pptx-pdf-font-fix

What This Skill Does

The pptx-pdf-font-fix skill provides a specialized solution to a notorious issue in Microsoft PowerPoint where custom or downloaded fonts fail to embed correctly when exporting to PDF, even if the "Embed fonts in the file" option is enabled. This tool works by injecting a negligible 1% transparency value into fully opaque text runs within the PowerPoint XML structure. By altering this value, the tool forces the PowerPoint render engine to re-process and correctly embed the font resources during the PDF export phase, resulting in high-fidelity typography that matches the original document.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, use the OpenClaw CLI: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/chernojagne/pptx-pdf-font-fix Ensure you have Python 3 installed, as the script relies on standard XML manipulation libraries to patch the underlying document structure without damaging slides, master layouts, or image assets.

Use Cases

This skill is essential for design professionals, students, and corporate users who utilize custom typography for branding or academic compliance. Use this when:

• Your corporate branding requires specific fonts that are substituted by generic system fonts (like Calibri or Arial) upon PDF conversion.
• You are creating high-stakes presentations (such as pitch decks or academic papers) where visual consistency in PDF format is non-negotiable.
• You have verified that fonts are correctly installed on your local machine and are marked as 'embeddable' but are still failing to appear in the exported PDF.

Example Prompts

• "I'm trying to export my presentation to PDF, but all my custom fonts are turning into Arial. Can you fix this file?"
• "My branding guidelines require the use of 'Montserrat', but it's not showing up in my exported PDF files. Please patch this presentation for me."
• "The fonts in my PPTX look correct in PowerPoint, but the PDF export keeps reverting to default system fonts. Please run the transparency patch on this file."

Tips & Limitations

• Desktop Only: This fix is specifically designed for exports generated via the Microsoft PowerPoint desktop application. Server-side converters like LibreOffice or automated Graph API exports may ignore the transparency metadata.
• Non-Destructive: The script is safe; it only targets 0% transparency text and ignores text that already has transparency applied. You can safely run this on files multiple times.
• Scope: The script targets individual slide XMLs (ppt/slides/slideN.xml). It does not modify slide master or layout XMLs; therefore, if the text is part of a layout, you may need to apply the fix at the master slide level or convert that text to a standard text box within the slide view.