How to Delete Unpopulated Placeholder Items Using Python-Pptx
This Is Very Simple, but I Cannot Find the Actual Method Anywhere in the Documentation or Otherwise. I Am Using the Python-Pptx Module and All I Need to Do Is...
This is very simple, but I cannot find the actual method anywhere in the documentation or otherwise.
I am using the python-pptx module and all I need to do is delete a single placeholder item, an empty text box, on some slides (without having to create a completely new layout just for these slides) - the closest thing to an answer is here: under Unpopulated vs. populated but it still does not say how to actually delete/remove the placeholder.
I've tried all the obvious methods .delete(), .remove(), etc.
2 Answers
There is no API support for this, but if you delete the text box shape element, that should do the trick. It would be something like this:
textbox = shapes[textbox_idx]
sp = textbox.element
sp.getparent().remove(sp)
Using the textbox variable/reference after this operation is not likely to go well. But otherwise, I expect this will do the trick.
Here is a follow-up to scanny's answer based on the helloworld example in the docs. The code deletes the subtitle placeholder, which is empty in this case.
from pptx import Presentation
prs = Presentation()
title_slide_layout = prs.slide_layouts[0]
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(title_slide_layout)
title = slide.shapes.title
title.text = "Hello, World!"
subtitle = slide.placeholders[1]
sp = subtitle.element
sp.getparent().remove(sp)
prs.save('test.pptx')
Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.
