Programmatically combine slides from multiple presentations into a single presentation - automation

Question

I need to automate the creation of a presentation (either OpenOffice or Powerpoint). The presentation should take the first two slides of each of the presentations in a given directory, and then combine them into a single presentation. I'm confused as to what approach I should take to solve this. Any pointers will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Talking about PowerPoint, you would use a VBA Macro to do the job, something like
Sub Pull()
Dim SrcDir As String, SrcFile As String
SrcDir = PickDir()
If SrcDir = "" Then Exit Sub
SrcFile = Dir(SrcDir & "\*.ppt")
Do While SrcFile <> ""
ImportFromPPT SrcDir + "\" + SrcFile, 1, 2
SrcFile = Dir()
Loop
End Sub
Selecting your source directory you can use this function
Private Function PickDir() As String
Dim FD As FileDialog
PickDir = ""
Set FD = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
With FD
.Title = "Pick a directory to work on"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
.Show
If .SelectedItems.Count <> 0 Then
PickDir = .SelectedItems(1)
End If
End With
End Function
Now - the main point is inserting slides from another PPT while preserving the source format. This is a tricky thing, as the PPT VBA InsertFromFile method is of no good use. Microsoft gave us good time to figure it out the hard way in countless 20hrs debuging sessions :-) and you need to type a lot of code to get it done correctly - far more complicated than using the dialogue manually, in particular if your source slide deviates from your source master slide.
If your PPT's are sticking to their masters, you can safely omit all code between the ">>>>"
Private Sub ImportFromPPT(FileName As String, SlideFrom As Long, SlideTo As Long)
Dim SrcPPT As Presentation, SrcSld As Slide, Idx As Long, SldCnt As Long
Set SrcPPT = Presentations.Open(FileName, , , msoFalse)
SldCnt = SrcPPT.Slides.Count
If SlideFrom > SldCnt Then Exit Sub
If SlideTo > SldCnt Then SlideTo = SldCnt
For Idx = SlideFrom To SlideTo Step 1
Set SrcSld = SrcPPT.Slides(Idx)
SrcSld.Copy
With ActivePresentation.Slides.Paste
.Design = SrcSld.Design
.ColorScheme = SrcSld.ColorScheme
' if slide is not following its master (design, color scheme)
' we must collect all bits & pieces from the slide itself
' >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If SrcSld.FollowMasterBackground = False Then
.FollowMasterBackground = False
.Background.Fill.Visible = SrcSld.Background.Fill.Visible
.Background.Fill.ForeColor = SrcSld.Background.Fill.ForeColor
.Background.Fill.BackColor = SrcSld.Background.Fill.BackColor
' inspect the FillType object
Select Case SrcSld.Background.Fill.Type
Case Is = msoFillTextured
Select Case SrcSld.Background.Fill.TextureType
Case Is = msoTexturePreset
.Background.Fill.PresetTextured (SrcSld.Background.Fill.PresetTexture)
Case Is = msoTextureUserDefined
' TextureName gives a filename w/o path
' not implemented, see picture handling
End Select
Case Is = msoFillSolid
.Background.Fill.Transparency = 0#
.Background.Fill.Solid
Case Is = msoFillPicture
' picture cannot be copied directly, need to export and re-import slide image
If SrcSld.Shapes.Count > 0 Then SrcSld.Shapes.Range.Visible = False
bMasterShapes = SrcSld.DisplayMasterShapes
SrcSld.DisplayMasterShapes = False
SrcSld.Export SrcPPT.Path & SrcSld.SlideID & ".png", "PNG"
.Background.Fill.UserPicture SrcPPT.Path & SrcSld.SlideID & ".png"
Kill (SrcPPT.Path & SrcSld.SlideID & ".png")
SrcSld.DisplayMasterShapes = bMasterShapes
If SrcSld.Shapes.Count > 0 Then SrcSld.Shapes.Range.Visible = True
Case Is = msoFillPatterned
.Background.Fill.Patterned (SrcSld.Background.Fill.Pattern)
Case Is = msoFillGradient
' inspect gradient type
Select Case SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientColorType
Case Is = msoGradientTwoColors
.Background.Fill.TwoColorGradient
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientStyle , _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientVariant
Case Is = msoGradientPresetColors
.Background.Fill.PresetGradient _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientStyle, _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientVariant, _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.PresetGradientType
Case Is = msoGradientOneColor
.Background.Fill.OneColorGradient _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientStyle, _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientVariant, _
SrcSld.Background.Fill.GradientDegree
End Select
Case Is = msoFillBackground
' Only shapes - we shouldn't come here
End Select
End If
' >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
End With
Next Idx
End Sub
The code doesn't check for read-only or password protected fies and will crash on them. Also be careful not to run over the collector file itself. Otherwise it should work. I must admit I haven't reviewed the code for a long time ;-)

Answer 2

You can google "powerpoint join" to find a useful tool to join many ppts.

Answer 3

I'm glad #miked was able to get you what you needed.
Another method to consider, if using .NET, is discussed in this post

Answer 4

A simple and fast solution:
I := Presentation.Slides.InsertFromFile(FileName,X,StartSlideNo,EndSlideNo);
Presentation.Slides.Item(I).ApplyTheme(FileName);
Presentation.Slides.Item(I).ApplyTemplate(FileName);
Note:
X is place to insert slide in presentation
I is actual place where slide was inserted
Code is written in Delphi/Pascal but you can convert it easelly ...

Answer 5

You can do this with Aspose.Slides for .NET. It even allows joining OpenOffice and PowerPoint presentations together. View this article.
var presentation1 = new Presentation("presentation1.pptx");
var presentation2 = new Presentation("presentation2.odp");
var mergedPresentation = new Presentation();
while (mergedPresentation.Slides.Count > 0) mergedPresentation.Slides.RemoveAt(0);
// Adding two slides from the first PPTX presentation
mergedPresentation.Slides.AddClone(presentation1.Slides[0]);
mergedPresentation.Slides.AddClone(presentation1.Slides[1]);
// Adding two slides from the second OPD presentation
mergedPresentation.Slides.AddClone(presentation2.Slides[0]);
mergedPresentation.Slides.AddClone(presentation2.Slides[1]);
mergedPresentation.Save("mergedPresentation.pptx", SaveFormat.Pptx);