Feren Yen
Generate slide decks
Use Canva to generate slide decks from scratch. Learn the basic functions of Canva to create and edit slides using AI.
How to generate a draft slide presentation from a text prompt using Canva's Magic AI
Generative AI can be a useful partner for rapidly brainstorming and creating a first draft of a slide presentation. Using a tool like Canva's Magic AI, you can provide a detailed text prompt describing your topic, audience, and desired style to generate a complete slide deck, including text, images, and layouts. This approach is best suited for generating initial ideas and structures, not for producing a finished, fact-checked final product. Always critically review and refine any AI-generated content for accuracy, appropriateness, and potential copyright issues before use.
00:42Navigate to the Canva AI tool. From the Canva home screen, select Canva AI from the left-hand navigation menu.00:59Enter a detailed prompt for your presentation. In the text box, describe the presentation you want to create. Include the topic, title, intended audience, desired tone, number of slides, and any specific content or design elements to include.01:03Set the design parameters. Use the filter buttons below the prompt box to specify the Audience, Style, and Length of the presentation.01:16Generate the presentation outline. Click the submit button (purple arrow icon) to generate a slide-by-slide outline based on your prompt.01:42Generate the visual slide design. Review the generated outline. When ready, click the Generate designbutton to create the full slide deck.03:09Open the presentation in the editor. After the slides are generated, click Use Canva Editor to open the full presentation for further refinement.03:14Edit and refine the content. Click on any text box, image, or element on the slides to edit it. You can rewrite text, replace images, and adjust layouts as needed.04:15Share or export your presentation. Use the Share button to download the presentation in various formats (e.g., PowerPoint, PDF), share a link, or invite collaborators.
Tool | This activity uses Canva's Magic AI, available at canva.com. |
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Access | A free Canva account is required, which includes a limited number of AI credits for generating designs. |
Example prompt | The presenter used the prompt: "Create a fun 8-slide presentation titled Weekday Dinner Wins: Quick, Tasty Meals for Busy Educators and Families. Include easy recipes, time-saving hacks, colourful food photos, simple layouts, a cheerful modern design with warm colours, bullet points, and helpful speaker notes. Make it light-hearted and practical." |
Limits | Always review AI-generated content for factual accuracy, as it can produce errors or 'hallucinations', and be mindful of copyright and commercial use terms for generated images and text. |
Export formats | Presentations can be exported in multiple formats, including PDF, Microsoft PowerPoint, and image files. |
Related skills
- Brainstorm ideas and generate drafts — This activity demonstrates using AI to quickly generate a complete first draft of a presentation, which serves as a starting point for further refinement.
- Use simple prompts — The video shows how to write a single, detailed natural language prompt to guide the AI in creating a structured, multi-slide output.
- Apply human judgement to validate AI outputs — The presenter highlights the importance of opening the generated slides in the editor to review, modify, and refine the AI's output.
- Recognise limits of AI outputs — The presenter notes that users should check for flaws or hallucinations and consider copyright implications, acknowledging that AI output is not final.
- Create multimodal outputs — The tool generates a presentation that combines text, layout, and images, creating a multimodal artefact from a single text prompt.