PHP - PPT to PNG

Using PHP to convert PPT to PNG

Zamzar offers a simple file conversion API to convert files from your applications with support for 100's of formats. Below we have listed an example to convert a PPT file to PNG using PHP. We also support a variety of other programming languages.

If you have any questions check out our comprehensive FAQ which contains further information on how to use the API.

PHP Code Sample

Our example code assumes that you're using PHP 5.3 or newer.

To convert your first file with the Zamzar API, send an HTTP request to POST https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/jobs containing your source file, and the your desired target format. If the source file is on the web or in S3, send us the URL: the source file doesn't need to hit your servers.

<?php

$endpoint = "https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/jobs";
$apiKey = "GiVUYsF4A8ssq93FR48H";
$sourceFile = "https://s3.amazonaws.com/zamzar-samples/sample.ppt";
$targetFormat = "PNG";

$postData = array(
  "source_file" => $sourceFile,
  "target_format" => $targetFormat
);

$ch = curl_init(); // Init curl
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endpoint); // API endpoint
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'POST');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postData);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); // Return response as a string
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $apiKey . ":"); // Set the API key as the basic auth username
$body = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$response = json_decode($body, true);

echo "Response:\n---------\n";
print_r($response);

Your source file is now being converted. Send an HTTP request to GET https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/jobs/$jobId to check its progress. The response will also give you details about your converted file.

<?php

$jobID = 15;
$endpoint = "https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/jobs/$jobID";
$apiKey = "GiVUYsF4A8ssq93FR48H";

$ch = curl_init(); // Init curl
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endpoint); // API endpoint
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); // Return response as a string
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $apiKey . ":"); // Set the API key as the basic auth username
$body = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$job = json_decode($body, true);

echo "Job:\n----\n";
print_r($job);

Once the status of your job is successful, your converted file is ready to download. Send an HTTP request to GET https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/file/$fileId/content to download it. We store your files for a day by default, and for longer on our paid plans.

<?php

$fileID = 3;
$localFilename = "converted.png";;
$endpoint = "https://sandbox.zamzar.com/v1/files/$fileID/content";
$apiKey = "GiVUYsF4A8ssq93FR48H";

$ch = curl_init(); // Init curl
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endpoint); // API endpoint
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $apiKey . ":"); // Set the API key as the basic auth username
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, TRUE);

$fh = fopen($localFilename, "wb");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FILE, $fh);

$body = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

echo "File downloaded\n";

If you like what you see and want to start converting files under your own API account then please click the "Get Started Now" button to signup for your own API account. Please feel free to get in touch with us should you have any specific questions or refer to our extensive docs and FAQ for further information.

Get Started Now

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  • S3 Integration

    Automatically import and export to S3 with 2 lines of code.

  • Simple Pricing

    Fixed price monthly accounts which come bundled with conversion credits.

  • Great Support

    Our support team is staffed by software developers who will help to fix your problem.

  • Conversion Experts

    File conversion experts, having converted 350 million files over the past decade.

Using PPT with PHP

Powerpoint files can be manipulated through a number of open source tools. You could consider using the PHP Presentation open source software library which is written in pure PHP (and licensed under LGPL version 3). It supports both the reading and writing of Powerpoint files, but does have some limitations around rendering - for example losing styling in some cases. It is however actively updated so over time bugs and issues are being fixed.

Another option is to use LibreOffice Impress, this is an actively developed solution for reading and writing Powerpoint files, however it's automation API is limited in PHP. It does have some fairly well documented rendering issues too, for example with SmartArt presentations. Think carefully before using it if rendering is an important cog in your conversion needs, but as a low cost solution this might suffice.

If you need commercial software that renders as accurately as the native Microsoft Office tooling then you could consider using the Zamzar API. With a dedicated support team, code examples in many of the major languages including PHP, simple low cost conversion credits and support for direct import and export to S3, it may cover most of the use cases you require. Feel free to reach out to our support team with any questions or dip into the getting started guide in our docs.

Resources:
  • Joel Spolsky article on why Microsoft Office formats are so complicated.
  • OpenTBS for merging LibreOffice, OpenOffice and MS Office documents with PHP
Related StackOverflow Questions:

Using PNG with PHP

Depending on your specific needs there are a number of commercial and open source libraries that will enable you to convert or manipulate PNG files. One consideration is whether you want the outputted PNG file to be transparent. You could consider using GD which is a good PHP image library with extensive documentation.

Another open source option is ImageMagick which has a very powerful suite of tools and dedicated PHP libraries you can hook into. You can use ImageMagick via PHP for either file conversion or image manipulation, but the underlying tooling will need to be setup and configured on any servers you run your code on.

If you'd prefer to use commercial software with a dedicated developer support team to help you, and a powerful image rendering engine you could consider using the Zamzar API. With code examples in many of the major languages including PHP, simple low cost conversion credits and support for direct import and export to S3, it may cover most of the use cases you require. Feel free to reach out to our support team with any questions or dip into the getting started guide in our docs.

Resources:
Related StackOverflow Questions: