# Create your first document in Slaide

Slaide Help · Getting started · Last checked: 2026-10-11 · 6 min read
URL: https://help.slaide.de/create-your-first-document

> To create your first document, sign in, describe what you need in the box on the start screen and click Generate. Answer the short questions, check the plan and approve it with Let's go. Slaide builds the pages while you watch, and you download the result from the Export menu. The first document is free once you have confirmed your e-mail address, no credit card needed.

## What do I need before I start?

A Slaide account and an idea of what the document is for. You need no template, no file and no credit card. If you have no account yet, see [Create an account and sign in](https://help.slaide.de/sign-up-and-log-in).

- **A request** of a few sentences: what the document is, who reads it and what it should achieve.
- **Files (optional)** with facts the document should use: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images or text. See [Files and exports](https://help.slaide.de/files-and-exports).
- **Your brand (optional):** your website address, so Slaide can read colors, fonts and logo from it.

## How do I create my first document, step by step?

These steps start on the start screen of your library. Right after sign-up, the welcome screen first asks what you will use Slaide for and one follow-up question, which you can skip with **Skip for now**. The last step shows the same box under “What are we making?”, with the button **Create my first document**.

![The Slaide start screen (Library): the heading “What would you like to create?”, below it the request box with an example request, paperclip, Plan first switch, Brand and Generate button, and the four quick starts underneath.](https://help.slaide.de/images/help/library-start-en.webp)

1. **Open the start screen**. Sign in and open the [library](https://app.slaide.de/library). The box under “What would you like to create?” is where every document starts.
2. **Write your request**. Describe the document the way you would brief a colleague: what it is, who it is for and what it should achieve. A few sentences are enough.
   - Example request: Create a 6-slide presentation for our team meeting on how the first half of the year went. Audience: our twelve colleagues. Include revenue by quarter, three highlights, one problem and what we do about it. Tone: honest and short.
   - Tip: More on what to write: [How to write a good brief](https://help.slaide.de/how-to-write-a-good-brief).
3. **Add files or your brand (optional)**. Click the paperclip (**Attach files**) for material the document should use. Click **Brand** next to the box to open the Brand page, where **Add brand** reads colors, fonts and logo from your website.
4. **Click Generate**. Leave the **Plan first** chip on and click the arrow button (**Generate**) or press Enter. Slaide opens the editor and starts with the questions.
5. **Answer the questions**. Slaide asks up to four short questions. Pick an answer for each. From the second question on, **I'll take it from here** lets Slaide answer the rest with sensible assumptions.
   ![Slaide editor after the brief: a question card asks what the Q4 plan should show, three of four options are ticked, with Back, Build the plan and I'll take it from here](https://help.slaide.de/images/product/plan-questions-en.webp)
6. **Check the plan and approve it**. Read the page cards and the list of assumptions. Edit a card if something is off, then click **Let's go**.
   ![Slaide page plan for an 8-slide sales review: the chosen answers at the top, one card per slide with title and content, the assumptions below, a 16:9 format switch and the buttons Tweak it and Let's go](https://help.slaide.de/images/product/plan-pages-en.webp)
   - Tip: In your very first run from the welcome screen, and later in this browser once you have approved a plan yourself, a countdown bar appears: if you do nothing for a minute, Slaide continues on its own. Moving the mouse or typing resets it.
7. **Watch the pages appear**. Each page shows up in the page strip as soon as it is done. The first one can take a minute or more.
   ![Slaide editor while a presentation is being built: five slides are already in the page strip, slide 5 is open, and the assistant panel lists the steps writing page 4, writing page 5 and checking the render of page 3](https://help.slaide.de/images/product/build-live-en.webp)
8. **Check the result and export**. Click through the pages, change what you like, then click **Export** at the top right and choose a format.
   ![The open Export menu of a pitch deck in Slaide with PowerPoint (editable slides, .pptx), PDF (vector document), PNG (image per page) and JPG (smaller images).](https://help.slaide.de/images/help/export-menu-en.webp)

## What can I do while Slaide builds?

You do not have to wait for the last page. Read the finished ones, and once pages arrive, the status line shows an estimate of the time left.

- **Correct something.** Type it in the chat, for example “the company name on slide 2 is wrong”. Slaide takes it in at its next step. If that is not possible, the message waits and runs after the build.
- **Follow the steps.** The assistant panel lists what Slaide is doing, including the render check of each page and any web research.
- **Stop.** **Stop** ends the build.

## What does my free first document include?

Your first document is free, without a credit card, once you have confirmed your e-mail address. Slaide plans it with up to 12 pages and builds the first 3.

| Part | On the free first document |
| --- | --- |
| Questions and plan | Free. Planning does not use up your free document. |
| Building | Uses your free document. The first 3 pages are built, the rest of the plan stays visible. **Finish building** builds it on a paid plan. |
| Follow-up requests | Covered on this document, within the page limit. |
| Export | PDF, PNG, JPG and PowerPoint or Word, with a small “Made with Slaide” mark. |
| A second document | Needs credits, which come with a paid plan from €7.99 a month. |

> **Pupils and students:** If you choose “Student (school)” or “Student (university)” in the welcome questions, there is no free document. Planning stays free, and building takes a plan or a one-time unlock of €0.99 for that one document, up to 12 pages. The plan screen says so before you approve.

## What if the result is not what I wanted?

Treat the first result as a draft that you refine in the chat or by hand.

- **Ask for one change at a time,** with the page number: “Slide 4: shorten the text and make the number bigger.”
- **Fix small things yourself.** Click text on a page to change a word or a figure.
- **Go back.** The **Versions** tab lists earlier states and restores one: see [Version history](https://help.slaide.de/version-history).
- **Change the direction in the chat,** for example “Make it more formal and cut it to five slides.”

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I have to answer the questions?

No. From the second question on, **I'll take it from here** lets Slaide answer the remaining questions with sensible assumptions, and after a minute without input a countdown bar does the same. If your request is already clear, Slaide may skip the questions and show the plan right away. You can still change anything in the plan.

### Where do I find my document later?

In your [library](https://app.slaide.de/library). The **Continue** card shows your most recent finished document that is not in a folder, and the library lists every document you create. To search, favorite or group documents, see [Find and organize your documents](https://help.slaide.de/organize-your-document-library).

### Can I choose the page format before the build?

Yes. The switch above the plan sets the format, for example 16:9 slides or A4 pages. See [Page formats and sizes](https://help.slaide.de/page-formats-and-sizes) for the options and what each one exports as.

### Why were only the first pages built?

The free plan builds the first 3 pages of a plan with up to 12. The other pages stay visible as a plan, and **Finish building** builds them on a paid plan, from €7.99 a month. See [Plans and pricing](https://help.slaide.de/plans-and-pricing).

### What happens if something goes wrong during the build?

Slaide keeps your request and the pages built so far, shows that the run did not finish and offers **Try again**. If it keeps failing, see [Build stopped or failed](https://help.slaide.de/build-stopped-or-failed).