. Only add or modify what is necessary.
7. Framework detection: Check the project's .csproj for target framework. The Presentation API supports .NET 6+ and .NET Framework 4.6.2+.
8. Coordinate units: Shape position and size values use document units (1/300 inch). Use appropriate values for visible placement on a typical widescreen slide (default: ~4000 x 2250 units).

Using DevExpress Documentation MCP

If the DxDocs MCP server is available, use it to supplement this skill:

• Search: Use devexpress_docs_search with technology "Presentation API" and your question.
• Fetch: Use devexpress_docs_get_content with a documentation URL to get full article content.

When to use MCP vs. built-in references:

• Built-in references: Getting started, common patterns, key properties, troubleshooting.
• MCP search: Advanced scenarios not covered here, version-specific changes, uncommon features, or when the developer asks about something outside this skill's references.
• Always MCP for: Exact method signatures, event args, or enum values when you are not 100% certain.

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Next Steps

Start with [Getting Started](references/getting-started.md) to install and configure the Presentation API, then explore specific features through the navigation guide above.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: DevExpress
• Source: DevExpress/agent-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://www.devexpress.com

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.