outline-to-slides

Convert markdown or JSON outlines into professional PowerPoint presentations instantly.

Features

✨ 8 Slide Layouts - Content, Bullets, Quote, Two-column, Metrics, Chart, Table, Image

🎨 4 Color Themes - Default, Modern, Dark, Forest

🧠 Intelligent Parsing - Automatically detects slide types from markdown keywords

📊 Data Visualization - Built-in support for charts, metrics, and tables

🔤 Slide Subtitles - Add subtitles to individual slides

#️⃣ Auto Numbering - Automatic slide numbering across all slides

⚡ Fast & Easy - Generate presentations in seconds

Installation

npm install outline-to-slides

Quick Start

1. Create a JSON Outline

const { convertJsonOutline, jsonToPptx } = require('outline-to-slides');

const outline = {
  title: "My Presentation",
  author: "Your Name",
  subtitle: "A professional slide deck",
  theme: "modern",
  slides: [
    {
      title: "Introduction",
      type: "content",
      content: "Welcome to my presentation!"
    },
    {
      title: "Key Points",
      type: "bullets",
      points: [
        "First important point",
        "Second important point",
        "Third important point"
      ]
    }
  ]
};

const presentation = convertJsonOutline(outline);
await jsonToPptx(presentation, 'output.pptx');

2. Use Markdown Outline

const { parseOutline, jsonToPptx } = require('outline-to-slides');

const markdown = `
# My Presentation

## Introduction
This is the introduction slide.

## Key Points
- Point one
- Point two
- Point three

## Conclusion
Thank you!
`;

const presentation = parseOutline(markdown, {
  title: "My Presentation",
  author: "Your Name"
});

await jsonToPptx(presentation, 'output.pptx');

Slide Types

Choose the right layout for your content:

| Type | Use For | Example | |------|---------|---------| | content | Body text and paragraphs | "Introduction", "About Us" | | bullets | Key points and lists | "Features", "Benefits" | | quote | Testimonials and quotes | "Customer Quote" | | two_column | Comparisons and side-by-side | "Before vs After" | | metrics | Key numbers and stats | "Q4 Results" | | chart | Data visualization | "Revenue Growth" | | table | Tabular data | "Comparison Table" | | image | Images with descriptions | "Product Screenshot" |

Example: Multiple Layout Types

const outline = {
  title: "Product Roadmap",
  slides: [
    {
      title: "Executive Summary",
      type: "content",
      content: "Overview of our 2025 roadmap..."
    },
    {
      title: "Key Metrics",
      type: "metrics",
      metrics: [
        { title: "Revenue", value: "$42.5M", description: "Up 15%" },
        { title: "Customers", value: "500+", description: "Growth 22%" }
      ]
    },
    {
      title: "Current vs Future",
      type: "two_column",
      left: { heading: "Current", content: "..." },
      right: { heading: "Future", content: "..." }
    },
    {
      title: "Roadmap Timeline",
      type: "chart",
      chart_type: "bar",
      chart_json: "{...}",
      text_heading: "Implementation Plan",
      text_body: "Phased rollout across..."
    }
  ]
};

Color Themes

Choose from 4 professional themes:

const outline = {
  title: "My Presentation",
  theme: "modern",  // Options: 'default', 'modern', 'dark', 'forest'
  slides: [...]
};

Theme Options

• default - Classic blue and purple (professional corporate)
• modern - Vibrant red, teal, and yellow (creative and energetic)
• dark - Cyan on dark blue background (tech-focused, modern)
• forest - Green palette (eco-friendly, nature-focused)

Advanced Features

Slide Subtitles

Add subtitles to individual slides:

{
  title: "Main Title",
  subtitle: "Optional subtitle text",
  type: "content",
  content: "Slide content here"
}

Intelligent Markdown Parsing

The parser auto-detects slide types from keywords:

# Revenue Chart         ← Auto-detected as "chart"
# Q4 Metrics           ← Auto-detected as "metrics"
# Enterprise vs SMB    ← Auto-detected as "two_column"
# Customer Testimonial ← Auto-detected as "quote"
# Product Table        ← Auto-detected as "table"
# Screenshot           ← Auto-detected as "image"

Control Closing Slide

const presentation = parseOutline(markdown, {
  title: "My Presentation",
  author: "Your Name",
  includeClosingSlide: false  // Don't add "Thank You" slide
});

Complete Example

const { convertJsonOutline, jsonToPptx } = require('outline-to-slides');

const presentation = {
  title: "Q4 2024 Results",
  subtitle: "Executive Summary",
  author: "Finance Team",
  theme: "modern",
  includeClosingSlide: true,
  slides: [
    {
      title: "Executive Summary",
      subtitle: "Key Highlights",
      type: "content",
      content: "Strong performance across all metrics this quarter."
    },
    {
      title: "Financial Results",
      subtitle: "Performance Overview",
      type: "metrics",
      metrics: [
        {
          title: "Revenue",
          value: "$42.5M",
          description: "Up 15% YoY"
        },
        {
          title: "Gross Margin",
          value: "78%",
          description: "Improved from 75%"
        },
        {
          title: "Customer Growth",
          value: "22%",
          description: "500+ customers"
        },
        {
          title: "Net Retention",
          value: "110%",
          description: "Strong expansion"
        }
      ],
      description: "All key metrics show positive momentum into 2025."
    },
    {
      title: "Market Expansion",
      subtitle: "Enterprise vs SMB",
      type: "two_column",
      left: {
        heading: "Enterprise Segment",
        content: "Enterprise customers grew 28% with strong expansion in North America and Europe. Secured 3 Fortune 500 companies."
      },
      right: {
        heading: "SMB Segment",
        content: "SMB segment grew 15% with focus on self-serve adoption. Automated onboarding reduced CAC by 40%."
      }
    },
    {
      title: "Key Takeaways",
      subtitle: "Strategic Direction",
      type: "bullets",
      points: [
        "Strong revenue growth across all segments",
        "Market expansion successful in new geographies",
        "Team expanded with 25 new hires",
        "24 new features launched",
        "Customer satisfaction at all-time high"
      ]
    }
  ]
};

const pres = convertJsonOutline(presentation);
await jsonToPptx(pres, 'q4-results.pptx');

API Reference

convertJsonOutline(outline)

Converts a JSON outline to presentation structure.

Parameters:

• outline.title (string, required) - Presentation title
• outline.author (string, required) - Author name
• outline.subtitle (string, optional) - Presentation subtitle
• outline.theme (string, optional) - Color theme: 'default', 'modern', 'dark', 'forest'
• outline.includeClosingSlide (boolean, optional) - Add closing slide (default: true)
• outline.slides (array, required) - Array of slide objects

Returns: Presentation object ready for jsonToPptx()

parseOutline(markdown, options)

Converts markdown to presentation structure.

Parameters:

• markdown (string, required) - Markdown formatted outline
• options.title (string, required) - Presentation title
• options.author (string, required) - Author name
• options.subtitle (string, optional) - Presentation subtitle
• options.theme (string, optional) - Color theme
• options.includeClosingSlide (boolean, optional) - Add closing slide

Returns: Presentation object

jsonToPptx(presentation, outputPath)

Generates PowerPoint file from presentation object.

Parameters:

• presentation (object, required) - Presentation from convertJsonOutline() or parseOutline()
• outputPath (string, required) - Output file path (e.g., 'presentation.pptx')

Returns: Promise that resolves with output path

Examples

The package includes 11 working examples:

# Basic JSON outline
node examples/01-json-basic.js

# Charts and data visualization
node examples/02-charts.js

# HTML parsing
node examples/03-html-parsing.js

# Custom themes
node examples/04-custom-theme.js

# Tables
node examples/05-tables.js

# All layouts showcase
node examples/06-all-layouts.js

# Charts showcase
node examples/07-charts-showcase.js

# Theme selection
node examples/10-theme-selection.js

# Outline showcase
node examples/11-outline-showcase.js

Use Cases

Business Presentations

const outline = {
  title: "Annual Investor Update",
  theme: "default",  // Professional
  slides: [
    // Financial results, roadmap, projections
  ]
};

Conference Talks

const outline = {
  title: "Machine Learning 101",
  theme: "dark",  // Tech-focused
  slides: [
    // Concepts, examples, code samples
  ]
};

Product Demos

const outline = {
  title: "Product Features",
  theme: "modern",  // Vibrant
  slides: [
    // Features, benefits, demo screenshots
  ]
};

Command Line Usage

# Generate presentation from JSON file
outline-to-slides input.json output.pptx

# Use specific theme
outline-to-slides input.json output.pptx --theme modern

# Parse markdown
outline-to-slides input.md output.pptx --markdown

Tips & Best Practices

✅ Do's

• Use specific, descriptive titles
• Keep bullet points concise (max 5-6 per slide)
• Use appropriate slide types for your content
• Match theme to presentation tone
• Test your presentation before sharing
• Use subtitles for clarity
• Keep total slides under 20

❌ Don'ts

• Don't overload slides with text
• Don't mix unrelated content
• Don't use default theme for creative presentations
• Don't forget to set author and title
• Don't use too many different fonts
• Don't skip the introduction slide

Supported Node Versions

• Minimum: Node.js 14.0.0
• Recommended: Node.js 16.0.0+

Browser Support

This is a Node.js library. For browser usage, you'll need to use a bundler like webpack or browserify.

Documentation

• QUICK_START.md - Quick reference guide (5 minutes)
• THEME_GUIDE.md - Color themes documentation
• OUTLINE_ENHANCEMENTS.md - Advanced features guide
• examples/ - 11 working code examples

Troubleshooting

PowerPoint won't open

• Ensure the file path is valid
• Check that jsonToPptx completes without errors

Slide content is cut off

• Reduce text length
• Use a more appropriate slide type
• Use subtitles instead of longer text

Theme not applying

• Verify theme name: 'default', 'modern', 'dark', or 'forest'
• Ensure theme is specified in outline object

Missing slide numbers

• Slide numbers are automatic (starting from slide 2)
• Title slide (slide 1) is intentionally not numbered

Performance

• Small presentations (< 10 slides): < 1 second
• Medium presentations (10-30 slides): 1-5 seconds
• Large presentations (30+ slides): 5-15 seconds

Times vary based on content complexity and system resources.

Package Contents

• 34 files total
• 58.7 KB packed
• 290.5 KB unpacked
• JavaScript source only (no TypeScript)
• 11 working examples
• 4 documentation files

License

MIT - See LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome! Check the repository for guidelines.

Support

• Documentation: See QUICK_START.md and other guides
• Examples: Check the examples/ directory
• Issues: Report via GitHub or npm package

Changelog

v1.1.1 (Latest)

• Excluded TypeScript files from package
• Added QUICK_START.md documentation
• Optimized package size (88% smaller)

v1.1.0

• Added 4 color themes (modern, dark, forest)
• Enhanced outline parser with 8 slide layouts
• Added intelligent markdown parsing
• Added slide subtitles and numbering

v1.0.0

• Initial release

Version

Current: 1.1.1 Latest npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/outline-to-slides

Repository

For source code and issues: See package.json for repository URL

Keywords

PowerPoint, PPTX, Presentation, Generator, Slides, Outline, Markdown, JSON, Automation, LLM, AI

Get started in 5 minutes! See QUICK_START.md for a quick introduction.