New in PowerPoint for developers
This document provides a top-level view of the additions and enhancements for developers in PowerPoint 2013. For developers who are ready to get a jump start on the PowerPoint platform, this document provides you with information to begin coding against PowerPoint 2013.
Applies to: Office 2013 | PowerPoint 2013 | PowerPoint Automation Services | VBA
In this article
Introduction
Microsoft PowerPoint Automation Services
Theme manipulation
Extended support for broadcasting a presentation
Shape events
Commenting
Drawing guides
Improvements in charting
Additional resources
Introduction
The changes to the Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 object model are incremental and provide object model support for new features in PowerPoint 2013.
Microsoft PowerPoint Automation Services
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 includes a new conversion service, Microsoft PowerPoint Automation Services, to allow you to convert presentations to other formats on a server. You can convert a PowerPoint presentation file (.pptx or .ppt) to other file types, including .pdf, .xps, and .pptx.
For more information about Microsoft PowerPoint Automation Services, see PowerPoint Automation Services in SharePoint 2013.
Theme manipulation
You can open theme files and apply them to slides programmatically in PowerPoint 2013. You can also open a theme file using the new Application.OpenThemeFile method. Microsoft PowerPoint now has a Theme object and a ThemeVariation object for working with themes in your solution.
Extended support for broadcasting a presentation
PowerPoint 2013 has many new APIs for working with a broadcasted presentation. New APIs include the Broadcast.Pause and Broadcast.Resume methods for putting a broadcast on hold. The Broadcast.PresenterServiceUrl property for getting the URL of the broadcast service; and the Broadcast.AddMeetingNotes method for including meeting notes with the broadcast.
Shape events
PowerPoint 2013 includes two application-level events for working with shapes: the Application.AfterDragDropOnSlide and the Application.AfterShapeSizeChange.
Commenting
Commenting in PowerPoint 2013 is greatly improved. New APIs have been added to Microsoft PowerPoint including the Comments.Add2 for replying to comments and the Comment.Replies for accessing the replies to a comment.
Drawing guides
PowerPoint 2013 now includes APIs for adding, deleting, and positioning drawing guides. You can use the Presentation.Guides property to return a Guides collection of all the guides in the presentation. You can then use the Guides.Add method to add new guides to the presentation and then position the guide using the properties of the Guide object.
Improvements in charting
PowerPoint 2013 includes multiple improvements to charts. There is a new method for creating charts, Shapes.AddChart2, and new APIs for changing the color and formatting of charts including Chart.ClearToMatchColorStyle method, Chart.ChartColor property, ChartFormat.AutoShapeType property.