How to convert a Legacy PPT Presentation to PPTX in Python

Time for a little spring cleaning! Today we will be converting that backlog of old PPT files into more convenient PPTX. Don’t worry, this is not going to be a lengthy process as it normally would be. Rather, we will use an API that will dramatically simplify everything, allowing you to add this functionality to your project in just a few minutes.

First we shall pip install our client, as seen here:

pip install cloudmersive-convert-api-client

Now we are going to write a function call for convert_document_ppt_to_pptx, using an API instance and key. This will also need our input file.

from __future__ import print_function
import time
import cloudmersive_convert_api_client
from cloudmersive_convert_api_client.rest import ApiException
from pprint import pprint
# Configure API key authorization: Apikey
configuration = cloudmersive_convert_api_client.Configuration()
configuration.api_key['Apikey'] = 'YOUR_API_KEY'
# Uncomment below to setup prefix (e.g. Bearer) for API key, if needed
# configuration.api_key_prefix['Apikey'] = 'Bearer'
# create an instance of the API class
api_instance = cloudmersive_convert_api_client.ConvertDocumentApi(cloudmersive_convert_api_client.ApiClient(configuration))
input_file = '/path/to/file' # file | Input file to perform the operation on.
try:
# Convert PowerPoint PPT (97-03) Presentation to PPTX
api_response = api_instance.convert_document_ppt_to_pptx(input_file)
pprint(api_response)
except ApiException as e:
print("Exception when calling ConvertDocumentApi->convert_document_ppt_to_pptx: %s\n" % e)

That’s it for setup, now go ahead and run it. Boom! Your PowerPoint files have been updated! Super easy.