Master Slide

Master slides form the top level of the slide inheritance hierarchy in PowerPoint. A master slide defines common design elements such as backgrounds, logos, and text formatting. Layout slides inherit from master slides, and normal slides inherit from layout slides.

This article demonstrates how to create, modify, and manage master slides using Aspose.Slides for PHP via Java.

Add a Master Slide

This example shows how to create a new master slide by cloning the default one.

function addMasterSlide() {
    $presentation = new Presentation();
    try {
        // Clone the default master slide.
        $defaultMasterSlide = $presentation->getMasters()->get_Item(0);
        $newMasterSlide = $presentation->getMasters()->addClone($defaultMasterSlide);

        $presentation->save("master_slide.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
    } finally {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

💡 Tip 1: Master slides provide a way to apply consistent branding or shared design elements across all slides. Any changes made to the master will automatically reflect on dependent layout and normal slides.

💡 Tip 2: Any shapes or formatting added to a master slide are inherited by layout slides and, in turn, all normal slides using those layouts. The image below illustrates how a text box added on a master slide is automatically rendered on the final slide.

Access a Master Slide

You can access master slides using the Presentation::getMasters method. Here’s how to retrieve and work with them:

function accessMasterSlide() {
    $presentation = new Presentation("master_slide.pptx");
    try {
        // Access the first master slide.
        $firstMasterSlide = $presentation->getMasters()->get_Item(0);
    } finally {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

Remove a Master Slide

Master slides can be removed either by index or by reference.

function removeMasterSlide() {
    $presentation = new Presentation("master_slide.pptx");
    try {
        // Remove by index.
        $presentation->getMasters()->removeAt(0);

        // Or remove by reference.
        $firstMasterSlide = $presentation->getMasters()->get_Item(0);
        $presentation->getMasters()->remove($firstMasterSlide);

        $presentation->save("master_slide_removed.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
    } finally {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

Remove Unused Master Slides

Some presentations contain master slides that are not in use. Removing these slides can help reduce file size.

function removeUnusedMasterSlide() {
    $presentation = new Presentation("master_slide.pptx");
    try {
        // Remove all unused master slides (even those marked as Preserve).
        $presentation->getMasters()->removeUnused(true);

        $presentation->save("master_slides_removed.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
    } finally {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

⚙️ Tip: Use removeUnused(true) to clean up unused master slides and minimize the presentation size.