Create and manage presentations

This page describes how to perform certain high-level tasks involving presentations, such as:

Create a presentation
Copy an existing presentation

The following paragraphs describe these tasks in detail.

Create a blank presentation

To create a presentation, use the create method on the presentations collection, as shown in the following example.

This example creates a blank presentation with a specified title.

Apps Script

slides/api/Snippets.gs

View on GitHub

/**
 * Creates a presentation
 * @returns {*} the created presentation
 */
function createPresentation() {
  try {
    const presentation = Slides.Presentations.create({
      title: title
    });
    console.log('Created presentation with ID: %s', presentation.presentationId);

    return presentation;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO (Developer) - Handle exception
    console.log('Failed with error: %s', err.error);
  }
};

Go

slides/snippets/presentations.go

View on GitHub

// Create a presentation and request a PresentationId.
p := &slides.Presentation{
	Title: "Title",
}
presentation, err := slidesService.Presentations.Create(p).Fields(
	"presentationId",
).Do()
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Unable to create presentation. %v", err)
}
fmt.Printf("Created presentation with ID: %s", presentation.PresentationId)

Java

slides/snippets/src/main/java/CreatePresentation.java

View on GitHub

import com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequestInitializer;
import com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport;
import com.google.api.client.json.gson.GsonFactory;
import com.google.api.services.slides.v1.Slides;
import com.google.api.services.slides.v1.SlidesScopes;
import com.google.api.services.slides.v1.model.Presentation;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;

/* Class to demonstrate the use of Slides Create Presentation API */
public class CreatePresentation {
  /**
   * Creates a new presentation.
   *
   * @param title - the name of the presentation to be created
   * @return presentation id
   * @throws IOException - if credentials file not found.
   */
  public static String createPresentation(String title) throws IOException {
        /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
           TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
            guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
    GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.getApplicationDefault()
        .createScoped(Collections.singleton(SlidesScopes.PRESENTATIONS));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

    // Create the slides API client
    Slides service = new Slides.Builder(new NetHttpTransport(),
        GsonFactory.getDefaultInstance(),
        requestInitializer)
        .setApplicationName("Slides samples")
        .build();

    // Creates a blank presentation with a specified title.
    Presentation presentation = new Presentation()
        .setTitle(title);
    presentation = service.presentations().create(presentation)
        .setFields("presentationId")
        .execute();
    // Prints the newly created presentation id.
    System.out.println("Created presentation with ID: " + presentation.getPresentationId());
    return presentation.getPresentationId();
  }
}

JavaScript

slides/snippets/slides_create_presentation.js

View on GitHub

function createPresentation(title, callback) {
  try {
    gapi.client.slides.presentations.create({
      title: title,
    }).then((response) => {
      console.log(`Created presentation with ID: ${response.result.presentationId}`);
      if (callback) callback(response);
    });
  } catch (err) {
    document.getElementById('content').innerText = err.message;
    return;
  }
}

Node.js

slides/snippets/slides_create_presentation.js

View on GitHub

/**
 * Creates a Google Slide presentation.
 * @param {string} title The presentation title.
 */
async function createPresentation(title) {
  const {GoogleAuth} = require('google-auth-library');
  const {google} = require('googleapis');

  const auth = new GoogleAuth({
    scopes: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/presentations',
  });

  const service = google.slides({version: 'v1', auth});
  try {
    const presentation = await service.presentations.create({
      title,
    });
    console.log(
        `Created presentation with ID: ${presentation.data.presentationId}`,
    );
    return presentation;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
    throw err;
  }
}

PHP

slides/snippets/src/SlidesCreatePresentation.php

View on GitHub

use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive;
use Google\Service\Slides;
use Google\Service\Slides\Request;

function createPresentation($title)
{
    /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
       TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
        guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
    $client = new Google\Client();
    $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
    $client->addScope(Google\Service\Drive::DRIVE);
    $service = new Google_Service_Slides($client);
    try {
        $presentation = new Google_Service_Slides_Presentation($title);
        //creating a presentation
        $presentation = $service->presentations->create($presentation);
        printf("Created presentation with ID: %s\n", $presentation->presentationId);
        return $presentation;
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        echo 'Message: ' . $e->getMessage();
    }
}

Python

slides/snippets/slides_create_presentation.py

View on GitHub

import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError


def create_presentation(title):
  """
  Creates the Presentation the user has access to.
  Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
  TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity
  for guides on implementing OAuth2 for the application.
  """
  creds, _ = google.auth.default()
  # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
  try:
    service = build("slides", "v1", credentials=creds)

    body = {"title": title}
    presentation = service.presentations().create(body=body).execute()
    print(
        f"Created presentation with ID:{(presentation.get('presentationId'))}"
    )
    return presentation

  except HttpError as error:
    print(f"An error occurred: {error}")
    print("presentation not created")
    return error


if __name__ == "__main__":
  # Put the title of the presentation

  create_presentation("finalp")

Ruby

slides/snippets/lib/file_snippets.rb

View on GitHub

body = Google::Apis::SlidesV1::Presentation.new
body.title = title
presentation = slides_service.create_presentation(body)
puts "Created presentation with ID: #{presentation.presentation_id}"

Work with Google Drive folders

There's no option to create a presentation directly within a specified Drive folder using the Google Slides API. By default, the created presentation is saved to the user's root folder on Drive.

However, there are 2 alternatives to saving a file to a Drive folder:

After the presentation is created, move it to a specific folder using the files.update method of the Drive API. For more information on moving files, refer to Move files between folders.
Add a blank presentation to a folder using the files.create method of the Drive API, specifying application/vnd.google-apps.presentation as the mimeType. For more information on creating files, refer to Create a file in a folder.

For either alternative, you'll need to add the appropriate Drive API scopes to authorize the call.

To move or create a file within a shared drive folder, refer to Implement shared drive support.

Copy an existing presentation

To copy a presentation, use Drive API's files().copy method.

The following example copies an existing presentation, using a provided string for both the presentation title and the name of the new Drive file.

Apps Script

slides/api/Snippets.gs

View on GitHub

/**
 * create a presentation and copy it
 * @param {string} presentationId - ID of presentation to copy
 * @returns {*} the copy's presentation id
 */
function copyPresentation(presentationId) {
  const copyTitle = 'Copy Title';

  let copyFile = {
    title: copyTitle,
    parents: [{id: 'root'}]
  };
  try {
    copyFile = Drive.Files.copy(copyFile, presentationId);
    // (optional) copyFile.id can be returned directly
    const presentationCopyId = copyFile.id;

    return presentationCopyId;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO (Developer) - Handle exception
    console.log('Failed with error: %s', err.error);
  }
};

Go

slides/snippets/presentations.go

View on GitHub

// Copy a presentation.
file := drive.File{
	Title: title,
}
presentationCopyFile, err := driveService.Files.Copy(id, &file).Do()
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Unable to copy presentation. %v", err)
}
presentationCopyId := presentationCopyFile.Id

Java

slides/snippets/src/main/java/CopyPresentation.java

View on GitHub

import com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonError;
import com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException;
import com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequestInitializer;
import com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport;
import com.google.api.client.json.gson.GsonFactory;
import com.google.api.services.drive.Drive;
import com.google.api.services.drive.model.File;
import com.google.api.services.slides.v1.SlidesScopes;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;

/* Class to demonstrate the use of Slides Copy Presentation API */
public class CopyPresentation {
  /**
   * Copy an existing presentation.
   *
   * @param presentationId - id of the presentation.
   * @param copyTitle      - New title of the presentation.
   * @return presentation id
   * @throws IOException - if credentials file not found.
   */
  public static String copyPresentation(String presentationId, String copyTitle)
      throws IOException {
        /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
           TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
            guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
    GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.getApplicationDefault()
        .createScoped(Collections.singleton(SlidesScopes.DRIVE));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

    // Create the drive API client
    Drive driveService = new Drive.Builder(new NetHttpTransport(),
        GsonFactory.getDefaultInstance(),
        requestInitializer)
        .setApplicationName("Slides samples")
        .build();

    String presentationCopyId = null;
    try {
      // Copies an existing presentation using specified presentation title.
      File copyMetadata = new File().setName(copyTitle);
      File presentationCopyFile =
          driveService.files().copy(presentationId, copyMetadata).execute();
      presentationCopyId = presentationCopyFile.getId();
      // Prints the new copied presentation id.
      System.out.println("New copied presentation id " + presentationCopyId);
    } catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
      // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
      GoogleJsonError error = e.getDetails();
      if (error.getCode() == 404) {
        System.out.printf("Presentation not found with id '%s'.\n", presentationId);
      } else {
        throw e;
      }
    }
    return presentationCopyId;
  }
}

JavaScript

slides/snippets/slides_copy_presentation.js

View on GitHub

function copyPresentation(presentationId, copyTitle, callback) {
  const request = {
    name: copyTitle,
  };
  try {
    gapi.client.drive.files.copy({
      fileId: presentationId,
      resource: request,
    }).then((driveResponse) => {
      const presentationCopyId = driveResponse.result.id;
      if (callback) callback(presentationCopyId);
      console.log('create copy_presentation with id', presentationCopyId);
    });
  } catch (err) {
    document.getElementById('content').innerText = err.message;
    return;
  }
}

Node.js

slides/snippets/slides_copy_presentation.js

View on GitHub

/**
 * Copys a Google Slide presentation.
 * @param {string} presentationId The presentation to copy.
 * @param {string} copyTitle The new title.
 */
async function copyPresentation(presentationId, copyTitle) {
  const {GoogleAuth} = require('google-auth-library');
  const {google} = require('googleapis');

  const auth = new GoogleAuth({
    scopes: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive',
  });

  const service = google.drive({version: 'v2', auth});
  const request = {
    name: copyTitle,
  };

  try {
    const driveResponse = await service.files.copy({
      fileId: presentationId,
      resource: request,
    });
    const presentationCopyId = driveResponse.data.id;
    console.log('Created copied presentation with ID: ' + presentationCopyId);
    return driveResponse;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO (developer) - handle exception
    throw err;
  }
}

PHP

slides/snippets/src/SlidesCopyPresentation.php

View on GitHub

use Google\Service\Drive;
use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive\DriveFile;



function copyPresentation($presentationId, $copyTitle)
{
    /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
   TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
    guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
    $client = new Google\Client();
    $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
    $client->addScope(Google\Service\Drive::DRIVE);
    $driveService = new Google_Service_Drive($client);
    try {

        $copy = new Google_Service_Drive_DriveFile(array(
            'name' => $copyTitle
        ));
        $driveResponse = $driveService->files->copy($presentationId, $copy);
        $presentationCopyId = $driveResponse->id;
        printf("copyCreated at:%s\n ", $presentationCopyId);
        return $presentationCopyId;
    } catch (Exception $e) {
        echo 'Message: ' . $e->getMessage();
    }
}

Python

slides/snippets/slides_copy_presentation.py

View on GitHub

import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError


def copy_presentation(presentation_id, copy_title):
  """
  Creates the copy Presentation the user has access to.
  Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
  TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity
  for guides on implementing OAuth2 for the application.
  """

  creds, _ = google.auth.default()
  # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
  try:
    drive_service = build("drive", "v3", credentials=creds)
    body = {"name": copy_title}
    drive_response = (
        drive_service.files().copy(fileId=presentation_id, body=body).execute()
    )
    presentation_copy_id = drive_response.get("id")

  except HttpError as error:
    print(f"An error occurred: {error}")
    print("Presentations  not copied")
    return error

  return presentation_copy_id

Ruby

slides/snippets/lib/file_snippets.rb

View on GitHub

body = Google::Apis::SlidesV1::Presentation.new
body.title = copy_title
drive_response = drive_service.copy_file(presentation_id, body)
puts drive_response
presentation_copy_id = drive_response.id

Note that you need to use an appropriate Drive API scope to authorize the call.

Create and manage presentations Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Create a blank presentation

Apps Script

Go

Java

JavaScript

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

Work with Google Drive folders

Copy an existing presentation

Apps Script

Go

Java

JavaScript

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

Create and manage presentations