Add Shapes to PowerPoint Slides in C# and VB.NET

Presentation slides can contain various Drawing elements. One particular kind of drawing is a Shape.

A shape has geometry (GeometryShape.ShapeType) and can be filled or outlined with ShapeFormat. It also can contain Text.

For more information about drawing types in GemBox.Presentation, see the GemBox.Presentation content model help page. This API supports commonly used shapes in presentations such as Rectangle, Line, Circle, Ellipse, Arc, and Bezier curves.

The example below shows how you can create and customize shapes in your PowerPoint slides in C# and VB.NET using the GemBox.Presentation API.

PowerPoint shapes created with GemBox.Presentation
Screenshot of PowerPoint shapes created with GemBox.Presentation
View on GitHub 
using GemBox.Presentation;

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

        var presentation = new PresentationDocument();

        // Create new slide; will create "custom" layout slide and default master slide.
        var slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom);

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RectangularCallout, 30, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.AliceBlue));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RoundedRectangularCallout, 170, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.BlueViolet));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.OvalCallout, 310, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.CadetBlue));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.Pentagon, 450, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.CornflowerBlue));

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RoundedRectangle, 30, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkSeaGreen));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RegularPentagon, 170, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.ForestGreen));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.Hexagon, 310, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.GreenYellow));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.Octagon, 450, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.LightSeaGreen));

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpArrow, 30, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkRed));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RightArrow, 170, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.IndianRed));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpDownArrow, 310, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.OrangeRed));
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.LeftRightArrow, 450, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.MediumVioletRed));

        presentation.Save("Shapes.%OutputFileType%");
    }
}
Imports GemBox.Presentation

Module Program

    Sub Main()

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

        Dim presentation = New PresentationDocument

        ' Create New slide; will create "custom" layout slide And default master slide.
        Dim slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom)

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RectangularCallout, 30, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.AliceBlue))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.RoundedRectangularCallout, 170, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.BlueViolet))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.OvalCallout, 310, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.CadetBlue))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.CloudCallout, 450, 30, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.CornflowerBlue))

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.ActionButtonEnd, 30, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkSeaGreen))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.ActionButtonForwardOrNext, 170, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.ForestGreen))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.ActionButtonHelp, 310, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.GreenYellow))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.ActionButtonHome, 450, 150, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.LightSeaGreen))

        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpArrow, 30, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.DarkRed))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpArrowCallout, 170, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.IndianRed))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpDownArrow, 310, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.OrangeRed))
        slide.Content.AddShape(ShapeGeometryType.UpDownArrowCallout, 450, 270, 130, 100, LengthUnit.Point).Format.Fill.SetSolid(Color.FromName(ColorName.MediumVioletRed))

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

Shapes with rendering support

Note that not all types of ShapeGeometryType are supported by GemBox.Presentation's rendering engine.

Here is a list of shape geometry types that are currently supported when saving to PDF, XPS, or image formats:

  • Diamond
  • DownArrow
  • FlowchartDecision
  • FlowchartManualInput
  • FlowchartProcess
  • Hexagon
  • IsoscelesTriangle
  • LeftArrow
  • LeftRightArrow
  • Line
  • Octagon
  • Oval
  • OvalCallout
  • Parallelogram
  • Pentagon
  • Rectangle
  • RectangularCallout
  • RegularPentagon
  • RightArrow
  • RightTriangle
  • RoundDiagonalCornerRectangle
  • RoundedRectangle
  • RoundedRectangularCallout
  • RoundSameSideCornerRectangle
  • RoundSingleCornerRectangle
  • SnipDiagonalCornerRectangle
  • SnipSameSideCornerRectangle
  • SnipSingleCornerRectangle
  • StraightConnector
  • Trapezoid
  • UpArrow
  • UpDownArrow

See also

Shape Formatting | GemBox.Presentation Example

Shape Formatting | GemBox.Presentation Example

Text Boxes | GemBox.Presentation Example

Text Boxes | GemBox.Presentation Example

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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Published: December 13, 2018 | Modified: January 24, 2022 | Author: Marek Turis