Manage Text Boxes in Presentations with Python

Overview

Texts on slides typically exist in text boxes or shapes. Therefore, to add a text to a slide, you have to add a text box and then put some text inside the textbox. Aspose.Slides for Python provides the AutoShape class that allows you to add a shape containing some text.

Info

Aspose.Slides also provides the Shape class. However, not all shapes can hold text.

Note

Therefore, when dealing with a shape to which you want to add text, you may want to check and confirm that it was cast through the AutoShape class. Only then will you be able to work with TextFrame, which is a property under AutoShape. See the Update Text section on this page.

Create Text Boxes on Slides

To create a text box on a slide:

Create an instance of the Presentation class.
Get a reference to the first slide.
Add an AutoShape with ShapeType.RECTANGLE at the desired position on the slide.
Set the text in the shape’s TextFrame.
Save the presentation as a PPTX file.

The following Python example implements these steps:

import aspose.slides as slides

# Instantiate the Presentation class.
with slides.Presentation() as presentation:

    # Get the first slide in the presentation.
    slide = presentation.slides[0]

    # Add an AutoShape of type RECTANGLE.
    shape = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 150, 75, 150, 50)

    shape.text_frame.text = "Aspose TextBox"

    # Save the presentation to disk.
    presentation.save("TextBox.pptx", slides.export.SaveFormat.PPTX)

Check Whether a Shape Is a Text Box

Aspose.Slides provides the is_text_box property on the AutoShape class, which allows you to determine whether a shape is a text box.

Text box and shape

This Python example shows how to check whether a shape was created as a text box:

import aspose.slides as slides

with slides.Presentation("Sample.pptx") as presentation:
    for slide in presentation.slides:
        for shape in slide.shapes:
            if isinstance(shape, slides.AutoShape):
                print("shape is a text box" if shape.is_text_box else "shape is not a text box")

Note that if you add an AutoShape using the ShapeCollection class, the shape’s is_text_box property returns False. However, after you add text—either with the add_text_frame method or by setting the text property—is_text_box returns True.

import aspose.slides as slides

with slides.Presentation() as presentation:
    slide = presentation.slides[0]

    shape1 = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 10, 10, 100, 40)
    # shape1.is_text_box is false
    shape1.add_text_frame("shape 1")
    # shape1.is_text_box is true

    shape2 = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 10, 110, 100, 40)
    # shape2.is_text_box is false
    shape2.text_frame.text = "shape 2"
    # shape2.is_text_box is true

    shape3 = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 10, 210, 100, 40)
    # shape3.is_text_box is false
    shape3.add_text_frame("")
    # shape3.is_text_box is false

    shape4 = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 10, 310, 100, 40)
    # shape4.is_text_box is false
    shape4.text_frame.text = ""
    # shape4.is_text_box is false

Add Columns to Text Boxes

Aspose.Slides provides the column_count and column_spacing properties on the TextFrameFormat class to add columns to text boxes. You can specify the number of columns and set the spacing (in points) between columns.

The following Python code demonstrates this operation:

import aspose.slides as slides

with slides.Presentation() as presentation:

	# Get the first slide in the presentation.
	slide = presentation.slides[0]

	# Add an AutoShape of type RECTANGLE.
	shape = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 100, 100, 300, 300)

	# Add a TextFrame to the rectangle.
	shape.add_text_frame("All of these columns are confined to a single text container—" +
	"you can add or delete text, and any new or remaining text automatically reflows " +
	"within the container. You cannot have text flow from one container to another, " +
	"though—PowerPoint’s column options for text are limited!")

	# Get the text format of the TextFrame.
	format = shape.text_frame.text_frame_format

	# Specify the number of columns in the TextFrame.
	format.column_count = 3

	# Specify the spacing between columns.
	format.column_spacing = 10

	# Save the presentation.
	presentation.save("ColumnCount.pptx", slides.export.SaveFormat.PPTX)

Update Text

Aspose.Slides allows you to update the text in a single text box or across an entire presentation.

The following Python example demonstrates how to update all text in a presentation:

import aspose.slides as slides

with slides.Presentation("Sample.pptx") as presentation:
    for slide in presentation.slides:
        for shape in slide.shapes:
            if type(shape) is slides.AutoShape:
                for paragraph in shape.text_frame.paragraphs:
                    for portion in paragraph.portions:
                        portion.text = portion.text.replace("years", "months")
                        portion.portion_format.font_bold = 1
  
    # Save the modified presentation.
    presentation.save("TextChanged.pptx", slides.export.SaveFormat.PPTX)

Add Text Boxes with Hyperlinks

You can insert a link in a text box. When the text box is clicked, the link opens.

To add a text box that contains a hyperlink, follow these steps:

Create an instance of the Presentation class.
Get a reference to the first slide.
Add an AutoShape with ShapeType.RECTANGLE at the desired position on the slide.
Set the text in the shape’s TextFrame.
Get a reference to the HyperlinkManager.
Use the hyperlink_manager property to set an external click hyperlink.
Save the presentation as a PPTX file.

This Python example shows how to add a text box with a hyperlink to a slide:

import aspose.slides as slides

# Instantiate the Presentation class.
with slides.Presentation() as presentation:

    # Get the first slide in the presentation.
    slide = presentation.slides[0]

    # Add an AutoShape of type RECTANGLE.
    shape = slide.shapes.add_auto_shape(slides.ShapeType.RECTANGLE, 150, 150, 150, 50)

    text_portion = shape.text_frame.paragraphs[0].portions[0]

    # Add text to the frame.
    text_portion.text = "Aspose.Slides"

    # Set a hyperlink for the portion text.
    hyperlink_manager = text_portion.portion_format.hyperlink_manager
    hyperlink_manager.set_external_hyperlink_click("http://www.aspose.com")

    # Save the presentation as a PPTX file.
    presentation.save("Hyperlink.pptx", slides.export.SaveFormat.PPTX)

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