Use Placeholders in PowerPoint with C# and VB.NET

Placeholder elements are special drawings that establish a connection between a slide and its parent layout slide (Slide.ParentTemplate), which consequently enables users to specify common properties like layout or formatting in a single place (the layout slide).

These settings are automatically propagated to all slides whose template parent is that layout slide. You can synchronize a slide with its parent layout slide by calling the Slide.Reset method.

With the following example, you will learn how to create and customize placeholders in C# and VB.NET using the GemBox.Presentation API.

Screenshot of PowerPoint placeholders created with GemBox.Presentation

C#
VB.NET

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using System.Linq;
using GemBox.Presentation;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        var presentation = new PresentationDocument();

        // Create new master slide.
        var master = presentation.MasterSlides.AddNew();

        // Create new empty layout slide for existing master slide.
        var layout = master.LayoutSlides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom);

        // Create title and subtitle placeholders on layout slide.
        layout.Content.AddPlaceholder(PlaceholderType.Title);
        layout.Content.AddPlaceholder(PlaceholderType.Subtitle);

        // Create new slide; will inherit all placeholders (title and subtitle) from template layout slide.
        var slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(layout);

        // Retrieve "Title" placeholder.
        var shape = slide.Content.Drawings.OfType<Shape>().Where(item => item.Placeholder?.PlaceholderType == PlaceholderType.Title).First();

        // Set shape fill and outline format.
        shape.Format.Outline.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkGray));
        shape.Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.LightGray));

        // Set shape text.
        shape.Text.AddParagraph().AddRun("Placeholders, GemBox.Presentation");

        // Retrieve "Subtitle" placeholder.
        shape = slide.Content.Drawings.OfType<Shape>().Where(item => item.Placeholder?.PlaceholderType == PlaceholderType.Subtitle).First();

        // Set shape outline format.
        shape.Format.Outline.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkGray));

        // Set shape text.
        shape.Text.AddParagraph().AddRun("Shows how to use placeholders with GemBox.Presentation component.");

        presentation.Save("Placeholders.pptx");
    }
}

Imports System.Linq
Imports GemBox.Presentation

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        Dim presentation = New PresentationDocument

        ' Create New master slide.
        Dim master = presentation.MasterSlides.AddNew()

        ' Create New empty layout slide for existing master slide.
        Dim layout = master.LayoutSlides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom)

        ' Create title And subtitle placeholders on layout slide.
        layout.Content.AddPlaceholder(PlaceholderType.Title)
        layout.Content.AddPlaceholder(PlaceholderType.Subtitle)

        ' Create New slide; will inherit all placeholders (title And subtitle) from template layout slide.
        Dim slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(layout)

        ' Retrieve "Title" placeholder.
        Dim shape = slide.Content.Drawings.OfType(Of Shape).Where(Function(item) item.Placeholder IsNot Nothing AndAlso item.Placeholder.PlaceholderType = PlaceholderType.Title).First()

        ' Set shape fill and outline format.
        shape.Format.Outline.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkGray))
        shape.Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.LightGray))

        ' Set shape text.
        shape.Text.AddParagraph().AddRun("Placeholders, GemBox.Presentation")

        ' Retrieve "Subtitle" placeholder.
        shape = slide.Content.Drawings.OfType(Of Shape).Where(Function(item) item.Placeholder IsNot Nothing AndAlso item.Placeholder.PlaceholderType = PlaceholderType.Subtitle).First()

        ' Set shape outline format.
        shape.Format.Outline.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkGray))

        ' Set shape text.
        shape.Text.AddParagraph().AddRun("Shows how to use placeholders with GemBox.Presentation component.")

        presentation.Save("Placeholders.pptx")
    End Sub
End Module

Next steps

GemBox.Presentation is a .NET component that enables you to read, write, edit, convert, and print presentation files from your .NET applications using one simple API.

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Use Placeholders in PowerPoint with C# and VB.NET

See also

Next steps