Docs · Create a deck
Creating a deck
Everything that happens between the Create page and a finished deck.
Everything starts on the Create page. This is your home base: a prompt box, a few optional controls, and a list of your recent designs. This page walks through making a deck from a prompt (New deck). To restyle an existing PDF or PowerPoint instead, see Beautify.
Describe your deck
Type what you want in the prompt box and press the round Design button (or ⌘/Ctrl + Enter). You can write as much or as little as you like:
- A full brief covering topic, audience, structure, and tone gives Agent the most to work with.
- A script or outline you paste in is preserved; Agent designs around your exact wording.
- A one-liner works too; Agent fills in more of the content itself.
For how to phrase prompts that land, see Writing great prompts.
Add references
Click Add references (the paperclip) to give Agent extra material to work from:
- Add files or photos (images, PDFs, or plain text). Images are read as taste direction, documents for their content.
- Add from clipboard pastes an image you've copied.
- Take a screenshot grabs a browser tab.
References appear as little chips above the prompt box; remove any with its ✕. They're guidance, not a base deck. To rebuild an existing deck, use Beautify.
Set the options (all optional)
Below the prompt box are a few controls. Ignore them and Agent uses good defaults; adjust them to take the wheel.
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Slides | How many slides to make. | Auto |
| Brand | Start from a ready-made brand or your own. | None |
| Ghost | Make a private, temporary deck that's never saved. | Off |
| Destination | Which workspace or folder the deck lands in. | Default workspace |
Planning depth is automatic (see below); brands in Brands and Brand Studio; Ghost mode and destinations in Account & settings and Organizing decks.
How many slides
Open the Slides menu to pick Auto (Agent decides, usually 6–12 for a topic deck), a preset (3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30), or a custom number up to 300.
Planning reasoning
Agent decides how deeply to plan your deck before writing it. Planning is the pass that works out which slides exist and what each one covers. At the start of planning ("Adjusting for complexity"), it sizes up your prompt and attachments and picks the right depth automatically: a simple topic deck plans fast, while dense source material or a long deck gets more care. There's no toggle and no extra credit cost. Deeper planning is included.
The deepest planning pass, reserved for genuinely complex decks (lots of attachments, very long decks, or when you ask for absolute accuracy), is included with Pro and above. On Free and Plus, those decks still plan carefully, just not at the maximum depth. When Agent picks the deepest pass, planning takes a little longer than usual; it says so up front.
What happens after you press Design
Submitting takes you into the editor, where generation streams in live. It happens in three phases:
-
Planning. A floating card reads Planning your deck while Agent outlines the story. This takes a few seconds.
-
A question or two (sometimes). If answering would meaningfully shape the deck, Agent asks one to four quick questions in a popup. Pick an option, type your own, or hit Let Agent decide. You can also Skip all. Often there are no questions at all.
-
Writing slides. The card switches to Generating slides and shows the current slide and a progress bar. Slides are written one at a time.
If you open a question prompt but step away, Agent answers the questions itself after about a minute and keeps going. You'll see a short "Agent got started without you" note when you return. Nothing is lost.
When it finishes
The card reads Deck ready with a count of your slides and a Dismiss button. From here you can edit, reorder, present, or export. Head to The editor to get oriented.
If something interrupts generation
Generation is built to never lose your work:
- Stop early. Use the ✕ on the generation card and confirm Stop. The slides made so far are kept as a usable deck; unstarted slides are refunded.
- A single slide fails. It's marked and offered a free one-time retry in the editor. The rest of the deck is unaffected.
- The model is busy or unavailable. Your prompt is kept, so wait a moment and generate again.
- You run out of credits mid-deck. Generation pauses with the slides you have and a Top up button to finish the rest. (You can also choose to generate past your balance up front. It simply stops when credits run out.)
More fixes in Troubleshooting.
Next steps
Writing great prompts Get sharper decks with better briefs.
Credits, plans & billing What each deck costs.
Brands Start from a ready-made look, or your own.
Beautify Redesign a deck you already have.