Apply layouts or placeholders from one master in another

[tenggaard]

Thanks for maintaining and developing this tool!

I am struggling a bit with the following use case, not completely sure whether I am trying to do something that isn't supported, or just don't understand the library well enough.

Essentially, I am trying to create a setup, where different users can provide their own pptx template, which I then use to populate some content, without editing each user template to ensure scalability (beyond perhaps ensuring the presence of certain types of master slides, like a front page, blank content page etc).

In particular, I have been trying to create a setup, where I can:

1. Design a single master pptx file (call it Content Template) in PowerPoint, with master slides and layouts corresponding to different types of slides
2. Load a new presentation, with a different master (call it User Template)
3. Create a third presentation, where I use a master slide from the User Template, but applying a layout (or at least placeholders) from the Content Template

It seems to be more tricky than I had naively anticipated - is it correctly understood that I can't easily copy a layout from one master to another, nor copy placeholders from one layout to another?

Any pointers or suggestions would be highly appreciated!

[MartinPacker]

Copying slides is indeed tricky. And I don't think the from-one-presentation-to-another case has been solved in an "industrial strength" way.

[tenggaard]

Thanks for the quick reply, @MartinPacker !
Do you know of less-than industrial strength way of achieving something like this? I was e.g. surprised that I couldn't copy a text placeholder from one layout to another - maybe I can re-create it in the new layout, using the position from the old layout, but formatting of the new layout?

[MartinPacker]

Not personally. For my purposes I need it to be industrial strength.