Design a deck

Use the deck settings in the Properties panel to set the size, theme, fonts, company logo, page numbers and fields that apply to every slide in a deck. Use a slide's own Slide section to change one slide only.

Open the deck settings

1. Open the deck in the editor.
2. Click an empty part of the slide, or press Esc, so that nothing is selected.
3. Read the Properties panel on the right. With nothing selected, it shows these sections in order: Deck, Slide, Deck fields, Theme, Required roles (only when the deck has any), Company logo, Page numbers and Logo on this slide.

When you select an element, the panel shows that element's settings instead. Deselect it to return to the deck settings.

Set the slide size

1. In Deck, open Size and pick a preset: Widescreen 16:9 (1280 x 720 px, the default), Wide 16:10 (1280 x 800 px), Standard 4:3 (1024 x 768 px), A4 landscape (1123 x 794 px) or Square 1:1 (900 x 900 px).
2. For any other size, type a value in Width or Height, in pixels. The Size list shows Custom while the deck matches no preset.

A deck created without a size choice starts at 1280 x 720 px.

• Width and Height are checked when you leave the field. A value below the minimum becomes the minimum, and a value above 3840 becomes 3840. The note under the fields reads: "Content rescales with the slide. Sizes run 300-3840px wide and 481-3840px tall - below that floor the slide grid cannot compose, so smaller values are refused."
• Content rescales with the size, like PowerPoint's Ensure Fit. Frames stretch per direction, and single-number settings such as font size, letter spacing, stroke width, corner radius, padding, blur radius and the logo width scale by one factor derived from both directions. Charts, path shapes, line height and ambient motion keep their values; see Animations and transitions.
• One size change is one step: Ctrl+Z restores the old size and every rescaled frame together.

Choose a theme

1. In Theme, click a Preset: Standard, Midnight, Editorial, Bordeaux, Ocean, Verdant, Aurora or Technical.
2. Adjust Background, Ink, Accent, Font or Chart colours if you need to.

A new deck follows the app theme. The switch in the Theme heading controls this. While it is on, the five fields are locked and show what the deck uses now, and the deck repaints whenever the active palette changes and re-reads it every time the deck opens. Turn the switch off, or choose a preset, to freeze the deck at its current look; the note under Preset reads: "Choosing a preset stops following the app theme and freezes the deck at that look."

Changing Background also changes every slide that still has the theme background, in the same step. A slide whose background you set by hand keeps its own colour.

Set the company logo

The company logo is uploaded by an administrator. The switch in the Company logo heading shows it on every slide that does not hide it; new decks have it on, and turning the switch off disables the fields below.

1. In Company logo, choose a Variant: Light mark, Dark mark or Auto per slide.
2. Choose a Position: Top left, Top right, Bottom left or Bottom right.
3. Set Size, Margin and Opacity.

To place a logo on one slide as a picture you can move, choose a Variant in Logo on this slide and click Insert company logo. The button stays greyed out until a logo has been uploaded, and the panel reads: "No company logo has been uploaded yet. An administrator can add one in System configuration." A logo inserted this way stays bound to the company logo, so a later upload of the mark updates it, and it can never be cropped.

Fill in the deck fields

1. In Deck fields, type into Author, Company, Subject or Email.
2. Write a reference in any text box or table cell. It shows the value you set.

A new deck fills Author and Email from your account, Subject from the deck title and Company from the company name set in System configuration. A field you leave empty shows as nothing when presenting or printing, and as its dimmed name while you edit, so an unfilled slot is visible to you and invisible to an audience. An older deck may also write {{event}}: it still shows the value the deck stored, but there is no field for it here and you cannot change it.

Turn on page numbers

1. Turn on the switch at the right of the Page numbers heading. The fields below stay disabled until you do.
2. Choose a Style: Minimal - 7, Fraction - 7 / 21, Chip - accent pill or Outline numeral - 07.
3. Choose a Position, the same four corners as the logo.
4. Keep Skip title on to leave the first slide unnumbered, or turn it off to number it.

Numbers follow each slide's position, so reordering never leaves a stale number. When a change will not show on the slide you are on, the section says why: "The slide you are on hides its number (Slide section), so changes here will not show on it." or "The first slide is unnumbered while "Skip title" is on, so preview changes on another slide."

Change one slide

The Slide section changes only the slide you are on:

• Name labels the slide in the slide rail and in pickers. The placeholder is Untitled slide.
• Background sets this slide's colour.
• Deck logo hides the company logo on this slide only. It is greyed out while the logo is off for the deck.
• Page number hides the page number on this slide only. It is greyed out while page numbers are off for the deck.
• Apply layout… opens the layout picker. See Slide layouts.

Who can change the design

You need edit access to the deck to change any of these settings. If you can only view a deck, the Properties panel does not appear. Your role permissions must also allow you to edit decks. See Slides permissions.

Questions, answered

Why did my deck's colours change when I changed the app theme?

The Theme switch is on, so the deck follows the app theme. Turn the switch off, or choose a Preset, to keep the look the deck has now.

How do I put the presenter's name on every title slide?

Fill in Author under Deck fields, then write {{author}} in the title text box.

Can I show today's date automatically?

Yes. Write {{date}} in any text box or table cell. It always shows today's date.

The logo is too dark on my dark slides. What do I do?

Set Variant to Auto per slide in Company logo. It picks the light or dark mark from each slide's own background.

I changed the page number style and nothing happened. Why?

You are probably on the first slide while Skip title is on, or on a slide whose Page number switch is off; the section shows a note explaining why. Move to another slide to see the change.

Why can't I make the slide 200 px tall?

The height cannot be smaller than 481 px. When you leave the Height field, a smaller value is set to 481 px. The width cannot be smaller than 300 px.

Does changing the size distort my slides?

Content is rescaled in proportion to the new size. One Ctrl+Z undoes the size change and the rescale together.

Can I hide the logo on just one slide?

Yes. Select that slide and turn off Deck logo in the Slide section. The logo still appears on every other slide.

How do I reset a deck to the default look?

Click the Standard preset in Theme: it carries the product's default colours and font. To make the deck follow the app theme again, turn the Theme switch back on.

Do deck fields work in table cells too?

Yes. {{author}}, {{company}} and the other references resolve in table cells exactly as they do in text boxes.

Why is Insert company logo greyed out?

No company logo has been uploaded yet. An administrator can add one in System configuration; see Branding and themes.

What does the colour strip on a theme preset show?

It previews the five theme fields the preset writes: background, ink, accent and the first two chart colours.