Text Box

In Aspose.Slides, a text box is represented by an AutoShape. Nearly any shape can contain text, but a typical text box has no fill or border and displays only text.

This guide explains how to add, access, and remove text boxes programmatically.

Add a Text Box

A text box is simply an AutoShape with no fill or border and some formatted text. Here’s how to create one:

function addTextBox() {
    $presentation = new Presentation();
    try {
        $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);

        // Create a rectangle shape (defaults to filled with border and no text).
        $textBox = $slide->getShapes()->addAutoShape(ShapeType::Rectangle, 50, 75, 150, 100);

        // Remove fill and border to make it look like a typical text box.
        $textBox->getFillFormat()->setFillType(FillType::NoFill);
        $textBox->getLineFormat()->getFillFormat()->setFillType(FillType::NoFill);

        // Set text formatting.
        $paragraph = $textBox->getTextFrame()->getParagraphs()->get_Item(0);
        $portionFormat = $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getDefaultPortionFormat();
        $portionFormat->getFillFormat()->setFillType(FillType::Solid);
        $portionFormat->getFillFormat()->getSolidFillColor()->setColor(java("java.awt.Color")->BLACK);

        // Assign the actual text content.
        $textBox->getTextFrame()->setText("Some text...");

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

💡 Note: Any AutoShape that contains a non-empty TextFrame can function as a text box.

Access Text Boxes by Content

To find all text boxes containing a specific keyword (e.g. “Slide”), iterate through the shapes and check their text:

function accessTextBox() {
    $presentation = new Presentation("text_box.pptx");
    try {
        $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);

        // Access the first text box on the slide.
        $firstTextBox = null;
        $shapeCount = java_values($slide->getShapes()->size());
        for ($index = 0; $index < $shapeCount; $index++) {
            $shape = $slide->getShapes()->get_Item($index);
            if (java_instanceof($shape, new JavaClass("com.aspose.slides.AutoShape"))) {
                $firstTextBox = $shape;
                if (strpos($firstTextBox->getTextFrame()->getText(), "Slide") !== false) {
                    // Do something with the matching text box.
                }
                break;
            }
        }
    } finally {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

Remove Text Boxes by Content

This example finds and deletes all text boxes on the first slide that contain a specific keyword:

function removeTextBoxes() {
    $presentation = new Presentation("text_box.pptx");
    try {
        $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);

        $shapesToRemove = [];

        $shapeCount = java_values($slide->getShapes()->size());
        for ($index = 0; $index < $shapeCount; $index++) {
            $shape = $slide->getShapes()->get_Item($index);
            if (java_instanceof($shape, new JavaClass("com.aspose.slides.AutoShape"))) {
                $autoShape = $shape;
                if (strpos($autoShape->getTextFrame()->getText(), "Slide") !== false) {
                    $shapesToRemove[] = $shape;
                }
            }
        }

        foreach ($shapesToRemove as $shape) {
            $slide->getShapes()->remove($shape);
        }

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

💡 Tip: Always create a copy of the shape collection before modifying it during iteration to avoid collection modification errors.