Manage Bulleted and Numbered Lists in Presentations Using PHP

Overview

Aspose.Slides for PHP via Java lets you create and format bulleted and numbered lists in PowerPoint and OpenDocument presentations. A list item is a paragraph whose bullet settings are controlled through its paragraph format.

Use the Paragraph.getParagraphFormat method to access paragraph-level list settings. The main entry point is ParagraphFormat.getBullet which returns a BulletFormat object. With this object, you can set the bullet type, symbol, picture, color, size, numbering style, and starting number.

This article shows how to:

create a bulleted list with a custom symbol
create a picture bullet
create a multilevel list by setting paragraph depth
create a numbered list
inspect and change list formatting in an existing presentation

Create a Bulleted List

To create a bulleted list, add Paragraph objects to a TextFrame and set BulletFormat.setType to BulletType.Symbol. You can then set BulletFormat.setChar, BulletFormat.getColor, and BulletFormat.setHeight to control the bullet appearance.

The following PHP code demonstrates how to create a bulleted list in a slide:

function createParagraph($paragraphText)
{
    $paragraph = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Symbol);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setChar("*");
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->setIndent(15);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setBulletHardColor(NullableBool::True);
    $bulletColor = new Java("java.awt.Color", 205, 92, 92);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->getColor()->setColor($bulletColor);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setHeight(100);
    $paragraph->setText($paragraphText);
    return $paragraph;
}

$presentation = new Presentation();
try {
    $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);
    $autoShape = $slide->getShapes()->addAutoShape(ShapeType::Rectangle, 20, 20, 200, 50);

    $textFrame = $autoShape->getTextFrame();
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->clear();

    $paragraph1 = createParagraph("The first paragraph");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph1);

    $paragraph2 = createParagraph("The second paragraph");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph2);

    $presentation->save("symbol_bullets.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
} finally {
    if (!java_is_null($presentation)) {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

The result:

The symbol bullets

Create a Numbered List

Use numbered lists when the order of items matters. Set BulletFormat.setType to BulletType.Numbered. You can also choose a numbering format with BulletFormat.setNumberedBulletStyle or set BulletFormat.setNumberedBulletStartWith when the list should start from a value other than 1.

The following PHP code shows how to create a numbered list in a slide:

$presentation = new Presentation();
try {
    $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);
    $autoShape = $slide->getShapes()->addAutoShape(ShapeType::Rectangle, 20, 20, 90, 80);

    $textFrame = $autoShape->getTextFrame();
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->clear();

    $paragraph1 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph1->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Numbered);
    $paragraph1->setText("Apple");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph1);

    $paragraph2 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph2->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Numbered);
    $paragraph2->setText("Orange");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph2);

    $paragraph3 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph3->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Numbered);
    $paragraph3->setText("Banana");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph3);

    $presentation->save("numbered_bullets.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
} finally {
    if (!java_is_null($presentation)) {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

The result:

The numbered bullets

Create a Picture Bullet

Aspose.Slides allows you to replace a regular bullet symbol with an image. Picture bullets work best with simple images that remain readable at a small size, such as icons or small transparent PNG files.

Ideally, if you plan to replace the regular bullet symbol with an image, it’s best to choose a simple graphic with a transparent background. Such images work well as custom bullet symbols.

Keep in mind that the image will be scaled down to a very small size. For that reason, we strongly recommend selecting an image that remains clear and visually effective when used as a bullet in a list.

To create a picture bullet, add an image to Presentation.getImages and assign the returned PPImage object to BulletFormat.getPicture. Set BulletFormat.setType to BulletType.Picture before assigning the image.

Let’s say we have an “image.png”:

A picture for the bullets

The following PHP code shows how to create picture bullets in a slide:

function createParagraph($paragraphText, $bulletImage)
{
    $paragraph = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Picture);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->getPicture()->setImage($bulletImage);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->setIndent(15);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setHeight(100);
    $paragraph->setText($paragraphText);
    return $paragraph;
}

$presentation = new Presentation();
try {
    $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);
    $autoShape = $slide->getShapes()->addAutoShape(ShapeType::Rectangle, 20, 20, 200, 50);

    $textFrame = $autoShape->getTextFrame();
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->clear();

    $image = Images::fromFile("image.png");
    $bulletImage = $presentation->getImages()->addImage($image);

    $paragraph1 = createParagraph("The first paragraph", $bulletImage);
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph1);

    $paragraph2 = createParagraph("The second paragraph", $bulletImage);
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph2);

    $presentation->save("picture_bullets.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
} finally {
    if (!java_is_null($presentation)) {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

The result:

The picture bullets

Create a Multilevel List

Use ParagraphFormat.setDepth to place list items on different levels. Level 0 is the top level, level 1 is nested below it, and so on.

The following PHP code shows how to create a multilevel bulleted list:

$presentation = new Presentation();
try {
    $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);
    $autoShape = $slide->getShapes()->addAutoShape(ShapeType::Rectangle, 20, 20, 260, 110);

    $textFrame = $autoShape->getTextFrame();
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->clear();

    $paragraph1 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph1->getParagraphFormat()->setDepth(0);
    $paragraph1->setText("My text - Depth 0");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph1);

    $paragraph2 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph2->getParagraphFormat()->setDepth(1);
    $paragraph2->setText("My text - Depth 1");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph2);

    $paragraph3 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph3->getParagraphFormat()->setDepth(2);
    $paragraph3->setText("My text - Depth 2");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph3);

    $paragraph4 = new Paragraph();
    $paragraph4->getParagraphFormat()->setDepth(3);
    $paragraph4->setText("My text - Depth 3");
    $textFrame->getParagraphs()->add($paragraph4);

    $presentation->save("multilevel_bullets.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
} finally {
    if (!java_is_null($presentation)) {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

The result:

The multilevel list

Change an Existing List

To change list formatting in an existing presentation, access the target paragraph and update its ParagraphFormat.getBullet settings. The same properties used to create lists can be used to inspect or modify lists loaded from a PPT, PPTX, or ODP file.

The following PHP code changes the first paragraph in a text frame to use a numbered list style:

$presentation = new Presentation("input.pptx");
try {
    $slide = $presentation->getSlides()->get_Item(0);
    $autoShape = $slide->getShapes()->get_Item(0);
    $paragraph = $autoShape->getTextFrame()->getParagraphs()->get_Item(0);

    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setType(BulletType::Numbered);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setNumberedBulletStyle(NumberedBulletStyle::BulletRomanUCPeriod);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->getBullet()->setNumberedBulletStartWith(1);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->setMarginLeft(30);
    $paragraph->getParagraphFormat()->setIndent(-20);

    $presentation->save("updated_list.pptx", SaveFormat::Pptx);
} finally {
    if (!java_is_null($presentation)) {
        $presentation->dispose();
    }
}

FAQ

Can bulleted and numbered lists be exported to PDF or images?

Yes. Aspose.Slides preserves list formatting when the target format supports the corresponding text layout and bullet features.

Can I edit lists in existing presentations?

Yes. Load the presentation, access the target paragraph, inspect or update its ParagraphFormat.getBullet settings, and save the presentation.

Can lists contain non-Latin text?

Yes. List item text can contain Unicode characters, so you can create lists in multilingual presentations. Make sure the fonts used in the presentation support the characters you need.

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