Exporting Google Slides to Images

Have you ever needed to convert your Google Slides presentation into a series of images? Maybe you want to share your slides on social media, include them in a document, or use them in a video. Whatever your reason, manually exporting each slide can be time-consuming and tedious. But don't worry! In this tutorial, I'll show you how to automate this process using Google Apps Script. With just a few lines of code, you'll be able to export all your slides as high-quality PNG images and store them neatly in a folder.

This project is perfect for educators, marketers, or anyone who frequently works with presentations. The best part? It'll take you less than 30 minutes to set up, and once done, you can use it for all your future presentations!

Prerequisites

This tutorial assumes the following prerequisites:

• Basic knowledge of Google Apps Script. If you're new to Apps Script, check out my Google Apps Script Tutorial Series to get started.

• Familiarity with Google Slides.

5 steps to implement the Google Slides to Images exporter

• Step 1 — Create a new Apps Script project

• Step 2 — Write a function to export slides to images

• Step 3 — Set up authorization and run the script

• Step 4 — Check the exported images

• Step 5 — Customize the script

Step 1 — Create a new Apps Script project

First, let's create a new Apps Script project:

• Go to script.new to create a new Apps Script project.

• Delete any code in the editor.

• Rename the project to "Slides to Images Exporter" by clicking on "Untitled project" in the top left corner.

Step 2 — Write a function to export slides to images

Now, let's write our main function that will export the slides to images. Copy and paste the following code into the Code.gs file:

function exportSlidesToImages() {
  var presentation = SlidesApp.openById("{{PRESENTATION_ID}}");
  var slides = presentation.getSlides();
  var presentationFile = DriveApp.getFileById(presentation.getId());
  var parentFolder = presentationFile.getParents().next();
  
  // Check if 'images' folder exists, create it if it doesn't
  var imagesFolderIterator = parentFolder.getFoldersByName('images');
  var imagesFolder;
  if (imagesFolderIterator.hasNext()) {
    imagesFolder = imagesFolderIterator.next();
  } else {
    imagesFolder = parentFolder.createFolder('images');
  }
   
  for (var i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) {
    var slide = slides[i];
    var slideId = slide.getObjectId();
   
    // Export the slide as an image with retry mechanism
    var success = false;
    var retries = 0;
    var maxRetries = 5;
    var retryDelay = 2500;
   
    while (!success && retries < maxRetries) {
      retries++;
      try {
        var url = 'https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/' + presentation.getId() + '/export/png?id=' + presentation.getId() + '&pageid=' + slideId;
        var options = {
          headers: {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + ScriptApp.getOAuthToken()},
          muteHttpExceptions: true
        };
        var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options);
       
        if (response.getResponseCode() === 200) {
          var imageBlob = response.getBlob().setName((i + 1) + '.png');
          imagesFolder.createFile(imageBlob);
          success = true;
          Logger.log('Exported slide ' + (i + 1));
        } else if (response.getResponseCode() === 429) {
          Logger.log('Rate limit hit for slide ' + (i + 1) + '. Retrying after delay...');
          Utilities.sleep(retryDelay);
        } else {
          throw new Error('Failed to export slide ' + (i + 1) + '. Response Code: ' + response.getResponseCode());
        }
      } catch (error) {
        Logger.log(error.toString());
        if (retries >= maxRetries) {
          Logger.log('Max retries reached for slide ' + (i + 1) + '. Moving to next slide.');
        } else {
          Logger.log('Retrying slide ' + (i + 1) + ' after error...');
          Utilities.sleep(retryDelay);
        }
      }
    }
   
    // Add a small delay between successful exports to avoid rate limiting
    if (success) {
      Utilities.sleep(retryDelay);
    }
  } 
}

Step 3 — Set up authorization and run the script

Now that we've written our script, let's run it:

• Click on the "Run" button (play icon) in the toolbar.

• You'll be prompted to review permissions. Click "Review permissions".

• Choose your Google account.

• You may see a warning that the app isn't verified. Click "Advanced" and then "Go to Slides to Images Exporter (unsafe)".

• Review the permissions and click "Allow".

Step 4 — Check the exported images

After the script finishes running:

• Open Google Drive and navigate to the folder containing your presentation.

• You should see a new folder called "images".

• Open this folder to find your exported slide images.

Step 5 — Customize the script

You can customize this script to fit your needs. For example:

Change the export format:

• Replace export/png with export/pdf in the URL to export as PDF.

• Replace export/png with export/svg in the URL to export as SVG.

• Replace export/png with export/pptx in the URL to export as PPTX.

• Replace export/png with export/txt in the URL to export as PPTX.

• Replace export/png with export/jpeg in the URL to export as JPG.

• Replace export/png with export/odp in the URL to export as ODP.

var imageBlob = response.getBlob().setName((i + 1) + '.png');

Modify the file naming

Change (i + 1) + '.png' to include the presentation name or other identifiers.

How the code works

Let's break down the script to understand how it works:

1. Opening the presentation

var presentation = SlidesApp.openById("{{PRESENTATION_ID}}");
var slides = presentation.getSlides();

This opens the specified presentation and gets all its slides.

2. Setting up the output folder

var presentationFile = DriveApp.getFileById(presentation.getId());
var parentFolder = presentationFile.getParents().next();

var imagesFolderIterator = parentFolder.getFoldersByName('images');
var imagesFolder;
if (imagesFolderIterator.hasNext()) {
  imagesFolder = imagesFolderIterator.next();
} else {
  imagesFolder = parentFolder.createFolder('images');
}

This code creates an 'images' folder in the same location as the presentation, or uses an existing one if it's already there.

3. Exporting each slide

for (var i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) {
  var slide = slides[i];
  var slideId = slide.getObjectId();
  // ... (export logic)
}

This loop goes through each slide and exports it as an image.

4. Handling rate limits and errors

while (!success && retries < maxRetries) {
  // ... (export attempt)
  if (response.getResponseCode() === 429) {
    Logger.log('Rate limit hit for slide ' + (i + 1) + '. Retrying after delay...');
    Utilities.sleep(retryDelay);
  }
  // ... (other error handling)
}

This code implements a retry mechanism to handle rate limits and other potential errors.

5. Saving the image

var imageBlob = response.getBlob().setName((i + 1) + '.png');
imagesFolder.createFile(imageBlob);

If the export is successful, this saves the image in the 'images' folder.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've just created a powerful tool to automate the process of exporting Google Slides to images. This script will save you countless hours of manual work, especially if you frequently need to convert presentations to images.

We've covered how to set up the script, run it, and even customize it to fit your specific needs. Remember, automation like this is key to increasing your productivity and freeing up time for more important tasks.

Thank you for following along with this tutorial. I hope you find this script useful in your work with Google Slides!