Create and edit a presentation

Create a presentation in Slides, place text and images onto a 16:9 canvas, and adjust everything from the properties panel on the right.

Create a new presentation

1. Open Slides.
2. Click New slide in the sidebar. A dialog opens.
3. Type a name for your presentation in the Slide name field.
4. Click Create. The presentation opens in a new tab.

You can also create a presentation while you already have one open. Click File in the toolbar and choose New slide.

The editor layout

The editor has three areas:

• Slide panel on the left: numbered thumbnails of every slide. Click a thumbnail to switch to that slide.
• Canvas in the centre: the editing surface for the active slide at 1920×1080 pixels.
• Properties panel on the right: reflects whatever you have selected. With nothing selected it shows the slide background. With an object selected it shows that object's properties.

Add a text box

1. Click Add text in the toolbar. A text box appears in the centre of the canvas.
2. Double-click the text box to start typing. A floating toolbar appears with Bold, Italic, list, and other formatting buttons.
3. Click outside the text box to leave edit mode.

With a text box selected (but not in edit mode), the properties panel shows the full range of text options: font family, size, weight, style, decoration, horizontal and vertical alignment, letter spacing, line height, text colour, and highlight colour.

Add an image

1. Click Add image in the toolbar. A picker opens.
2. Either upload a file from your computer or pick an image already in Drive.
3. The image appears on the canvas. Drag it to position it, or resize it from the corner and edge handles.

You can also drag an image file from your computer and drop it directly onto the canvas.

Move, resize, and rotate objects

Click an object to select it. Handles appear at the edges and corners.

• Move: drag the object to a new position, or use the arrow keys to nudge it one pixel at a time.
• Resize: drag a corner or edge handle.
• Rotate: drag the rotation handle at the top of the selection.

To enter exact values, edit the X, Y, W, H, and rotation fields in the properties panel.

To select more than one object, hold Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and click each one. With multiple objects selected the properties panel adds an Arrange section with alignment and distribution tools.

Change the layer order

Right-click any object to open its context menu. From there you can:

• Move up or Move down to shift the object one step in the stack.
• Bring to front or Send to back to move it to the very top or bottom.

Change the slide background

With no object selected, the properties panel shows the background for the active slide. You can set a solid colour, a gradient, or an image. Use the Apply to dropdown to apply the background to just this slide, to this slide and all following ones, or to all slides at once, then click Apply.

Undo and redo

Press Cmd+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows) to undo the last change. Press Cmd+Y or Cmd+Shift+Z (Mac), or Ctrl+Y (Windows), to redo.

Rename your presentation

Click File in the toolbar and choose Rename. Type the new name and confirm.

Delete an object

Select an object and press Delete or Backspace. You can also right-click it and choose Delete from the context menu.