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kocurvik/beampptx

15PythonAudience · researcherComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A command-line tool that converts LaTeX Beamer slide presentations into PowerPoint files, turning overlay animations into separate slides and transferring embedded videos as native PowerPoint video shapes.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((beampptx))
    What it does
      Converts Beamer to PPTX
      Preserves overlays
      Transfers videos
    Output quality
      Vector slide images
      Sharp at any zoom
      Step-by-step reveals
    Input options
      LaTeX source file
      Pre-compiled PDF
    Requirements
      Python
      LaTeX installation
    Examples
      Math and lists
      Transitions
      Video embedding
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Convert a LaTeX Beamer conference talk into a PowerPoint file to share with colleagues who do not use LaTeX

USE CASE 2

Preserve step-by-step overlay animations from Beamer when moving slides to PowerPoint for a corporate presentation

USE CASE 3

Transfer embedded videos from a Beamer file into a PowerPoint with autoplay and loop settings intact

Tech stack

PythonLaTeX

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a working LaTeX installation in addition to Python.

MIT license, use freely for any purpose including commercial, as long as you include the copyright notice.

In plain English

This tool converts presentation files made with LaTeX Beamer into PowerPoint files. LaTeX Beamer is a system academics and researchers commonly use to build slides with precise formatting, math equations, and structured layouts. The problem is that when you try to bring those slides into PowerPoint, the output usually looks blurry or loses interactive features. This tool addresses that by converting each slide into a crisp vector image that stays sharp at any zoom level. One of the more useful things the tool handles is overlays. In Beamer, a presenter can reveal content one piece at a time using pause commands and similar techniques, which creates a step-by-step reveal effect during a talk. This tool detects those multi-step slides and turns each step into its own PowerPoint slide, so clicking through the presentation feels similar to the original. The tool also extracts videos that were embedded in the original Beamer file and places them directly into the PowerPoint as native video shapes. It supports two different LaTeX video packages and preserves settings like autoplay and looping where those are available. If you already have a compiled PDF version of the slides, you can convert from that directly, though videos will not carry over in that case. Installing the tool requires Python and a working LaTeX installation on your computer. Once installed, converting a file takes a single command pointing at your .tex source file. You can also specify an output filename or choose a different LaTeX engine if your project needs one. The repository includes several example files covering different scenarios: basic math and lists, transitions, images, bibliographies, and various video embedding setups. The project is open source under the MIT license. The author notes in the README that it was mostly built using AI coding assistants.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I have a Beamer .tex file with math equations and overlays. Walk me through using beampptx to convert it to a PowerPoint file that preserves the step-by-step reveals.
Prompt 2
My Beamer presentation has embedded videos using the media9 package. How does beampptx handle those when converting to PPTX?
Prompt 3
I only have the compiled PDF of my Beamer slides, not the .tex source file. Can I still use beampptx and what will I lose?
Prompt 4
How do I specify a different LaTeX engine when running beampptx and what other command-line options are available?
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