Shapes and Styling

Add pre-built shapes to your slides with Podium.add_auto_shape/3. Podium includes 187 shape presets covering rectangles, arrows, stars, callouts, flowchart symbols, and more -- each with full control over fills, lines, and rotation.

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rounded_rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {2, :inches},
  width: {3, :inches}, height: {1, :inches},
  fill: "4472C4", text: "Status: Active")

Adding Auto Shapes

Use Podium.add_auto_shape/3 with a preset atom, position, and size:

prs = Podium.new()
slide = Podium.Slide.new()

slide =
  slide
  |> Podium.add_auto_shape(:rectangle,
    x: {0.5, :inches}, y: {1.5, :inches},
    width: {4, :inches}, height: {2, :inches}, fill: "4472C4")
  |> Podium.add_auto_shape(:oval,
    x: {5.5, :inches}, y: {1.5, :inches},
    width: {2, :inches}, height: {2, :inches}, fill: "ED7D31")

Common Presets

Call Podium.AutoShapeType.all_types/0 for the full sorted list of all 187 presets.

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rounded_rectangle,
  x: {2, :inches}, y: {2, :inches},
  width: {4, :inches}, height: {1.5, :inches},
  fill: "003366",
  text: [{[
    {"Revenue: ", color: "FFFFFF"},
    {"$4.2M", bold: true, color: "00FF00"}
  ], alignment: :center}])

Fill Types

Every shape accepts a :fill option. Podium supports four fill types.

Solid Fill

Pass an RGB hex string:

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {4, :inches}, height: {2, :inches}, fill: "FF6347")

Gradient Fill

Pass a {:gradient, stops, opts} tuple. Each stop is a {position, color} pair where position ranges from 0 to 100_000:

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rounded_rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {5, :inches}, height: {2, :inches},
  fill: {:gradient, [{0, "003366"}, {100_000, "66CCFF"}], angle: 5_400_000})

The :angle option is in 60,000ths of a degree. 5_400_000 is 90 degrees (top to bottom).

Pattern Fill

Pass a {:pattern, preset, opts} tuple. Podium supports all 54 OOXML pattern presets:

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {4, :inches}, height: {2, :inches},
  fill: {:pattern, :dn_diag, foreground: "4472C4", background: "FFFFFF"})

Common presets include :dn_diag, :up_diag, :lt_horz, :lt_vert, :cross, :diag_cross, :sm_grid, :lg_grid, :wave, :plaid, and percentage fills from :pct_5 through :pct_90. See Podium.Pattern for the full list.

No Fill

Omitting :fill on an auto shape lets the theme's default styling apply. Setting fill: nil on a text box explicitly removes the fill, producing a transparent shape.

Line Types

The :line option controls the shape's outline.

Solid Line

Pass an RGB hex string for a default-width line, or a keyword list for more control:

# Default width
slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {4, :inches}, height: {2, :inches}, line: "003366")

# Custom width and dash
slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :oval,
  x: {6, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {3, :inches}, height: {3, :inches},
  line: [color: "FF0000", width: {2, :pt}, dash_style: :dash])

Line options: :color (hex string), :width (e.g. {1.5, :pt}), :dash_style

Dash styles: :solid, :dash, :dot, :dash_dot, :long_dash, :long_dash_dot, :long_dash_dot_dot, :sys_dot, :sys_dash, :sys_dash_dot, :sys_dash_dot_dot

Gradient and Pattern Lines

Lines can use gradient and pattern fills by passing :fill instead of :color:

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :rectangle,
  x: {1, :inches}, y: {1, :inches},
  width: {4, :inches}, height: {2, :inches},
  line: [fill: {:gradient, [{0, "FF0000"}, {100_000, "0000FF"}], angle: 5_400_000}])

Rotation

Rotate any shape with :rotation, specified in degrees clockwise:

slide = Podium.add_auto_shape(slide, :cross,
  x: {5, :inches}, y: {2, :inches},
  width: {2, :inches}, height: {2, :inches}, rotation: 45)

Text Inside Shapes

Add text with the :text option. It supports the same plain string and rich text formats as Podium.add_text_box/3:

Shapes also support :font_size, :alignment, :auto_size, and :word_wrap.

Theme Styling

When you omit :fill on an auto shape, PowerPoint applies the slide master's theme colors. This gives shapes a consistent look that matches the presentation's color scheme. Setting an explicit fill overrides the theme.

Auto Shape Options

Positions and sizes accept EMU integers or {value, unit} tuples where unit is :inches, :cm, or :pt.

For structured data display, see the Tables guide.