Vba from excel to powerpoint

I’ve received a large number of questions on how to command other programs with VBA through Excel.  In this post, we will walk through how to copy a specified cell range and paste it into a brand new PowerPoint presentation.  This might seem like a task that would be much more efficient to carry out manually.  However, when you need to put together a presentation with 50+ Excel images, having a VBA macro do all the heavy lifting is much faster!  Let me first show you the VBA code and then I will highlight some of the main sections that are most important.

Sub ExcelRangeToPowerPoint()
‘PURPOSE: Copy/Paste An Excel Range Into a New PowerPoint Presentation
‘SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com

Dim rng As Range
Dim PowerPointApp As Object
Dim myPresentation As Object
Dim mySlide As Object
Dim myShape As Object

‘Copy Range from Excel
  Set rng = ThisWorkbook.ActiveSheet.Range(«A1:C12»)

‘Create an Instance of PowerPoint
  On Error Resume Next

        ‘Is PowerPoint already opened?
      Set PowerPointApp = GetObject(class:=»PowerPoint.Application»)

        ‘Clear the error between errors
      Err.Clear

    ‘If PowerPoint is not already open then open PowerPoint
      If PowerPointApp Is Nothing Then Set PowerPointApp = CreateObject(class:=»PowerPoint.Application»)

        ‘Handle if the PowerPoint Application is not found
      If Err.Number = 429 Then
        MsgBox «PowerPoint could not be found, aborting.»
        Exit Sub
      End If

  On Error GoTo 0

‘Optimize Code
  Application.ScreenUpdating = False

  ‘Create a New Presentation
  Set myPresentation = PowerPointApp.Presentations.Add

‘Add a slide to the Presentation
  Set mySlide = myPresentation.Slides.Add(1, 11) ’11 = ppLayoutTitleOnly

‘Copy Excel Range
  rng.Copy

‘Paste to PowerPoint and position
  mySlide.Shapes.PasteSpecial DataType:=2  ‘2 = ppPasteEnhancedMetafile
  Set myShape = mySlide.Shapes(mySlide.Shapes.Count)

      ‘Set position:
      myShape.Left = 66
      myShape.Top = 152

‘Make PowerPoint Visible and Active
  PowerPointApp.Visible = True
  PowerPointApp.Activate

‘Clear The Clipboard
  Application.CutCopyMode = False

  End Sub

Teaching Excel The PowerPoint Language

In order to control PowerPoint from inside Excel’s Visual Basic Editor, we need to teach Excel how to speak in PowerPoint’s terms.  PowerPoint uses a vocabulary containing terms such as «Slide» and «Presentation» that simply do not exist in Excel’s own code language.  You can learn more about this topic by reading my post Teaching Excel To Speak PowerPoint.  In order to activate PowerPoint’s object library, simply click the Tools menu in the Visual Basic Editor and select Reference.  Then make sure the reference Microsoft Office PowerPoint 12.0 Object Library is checked (the version number may verify, for example in Office 2016 the reference would be Office PowerPoint 16.0 Object Library).  In the below image, I show you exactly how to do this and prove afterward that Excel now knows PowerPoint lingo!

UPDATE: I have updated the code in this article so you do not need to do this step, however IntelliSense for any PowerPoint objects in the Visual Basic Editor will not work. This is not that big of a deal unless you need coding direction when adding additional PowerPoint automation to your VBA macro.

In this part of the code, we are determining if Microsoft PowerPoint is open or not.  If PowerPoint is already open, we can set a variable equal to the entire program by using GetObject.  If PowerPoint is not currently running we can use CreateObject to run an instance of PowerPoint and then set a variable equal to that specific instance of PowerPoint.

When using CreateObject, the target application will start running but it is not visible on the screen.  Therefore we need to turn the Visible setting on (equal to true).  Also, VBA with PowerPoint is a little bit different than with Excel in that it is much more dependent on its window showing on the screen.  Therefore a second command must be written to Activate PowerPoint.

Copy From Excel, Paste Onto Slide

Now that you have a new presentation and a new slide, you can command Excel to paste your range into PowerPoint.  Near the beginning of the code, there was a line that allowed you to specify the exact range you wanted to copy.  The variable rng was used to remember this range and to allow you to reference the range later on in the code.  

Guru Tip: It is a good idea to place code that may need to be manually changed at some point in the future near the beginning of the subroutine.  This prevents you from having to scroll through your code and pinpoint the exact place where you spelled out which range you wanted to copy or which worksheet you wanted to pull data from.  This can save you a bunch of time and prevent confusion!

Notice how we set a variable equal to the newly pasted item.  This is important because it allows you to modify the picture after it has been placed into PowerPoint.  In the example code, I chose to change the picture position by setting the Left and Top dimensions.  You could also choose to resize the image, add a shadow, or apply any other modification you would typically do manually inside of PowerPoint.  

You have now reached the end of the macro and successfully pasted in a range from Excel into a PowerPoint presentation!

Learn What VBA Can Do With PowerPoint

For the longest time, I had no idea I could use VBA with PowerPoint.  I thought VBA was strictly an Excel thing.  It was actually through an online VBA course that I was shown how to control PowerPoint & Word with VBA commands.  It’s unfortunate that there is very little documentation out on the web concerning VBA outside of Excel.  It is one of the major contributors in personally deciding to create this site and I hope to compile a bunch of resources for you in these areas.  The best place to get your feet wet with VBA for PowerPoint is to hop on over to the PowerPoint Code Vault.  This is where I post pre-written code and it serves as a great guide on how to write VBA for PowerPoint.

About The Author

Hey there! I’m Chris and I run TheSpreadsheetGuru website in my spare time. By day, I’m actually a finance professional who relies on Microsoft Excel quite heavily in the corporate world. I love taking the things I learn in the “real world” and sharing them with everyone here on this site so that you too can become a spreadsheet guru at your company.

Through my years in the corporate world, I’ve been able to pick up on opportunities to make working with Excel better and have built a variety of Excel add-ins, from inserting tickmark symbols to automating copy/pasting from Excel to PowerPoint. If you’d like to keep up to date with the latest Excel news and directly get emailed the most meaningful Excel tips I’ve learned over the years, you can sign up for my free newsletters. I hope I was able to provide you with some value today and I hope to see you back here soon!

— Chris

So far in this series about using VBA to control other Office applications, we have looked at the basics of controlling other office applications and specifically how to create macros to control Word from within Excel.  Our approach for creating macros to control Word was using the Macro Recorder.  We record very short actions, copy and paste the code into the Excel VBA Editor, then adapt the code to include the references to the Word Application.  Slowly, action by action we build up our Macro using recorded code.  It would be logical to think we could use the principles we learned for Word and apply them to PowerPoint.

But, there is one big problem to using this approach with PowerPoint:  PowerPoint does not have a Macro Recorder.  We can use VBA code in PowerPoint, but there is no Macro Recorder to create it.  As a result, we cannot record PowerPoint VBA code to copy into our Excel Macro.

But the lack of PowerPoint’s Macro Recorder is not going to stop us.  If we want to control PowerPoint from within Excel we just need to find a different approach.  Here are the three methods we will consider to obtain valid PowerPoint VBA code.

• The beauty of the Object Model (how to use Excel code to control PowerPoint)
• Taking code from the internet
• Using the Object Browser and IntelliSense to help write the code

However, before we get there we need to enable the Developer Ribbon in PowerPoint.  This is so we can check the code works before moving it into Excel.

Enable the PowerPoint Developer Ribbon

If you have enabled the Excel Developer menu it is the same process in PowerPoint.

In PowerPoint: File -> Options -> Customize Ribbon

Then tick the Developer Ribbon option then click OK.

The beauty of the Object Model

The object model is the underlying structure of all the objects within Excel.  Within VBA, a cell is an object, a chart is an object, a drawn shape is an object.  Each of these objects has methods (the actions we can do to the objects – e.g. adding or deleting) and properties (the attributes of the objects – e.g. it’s height or width).  The Object Model to control objects in Excel is similar to the Object Model in PowerPoint.

Here is some recorded Excel VBA code to create a shape and color it red.

ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 50, 50, 50, 50).Select
With Selection.ShapeRange.Fill
    .Visible = msoTrue
    .ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)
    .Transparency = 0
    .Solid
End With

Here is some Powerpoint VBA code to create a shape and color it red (using the Excel VBA Code as start point).

Dim myShape As Shape
Set myShape = ActiveWindow.View.Slide.Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 50, 50, 50, 50)

With myShape.Fill
    .Visible = msoTrue
    .ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)
    .Transparency = 0
    .Solid
End With

In the code below I have highlighted in red the PowerPoint code which is exactly the same as the Excel VBA code.

Dim myShape As Shape
Set myShape = ActiveWindow.View.Slide.Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 50, 50, 50, 50)

With myShape.Fill
    .Visible = msoTrue
    .ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)
    .Transparency = 0
    .Solid
End With

Did you notice that most of the code was the same?  The key differences were how we referred to the application, and the presentation.  In Excel we might use “ActiveSheet” to refer to the current worksheet, but in PowerPoint we might use “ActiveWindow.View.Slide“.  Once we know this we can adapt code we have recorded in Excel.  We can change the references to the PowerPoint Object Model and the code will work.

Before you get too excited . . . this isn’t guaranteed to work with all objects.  Just because something works in Excel it does not mean it will work perfectly in PowerPoint.  But it is a method to try.

Using Early Binding, our code could be adapted as follows – changes from the code directly above colored in red.

Dim pptApp As PowerPoint.Application
Set pptApp = New PowerPoint.Application

Dim myShape As Object
Set myShape = pptApp.ActiveWindow.View.Slide.Shapes. _
AddShape(msoShapeRectangle, 50, 50, 50, 50)

With myShape.Fill
    .Visible = msoTrue
    .ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)
    .Transparency = 0
    .Solid
End With

With just a few carefully thought out changes to the Excel code we can now control PowerPoint from within Excel.  The changes from the PowerPoint code are:

• Reference to the PowerPoint application now included
• All Object variables (such as shapes) must be created as Object in the Dim statement

Taking code from the internet

You have the option to take code straight from the internet – certainly not a bad idea.  The individuals who run websites which share code want you to learn by using that code, so make the most of it.

If you really want to understand what the code means that I recommend you follow the 1 golden rule:

If you want to copy code that you do not understand you must type it out yourself – do not just copy and paste.

There is not as much PowerPoint VBA code out there on the internet as Excel VBA code, but it is there.  Once you understand the Object Model it is reasonably straightforward.

PowerPoint VBA reference sources:

• Excel Off the Grid – PowerPoint VBA Library
• The Spreadsheet Guru
• Microsoft Developer Network
• Office Tips
• PPTAlchemy

Using the Object Browser and IntelliSense to help write the code

The Object Browser is the library of objects in VBA.  To view the Object Browser click View -> Object Browser (or shortcut F2) from within the Visual Basic Editor.  The screenshot below shows the Object Browser window.

From within the Object Browser it is possible to search for the name of any object.  The Search Results window shows all the places in the object model where that object exists.  The Members window shows all the objects, methods and properties available for the object.

IntelliSense is the feature which shows the small boxes as you type VBA code (see image below).

If we have a piece of code, and we are not sure what could come next then just scroll through the IntelliSense options (these are the same options as shown within the Object Browser).  If it’s not in the IntelliSense list then it’s not viable code.

Conclusion

So, there we have it.  3 ways to write valid PowerPoint VBA code.  None of this is straightforward, so when you stumble across an issue, Google is definitely your best friend.  Chances are that somebody else has had the same problem before you.

Sub abc()

j = 2
Sheets("sheet1").Select

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
ActiveSheet.Range("a65536").Select
lastrow = Selection.End(xlUp).Row

'/// column a
ActiveSheet.Range("a3:a" & lastrow).Select

Application.CutCopyMode = False
    Selection.AutoFilter
    ActiveSheet.Range("$A$3:$A$" & lastrow).AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:="="

Set Rng = ActiveSheet.AutoFilter.Range

cnt = Rng.Columns(1).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Count - 1

   If cnt = 0 Then
   GoTo label1
   End If

    ActiveSheet.Range("a3:a" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Copy



    'Selection.EntireRow.Select

'    Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select
    rownum = Selection.Row

'    If rownum = 3 Then
'    Selection.AutoFilter
'    GoTo label1
'    End If

    'Selection.Copy
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    'lrow = ActiveSheet.Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row

    lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    ActiveSheet.Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    Sheets("Sheet1").Select
    Selection.Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

    Selection.EntireRow.Delete
     Application.CutCopyMode = False

label1:
 Selection.AutoFilter

'column b///////////


ActiveSheet.Range("a65536").Select
lastrow = Selection.End(xlUp).Row
ActiveSheet.Range("b3:b" & lastrow).Select
    Application.CutCopyMode = False
    Selection.AutoFilter
    ActiveSheet.Range("$b$3:$b$" & lastrow).AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:="="

    Set Rng = ActiveSheet.AutoFilter.Range

cnt = Rng.Columns(1).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Count - 1

   If cnt = 0 Then
   GoTo label2
   End If

        ActiveSheet.Range("$b$3:$b$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Copy

    'Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToLeft)).Select
    '
   ' Selection.EntireRow.Select

    'Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select

'    rownum = Selection.Row
'    If rownum = 3 Then
'    Selection.AutoFilter
'    GoTo label2
'    End If

   ' Selection.Copy
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    'lrow = ActiveSheet.Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row

    lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    ActiveSheet.Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    Sheets("Sheet1").Select

    'Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

'Selection.Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select
'
'    Selection.EntireRow.Delete

    ActiveSheet.Range("$b$3:$b$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Delete
    Application.CutCopyMode = False

label2:
     Selection.AutoFilter

    'column c////////////


    ActiveSheet.Range("c65536").Select
lastrow = Selection.End(xlUp).Row
 ActiveSheet.Range("c3:c" & lastrow).Select
    Application.CutCopyMode = False
    Selection.AutoFilter
    ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow).AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:="SG Plus", _
    Operator:=xlOr, Criteria2:="=Select"

Set Rng = ActiveSheet.AutoFilter.Range

cnt = Rng.Columns(1).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Count - 1

   If cnt = 0 Then
   GoTo label3
   End If

            ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Copy

    'Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select
'    Selection.Copy
'    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
'    lrow = activehseet.Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row
'    ActiveSheet.Range("a" & lrow).Select
'    ActiveSheet.Paste
'    Sheets("Sheet1").Select



'    rownum = Selection.Row
'    If rownum = 3 Then
'    Selection.AutoFilter
'    GoTo label3
'    End If

'    Range("a4:a" & lastrow).Select
'    Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select
'    Selection.EntireRow.Select
'    Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select


            ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Select

    Selection.EntireRow.Delete
        Application.CutCopyMode = False


label3:
 Selection.AutoFilter


'column c again/////////////


    ActiveSheet.Range("c65536").Select
lastrow = Selection.End(xlUp).Row

ActiveSheet.Range("c3:c" & lastrow).Select
    Application.CutCopyMode = False
    Selection.AutoFilter
    ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow).AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:="="

    Set Rng = ActiveSheet.AutoFilter.Range

cnt = Rng.Columns(1).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Count - 1

   If cnt = 0 Then
   GoTo label4
   End If

                ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Copy



'    rownum = Selection.Row
'    If rownum = 3 Then
'    Selection.AutoFilter
'    GoTo label4
'    End If
'
'    Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select
'
'        Range("a4:a" & lastrow).Select
'    Range(Selection, Selection.End(xlToRight)).Select
'
'    Selection.EntireRow.Copy
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    'lrow = ActiveSheet.Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row

    lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    ActiveSheet.Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    Sheets("Sheet1").Select

                    ActiveSheet.Range("$c$3:$c$" & lastrow - 1).Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Select

 '   Selection.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).Select

    Selection.EntireRow.Delete
        Application.CutCopyMode = False

label4:
    Selection.AutoFilter

'//////////////////////////  over  /////////////////////////////



ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("a" & i).Select
If Range("a" & i).Value = "MidAmerica" Or Range("a" & i).Value = "Northeast" Or Range("a" & i).Value = "Southeast" Or _
Range("a" & i).Value = "West" Then
GoTo cont
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select

        lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
       Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont:
Next i


'/////// column b ///////////

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("b" & i).Select
If Range("b" & i).Value = "CA" Or Range("b" & i).Value = "AZ" Then
GoTo cont2
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row
    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont2:
Next i

'///////////column c //////////

ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("c" & i).Select
If Range("c" & i).Value = "SG" Then
GoTo cont3
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select
    lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont3:
Next i

'//////////column l/////////////
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("l" & i).Select
If Range("l" & i).Value <= "01/06/2014" And Range("l" & i).Value >= "01/01/2013" Then
GoTo cont4
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select

        lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont4:
Next i

'//////////column m/////////////
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("m" & i).Select
If Range("m" & i).Value = "12/01" Or Range("m" & i).Value = "12/05" Then
GoTo cont5
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select

        lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row


    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont5:
Next i

'//////////column q and r/////////////
ActiveSheet.Range("a1").Select
For i = 4 To lastrow
Range("q" & i).Select
If Range("q" & i).Value <> " " And Range("r" & i).Value <> " " And Range("u" & i).Value <> " " _
And Range("z" & i).Value <> " " And Range("aa" & i).Value <> " " And Range("ab" & i).Value <> " " _
And Range("b" & i).Value <> " " And Range("j" & i).Value <> " " Then
GoTo cont6
Else

Rows(i).Select
Application.CutCopyMode = False
Selection.Cut
    Sheets("Sheet2").Select

        lrow = Cells.Find(what:="*", after:=[a1], searchorder:=xlByRows, _
    searchdirection:=xlPrevious).Row

    Range("a" & lrow + 1).Select
    ActiveSheet.Paste
    j = j + 1
    Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
   End If
cont6:
Next i


End Sub