FastPres

Web App
Web App
Sample presentation generated with FastPres

See it in action

https://presfast.netlify.app/

Inspiration

I have made a lot of presentation slides. Especially for technical projects, the presentation powerpoint can consist of more than 50 slides that have the same template. I would have to manually create each slide, creating each textbox and importing the image files I already have in my folder.

What it does

FastPres converts a text file into a powerpoint presentation (.pptx file). The user writes a simple text file that describes the presentation, including the image files they wish to include in each slide. FastPres creates a .pptx file using the text file.

There are two versions right now:

Python Script
Web Version

The python script runs locally within the folder with the text file and images.

The web version is a web application in which the user writes the text file and clicks on the download button to download the .pptx file.

How I built it

I used Python and python-pptx for the python script version. I used Python, Django, Node.js, and React.js for the web version.

I used Netlify to deploy the React frontend application. I used Heroku to deploy the Django backend application.

Challenges I ran into

Since I didn't know Django, I took longer than I expected to debug the problems that arose when connecting the Django backend to the React frontend.

Deploying the Django application to Heroku was also a significant challenge due to the many variables and files I had to configure properly.

I also took longer than I expected to figure out how to use the python-pptx module to format the powerpoint presentation. An especially difficult challenge was figuring out how to position the images and text so that most image sizes and text lengths would fit well in the slide.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm happy that I was able to set up the Django server and the API endpoints without any experience with Django.

I'm also happy that the different text files that I tested converted into powerpoint files well.

What I learned

I learned the basics of Django and I also learned how to use the python-pptx module.

What's next for FastPres

I will add more customizability for the user. The user will be able to type optional parameters to change the font size, font color, etc.

I will add graphing capabilities. The user will be able to create slides with simple tables and graphs via text commands.

I will also add templates. The user will be able to design templates so that they can convert their text into powerpoints that use their custom templates.

I will also add accounts and authentication to the web version so that users will be able to create templates and save them in their accounts.