Set a picture bullet

Use the setBulletFormat command with kind: 'picture' to make a picture the bullet of the selected paragraphs. The command adds the picture to the presentation once, and the change is one undo step.

This helper accepts an open PptxEditorInstance with text selected, and a picture file that the user picked:

import type { PptxEditorInstance } from '@pptx-editor.dev/core/editor';

export async function setPictureBullet(editor: PptxEditorInstance, file: File) {
  const picture = new Uint8Array(await file.arrayBuffer());
  const result = editor.exec({
    type: 'setBulletFormat',
    format: { kind: 'picture', picture, sizePercent: 120 },
  });
  if (!result.ok) throw new Error(result.reason);
}

picture takes PNG, JPEG, or GIF bytes of up to 50 MB. sizePercent is optional: it sets the bullet size in percent of the text, from 25 to 400. A paragraph with no list first gets the margins of a bulleted list.

Size and place

The picture is 0.7 times the bullet size high and keeps its own aspect. The bullet size is the size of the first text of the paragraph times the percent (a:buSzPct), or a size in points (a:buSzPts). The picture stands on the baseline at the bullet position. A picture wider than the hanging indent pushes the text to its right edge. A picture bullet does not make its line taller.

Read the bullet

With the paragraphs selected, editor.snapshot().format?.bulletFormat returns { kind: 'picture', sizePercent } for a picture bullet. The Bullets button shows as on, and a press on it removes the bullet. To change only the size, send a format with no kind:

editor.exec({ type: 'setBulletFormat', format: { sizePercent: 150 } });

What users see

In the Bullets and Numbering dialog, Choose picture… on the Bulleted tab opens a file picker for PNG, JPEG, and GIF files. The style then shows Picture, and OK sets the picture bullet. The color field is off for a picture bullet.

Limits

A picture bullet from a file draws when its picture is a PNG, JPEG, GIF, or BMP image in the package. A missing or unreadable picture draws no bullet, and the file keeps its markup.
A changed picture leaves the old picture in the package, as Change Picture does.

Set a picture bullet