Overview Core properties provide document-level metadata for PowerPoint presentations. These properties are based on the Dublin Core metadata standard and include information like title, author, subject, keywords, and timestamps.
Available properties Core properties include:
Basic metadata : title, subject, author, keywordsClassification : category, content_status, identifierTimestamps : created, modified, last_printedVersioning : revision, version, last_modified_byOther : comments, language
Accessing core properties Core properties are accessed through the presentation object.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation( 'presentation.pptx' ) core_props = prs.core_properties # Read property values print ( f "Title: { core_props.title } " ) print ( f "Author: { core_props.author } " ) print ( f "Subject: { core_props.subject } " ) print ( f "Keywords: { core_props.keywords } " )
String properties Most core properties are strings. Empty properties return an empty string ('').
Title The document title.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Read title print (core_props.title) # Set title core_props.title = "Q4 2024 Business Review" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
String properties are limited to 255 unicode characters. Attempting to set a longer value raises ValueError.
Author The document creator.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Set author core_props.author = "Jane Smith" print ( f "Created by: { core_props.author } " )
Subject The document subject or description.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.subject = "Quarterly financial analysis and projections" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Keywords Searchable keywords or tags.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Set multiple keywords core_props.keywords = "finance, Q4, 2024, review, analysis" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Category Document category for classification.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.category = "Financial Reports" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Document-level comments or notes.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.comments = "This presentation is for internal use only." prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Content status The status of the document content.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.content_status = "Draft" # Or: "Final", "In Review", etc. prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Identifier A unique identifier for the document.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.identifier = "DOC-2024-Q4-FIN-001" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Language The language of the document content.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.language = "en-US" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Last modified by The name of the person who last modified the document.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.last_modified_by = "John Doe" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Version A version string or number.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties core_props.version = "2.1.0" prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Date and time properties Some properties store datetime values.
Created The document creation timestamp.
from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Read creation date if core_props.created: print ( f "Created: { core_props.created } " ) # Set creation date core_props.created = dt.datetime( 2024 , 1 , 15 , 9 , 30 ) prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Modified The document last modified timestamp.
from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Set modified date to current time core_props.modified = dt.datetime.now() print ( f "Last modified: { core_props.modified } " ) prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Last printed The timestamp when the document was last printed.
from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Set last printed date core_props.last_printed = dt.datetime( 2024 , 3 , 1 , 14 , 20 ) if core_props.last_printed: print ( f "Last printed: { core_props.last_printed } " ) prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
Date properties return None if not set. They accept datetime.datetime objects without timezone information.
Revision property The revision number is an integer representing the document version.
from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Read revision (returns 0 if not set) print ( f "Revision: { core_props.revision } " ) # Increment revision core_props.revision = core_props.revision + 1 prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' )
The revision property must be a positive integer (>= 1). Setting it to 0 or a negative value raises ValueError.
Practical examples from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Set comprehensive metadata core_props.title = "2024 Annual Report" core_props.subject = "Company performance and financial results" core_props.author = "Finance Department" core_props.keywords = "annual report, 2024, finance, performance" core_props.category = "Financial Reports" core_props.comments = "Prepared for board meeting" core_props.content_status = "Final" core_props.created = dt.datetime( 2024 , 12 , 1 , 10 , 0 ) core_props.revision = 1 prs.save( 'annual_report.pptx' )
Read all properties from a presentation from pptx import Presentation prs = Presentation( 'presentation.pptx' ) core_props = prs.core_properties print ( "Document Properties:" ) print ( "=" * 50 ) print ( f "Title: { core_props.title } " ) print ( f "Subject: { core_props.subject } " ) print ( f "Author: { core_props.author } " ) print ( f "Keywords: { core_props.keywords } " ) print ( f "Category: { core_props.category } " ) print ( f "Comments: { core_props.comments } " ) print ( f "Content Status: { core_props.content_status } " ) print ( f "Identifier: { core_props.identifier } " ) print ( f "Language: { core_props.language } " ) print ( f "Last Modified By: { core_props.last_modified_by } " ) print ( f "Version: { core_props.version } " ) print ( f " \n Timestamps:" ) print ( f "Created: { core_props.created } " ) print ( f "Modified: { core_props.modified } " ) print ( f "Last Printed: { core_props.last_printed } " ) print ( f "Revision: { core_props.revision } " )
Copy properties between presentations from pptx import Presentation source = Presentation( 'source.pptx' ) dest = Presentation( 'template.pptx' ) # Copy all string properties src_props = source.core_properties dst_props = dest.core_properties dst_props.title = src_props.title dst_props.subject = src_props.subject dst_props.author = src_props.author dst_props.keywords = src_props.keywords dst_props.category = src_props.category dst_props.comments = src_props.comments dst_props.content_status = src_props.content_status dst_props.identifier = src_props.identifier dst_props.language = src_props.language dst_props.version = src_props.version # Copy date properties if they exist if src_props.created: dst_props.created = src_props.created if src_props.modified: dst_props.modified = src_props.modified dest.save( 'destination.pptx' )
Update modification tracking from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation( 'presentation.pptx' ) core_props = prs.core_properties # Update tracking information core_props.last_modified_by = "Update Script" core_props.modified = dt.datetime.now() core_props.revision = core_props.revision + 1 prs.save( 'presentation.pptx' ) print ( f "Updated to revision { core_props.revision } " )
Export properties to JSON from pptx import Presentation import json import datetime as dt prs = Presentation( 'presentation.pptx' ) core_props = prs.core_properties # Create properties dictionary props_dict = { "title" : core_props.title, "subject" : core_props.subject, "author" : core_props.author, "keywords" : core_props.keywords, "category" : core_props.category, "comments" : core_props.comments, "content_status" : core_props.content_status, "identifier" : core_props.identifier, "language" : core_props.language, "last_modified_by" : core_props.last_modified_by, "version" : core_props.version, "revision" : core_props.revision, "created" : core_props.created.isoformat() if core_props.created else None , "modified" : core_props.modified.isoformat() if core_props.modified else None , "last_printed" : core_props.last_printed.isoformat() if core_props.last_printed else None , } # Export to JSON file with open ( 'properties.json' , 'w' ) as f: json.dump(props_dict, f, indent = 2 ) print ( "Properties exported to properties.json" )
Default properties New presentations created with python-pptx have default core properties:
from pptx import Presentation import datetime as dt prs = Presentation() core_props = prs.core_properties # Default values for new presentations: # title: "PowerPoint Presentation" # last_modified_by: "python-pptx" # revision: 1 # modified: current UTC datetime print ( f "Default title: { core_props.title } " ) print ( f "Default modified by: { core_props.last_modified_by } " ) print ( f "Default revision: { core_props.revision } " )
Limitations and considerations
All string properties are limited to 255 unicode characters. Attempting to set a longer value raises ValueError.
Date properties accept datetime only
Date properties require datetime.datetime objects. Passing other types raises ValueError.
Revision must be positive
The revision property must be an integer >= 1. Values < 1 raise ValueError. Reading an unset or invalid revision returns 0.
Properties persist in the file
Core properties are stored in the /docProps/core.xml part of the .pptx package and persist when the file is saved.
Best practices
Set metadata for better organization
Always set at least title, author, and subject for better document organization and searchability.
Add relevant keywords to make presentations easier to find in document management systems.
Track versions with revision
Increment the revision number each time you make significant changes to track document history.
Update modification timestamps
Update modified and last_modified_by when making programmatic changes to maintain accurate audit trails.
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