How to paste an Excel chart into PowerPoint placeholder using Python

Question

I have an excel file with a series of formatted charts on a tab called Charts. I have named the charts, Figure1, Figure2, Figure3, etc.

I have an existing PowerPoint template. The template has 2 placeholders per slide (so that it can accommodate 2 charts per slide).

I would like to paste the Figure1 in the left placeholder of slide 3, and Figure2 in the right placeholder of slide 3. I want to do this in python as the data analysis is done in python and excel is used to share stored results with colleagues.

Attempt 1:

Attempt 1 uses win32com.client. I am following this example: How to copy a chart from excel and paste it as a chart into PowerPoint (not image) using python

but I cannot get the syntax right to insert the chart into the placeholder. When I follow the syntax in the solution, nothing happens and I get a message

<bound method Paste of <COMObject >>

Current code:

xlApp = win32.Dispatch('Excel.Application')
wb = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(outputPath+'Chart Pack.xlsb')
        
pptApp = win32.Dispatch('PowerPoint.Application')
ppt = pptApp.Presentations.Open(template)
        
# attempt 1
wb.sheets('Charts').ChartObjects('Figure1').Copy
ppt.slides[2].Shapes.Paste
    
# attempt 2
wb.sheets('Charts').ChartObjects('Figure1').Copy
ppt.slides[2].placeholders[1].Paste

Attempt 2:

Attempt 2 uses python-pptx. I looked at the documentation here: https://python-pptx.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/placeholders-using.html

but the example involves creating an excel chart from scratch in PowerPoint (I am not sure why you would ever do that), and I can't figure out the syntax to insert an existing chart from excel.

Current code:

from pptx import Presentation

xlApp = win32.Dispatch('Excel.Application')
wb = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(outputPath+'Chart Pack.xlsb')
    
prs = Presentation(template)
slide = prs.slides[3]
    
for shape in slide.placeholders:
    print('%d %s' % (shape.placeholder_format.idx, shape.name))

placeholder = prs.slides[3].placeholders[1]
placeholder.name
placeholder.placeholder_format.type
placeholder.insert_chart(wb.sheets('Charts').ChartObjects('Figure1').Copy)

Requirements:

1. I would like to paste the excel chart as an excel object (rather than as a picture) as my colleague likes to be able to click on data series to get the underlying values etc.

2. I would like to paste the chart inside a placeholder (rather than on top of it).

3. I don't want to generate a new chart in PowerPoint as most examples do. A colleague has prepared an excel dashboard and formatted a number of charts as desired, and doing it all from scratch would be laborious.

4. I don't want to do this in VBA. I would like to do it in python as it is part of a broader program.

5. I don't want to use something like plotnine, seaborn, matplotlib etc. As per 1, my colleague likes excel objects that he can click on to show underlying values. This can't be done in these programs.

Answer 1

Very near indeed! Copy and Paste are methods, so you must place brackets after their names to refer to them as such, e.g. ().

You must call the Item method of the Slides class, ppt, in order to obtain slide 2.

import win32com.client as win32

xlApp = win32.Dispatch('Excel.Application')
wb = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(outputPath+'Chart Pack.xlsb')

pptApp = win32.Dispatch('PowerPoint.Application')
ppt = pptApp.Presentations.Open(template)

slide_num = 3
LEFT_PLACEHOLDER = 3
RIGHT_PLACEHOLDER = 2

# Figure1
window.View.GotoSlide(slide_num)
wb.sheets('Charts').ChartObjects('Figure1').Copy()
ppt.Slides.Item(slide_num).Shapes.Paste().Select()
window.Selection.Cut()
ppt.Slides.Item(slide_num).Shapes(LEFT_PLACEHOLDER).Select()
window.View.Paste()

# Figure2
window.View.GotoSlide(slide_num)
wb.sheets('Charts').ChartObjects('Figure2').Copy()
ppt.Slides.Item(slide_num).Shapes.Paste().Select()
window.Selection.Cut()
ppt.Slides.Item(slide_num).Shapes(RIGHT_PLACEHOLDER).Select()
window.View.Paste()