VBA Powerpoint macro to paste Shape at point

Question

I am trying to write a Macro that pastes a shape at the point position instead of the default ppt behavior which is to paste it next to the copied object.

I assigned a keyboard shortcut to the Get_Cursor_Pos macro which saves the current point position and then I try to paste it with the Paste macro.

However, the latter pastes it in a different position than the saved cursor position. I suspect this is due to different positioning units being used in both macros. How can I fix this issue?

' Access the GetCursorPos function in user32.dll
      Declare Function GetCursorPos Lib "user32" _
      (lpPoint As POINTAPI) As Long
      ' Access the GetCursorPos function in user32.dll
      Declare Function SetCursorPos Lib "user32" _
      (ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long) As Long

      ' GetCursorPos requires a variable declared as a custom data type
      ' that will hold two integers, one for x value and one for y value
      Type POINTAPI
         X_Pos As Long
         Y_Pos As Long
      End Type


     ' Dimension the variable that will hold the x and y cursor positions    
     Dim Hold As POINTAPI


      ' Main routine to dimension variables, retrieve cursor position,
      ' and display coordinates
      Sub Get_Cursor_Pos()


      ' Place the cursor positions in variable Hold
      GetCursorPos Hold
      End Sub

    Sub Paste()
        ActivePresentation.Slides(1).Shapes.Paste
        With ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange
            .Left = Hold.X_Pos
            .Top = Hold.Y_Pos
        End With

    End Sub

------ EDIT -------

For the sake of helping other people with the same problem here is a solution incorporating Shyam and Steve's answers below. Since PPT doesn't allow you to assign a shortcut key to a macro (unless you use a paid add-in) I had to create an add-in with a toolbar as described here http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00031_Create_an_ADD-IN_with_TOOLBARS_that_run_macros.htm.

Declare Function GetDC Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long
Declare Function ReleaseDC Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hDC As Long) As Long
Declare Function GetDeviceCaps Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hDC As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long
Declare Function GetCursorPos Lib "user32" (lpPoint As POINTAPI) As Long
' Access the GetCursorPos function in user32.dll
Declare Function SetCursorPos Lib "user32" (ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long) As Long

 ' GetCursorPos requires a variable declared as a custom data type
 ' that will hold two integers, one for x value and one for y value
 Type POINTAPI
    X_Pos As Long
    Y_Pos As Long
 End Type


' Dimension the variable that will hold the x and y cursor positions
Dim Hold As POINTAPI


Function GetSlideOriginOnScreen(Window As DocumentWindow) As POINTAPI
    Dim pt As POINTAPI

    With Window
        pt.X_Pos = .PointsToScreenPixelsX(0)
        pt.Y_Pos = .PointsToScreenPixelsY(0)
    End With

    GetSlideOriginOnScreen = pt
End Function

Function ConvertPixelToPointX(x As Long) As Single
    Const LOGPIXELSX = 88
    Const POINTSPERINCH = 72

    Dim hDC As Long
    Dim sngX As Long

    hDC = GetDC(0)
    sngX = GetDeviceCaps(hDC, LOGPIXELSX)
    Call ReleaseDC(0, hDC)

    ConvertPixelToPointX = (x / sngX) * POINTSPERINCH
End Function

Function ConvertPixelToPointY(y As Long) As Single
    Const LOGPIXELSY = 90
    Const POINTSPERINCH = 72

    Dim hDC As Long
    Dim sngY As Long

    hDC = GetDC(0)
    sngY = GetDeviceCaps(hDC, LOGPIXELSY)
    Call ReleaseDC(0, hDC)

    ConvertPixelToPointY = (y / sngY) * POINTSPERINCH
End Function


Sub Auto_Open()
    Dim oToolbar As CommandBar
    Dim oButton As CommandBarButton
    Dim MyToolbar As String

    ' Give the toolbar a name
    MyToolbar = "Paste Tools"

    On Error Resume Next
    ' so that it doesn't stop on the next line if the toolbar's already there

    ' Create the toolbar; PowerPoint will error if it already exists
    Set oToolbar = CommandBars.Add(Name:=MyToolbar, _
        Position:=msoBarFloating, Temporary:=True)
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
          ' The toolbar's already there, so we have nothing to do
          Exit Sub
    End If

    On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

    ' Now add a button to the new toolbar
    Set oButton = oToolbar.Controls.Add(Type:=msoControlButton)

    ' And set some of the button's properties

    With oButton

         .DescriptionText = "Get cursor position"
          'Tooltip text when mouse if placed over button

         .Caption = "Get cursor position"
         'Text if Text in Icon is chosen

         .OnAction = "Button1"
          'Runs the Sub Button1() code when clicked

         .Style = msoButtonIcon
          ' Button displays as icon, not text or both

         .FaceId = 38
          ' chooses icon #52 from the available Office icons

    End With

    ' Now add a button to the new toolbar
    Set oButton2 = oToolbar.Controls.Add(Type:=msoControlButton)

    ' And set some of the button's properties

    With oButton2

         .DescriptionText = "Paste at cursor"
          'Tooltip text when mouse if placed over button

         .Caption = "Paste at cursor"
         'Text if Text in Icon is chosen

         .OnAction = "Button2"
          'Runs the Sub Button1() code when clicked

         .Style = msoButtonIcon
          ' Button displays as icon, not text or both

         .FaceId = 40
          ' chooses icon #52 from the available Office icons

    End With

    ' Repeat the above for as many more buttons as you need to add
    ' Be sure to change the .OnAction property at least for each new button

    ' You can set the toolbar position and visibility here if you like
    ' By default, it'll be visible when created. Position will be ignored in PPT 2007 and later
    oToolbar.Top = 150
    oToolbar.Left = 150
    oToolbar.Visible = True

NormalExit:
    Exit Sub   ' so it doesn't go on to run the errorhandler code

ErrorHandler:
     'Just in case there is an error
     MsgBox Err.Number & vbCrLf & Err.Description
     Resume NormalExit:
End Sub

Sub Button1()
  GetCursorPos Hold
End Sub

Sub Button2()
 Dim zoom As Double

 zoom = ActiveWindow.View.zoom / 100
 With ActivePresentation.Slides(1).Shapes.Paste
        .Left = ConvertPixelToPointX((Hold.X_Pos - GetSlideOriginOnScreen(ActiveWindow).X_Pos) / zoom)
        .Top = ConvertPixelToPointY((Hold.Y_Pos - GetSlideOriginOnScreen(ActiveWindow).Y_Pos) / zoom)
    End With
End Sub

Answer 1

As Steve as said, the PointsToScreenPixelX(0) and PointsToScreenPixelY(0) properties will give the screen co-ordinates of the top-left edge of slide in slide/normal view. If you include the code below then it will position the shape at whatever cursor position you store.

Note that this snippet works at zoom level 100 for the window. For other values, you will have to scale accordingly.

Declare Function GetDC Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long
Declare Function ReleaseDC Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hDC As Long) As Long
Declare Function GetDeviceCaps Lib "gdi32" (ByVal hDC As Long, ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long

Function GetSlideOriginOnScreen(Window As DocumentWindow) As POINTAPI
    Dim pt As POINTAPI

    With Window
        pt.X_Pos = .PointsToScreenPixelsX(0)
        pt.Y_Pos = .PointsToScreenPixelsY(0)
    End With

    GetSlideOriginOnScreen = pt
End Function

Function ConvertPixelToPointX(X As Long) As Single
    Const LOGPIXELSX = 88
    Const POINTSPERINCH = 72

    Dim hDC As Long
    Dim sngX As Long

    hDC = GetDC(0)
    sngX = GetDeviceCaps(hDC, LOGPIXELSX)
    Call ReleaseDC(0, hDC)

    ConvertPixelToPointX = (X / sngX) * POINTSPERINCH
End Function

Function ConvertPixelToPointY(Y As Long) As Single
    Const LOGPIXELSY = 90
    Const POINTSPERINCH = 72

    Dim hDC As Long
    Dim sngY As Long

    hDC = GetDC(0)
    sngY = GetDeviceCaps(hDC, LOGPIXELSY)
    Call ReleaseDC(0, hDC)

    ConvertPixelToPointY = (Y / sngY) * POINTSPERINCH

End Function

Now change your code to the following call:

Sub Paste()

    With ActivePresentation.Slides(1).Shapes.Paste(1)
        .Left = ConvertPixelToPointX(Hold.X_Pos - GetSlideOriginOnScreen(ActiveWindow).X_Pos)
        .Top = ConvertPixelToPointY(Hold.Y_Pos - GetSlideOriginOnScreen(ActiveWindow).Y_Pos)
    End With

End Sub