Create a presentation in Lucid

Create a new presentation

To create a presentation:

1. Select the Presentation Builder icon from the top-right corner of a Lucidchart document or Lucidspark board.
2. Click Create a Presentation.
3. Click Add Slide.

You’ll see a customizable slide container appear on the workspace—everything within the slide is what will be presented. To move the slide’s container to a different location on your canvas, hover your cursor over the slide until a four-pronged arrow appears, then click and drag the slide. 

Create slides using Frames

If you use Frames to organize content on the canvas, you can use those Frames as slides in your presentation. Here’s how:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Click Create a Presentation.
3. Click the Select existing Frames icon next to “Add slide”.
4. You’ll see all Frames on your canvas in the Presentation panel. 
   • Select a frame to preview its contents.
   • Check the box on a Frame within the panel to add it to your presentation.
5. Click Add Frames at the bottom of the panel.

Edit an existing presentation

You can create multiple presentations within an individual Lucid document. All presentations you make for a document can be accessed through the Presentations panel.

To make changes to an existing presentation:

1. Select   the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of next to the presentation you want to make changes to.
3. Click Edit from the menu that appears.

To add a new presentation, open Presentations and select Create new presentation at the bottom of the panel.
 

Customize a presentation

A great place to start adding customization to your presentation is to give it a name. To do so, select the title box at the top of the presentation’s panel. By default, it will be titled “Presentation 1”, “Presentation 2”, and so on.

Continue reading the sections below for more customization options.

Set aspect ratio

You have a few options to set aspect ratio for your slides:

• Set a default aspect ratio. Once set, all newly created slides will be the default size.
• Set aspect ratio on an individual slide. This is a great option when you need to customize the size of a single slide.
• Apply aspect ratio to all slides. Use this option when you want a set aspect ratio to be applied retroactively to all slides in the presentation.

To set a default aspect ratio for all newly created slides:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. Select the three-dots icon to the right of the presentation’s title.
4. From the menu that appears, select Settings.
5. Under “Default aspect ratio”, select the dropdown.
6. Make a selection from the menu.

To set aspect ratio on an individual slide:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. Select the three-dot icon in the lower-right corner of a slide to update only that slide.
4. Under “Aspect ratio” in the menu that appears, make your selection.
   • If you're updating a single slide and would like to apply the changes to all slides, select Apply to all slides.

Set slide transition duration

To set a default transition duration for all slides:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. Select the three-dots icon to the right of the presentation’s title.
4. From the menu that appears, select Settings.
5. Under “Transitions”, use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease seconds between slides.
6. Make a selection from the menu.

To set transition duration for an individual slide:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. Select the three-dot icon in the lower-right corner of the slide.
4. Under “Transitions” in the menu that appears, use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease seconds between slides.

Insert a new slide

To add a new slide to an existing presentation:

1. From the Presentations panel, select the slide that you want to appear before the new slide.
2. Click + Add slide at the top of the panel.

The new slide appears after the slide you selected, at which point you can apply customizations, if needed.

Reorder a slide

To change the order of your slides:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. From the panel, click and drag a slide to reorder.

Delete a slide

To remove a slide from the builder and the canvas:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select your presentation from the panel.
3. Select the three-dots icon in the lower-right corner of the slide you want to delete.
4. From the menu that appears, select Delete slide. 

Preview the presentation

To preview your presentation before delivery:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select the three-dot icon next to the presentation you want to preview.
3. Click View in the menu that appears.
4. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to transition between slides.
5. When finished, select Exit presentation from the navigation menu at the bottom of the canvas.

Deliver your presentation

Before you begin, choose to present using Present mode or Paths mode.

Use Present mode when you plan to share your screen and guide your audience through each slide. This option provides a more structured and formal presentation experience.

Use Paths mode when you want collaborators to engage with the document throughout your presentation. You still navigate your audience through each slide, but with Paths, you share the document itself, and collaborators are prompted to follow along in Lucid. 

When presenting in Paths mode, collaborators can: 

• Add sticky notes to the canvas.
• Send reactions such as a heart or thumbs up.
• Start a comment thread on the canvas.
• Use a laser pointer to draw attention to specific content.

With Present mode

To use Present mode, follow these steps:

1. Share your screen with attendees (for example, with a projector or Zoom).
2. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
3. Select your presentation from the panel.

4. At the bottom-right of the panel, select the arrow icon.

   

5. Choose Present from the options.

   

6. To begin the presentation, click Present at the bottom of the panel.
7. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through slides.
8. To stop and exit, press “esc” on your keyboard.

With Paths mode

To use Paths mode, follow these steps:

1. Share the document with all collaborators.
2. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
3. Select your presentation from the panel.

4. At the bottom-right of the panel, select the arrow icon.

   

5. Choose Start path from the options.

   

6. To begin the presentation, click Start path at the bottom of the panel. 
   • Each attendee will see a prompt to begin following you through the presentation slides.
7. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through slides.
8. Click Stop at the top of the screen to stop facilitating.

Tip: While presenting, enable and disable collaborative tools (such as sticky notes, comments, reactions, and laser pointer) by selecting the gear icon at the bottom of the screen and clicking the toggles.

Share a presentation

Once you have created your presentation, you can preview it by clicking Present at the bottom of the Presentation Builder panel. Use your arrow keys or the arrows at the top of the presentation to navigate through the slideshow.

To share your presentation with other Lucid users:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of the presentation title.
3. Click Copy link.

If this is your first time sending a presentation to Google Slides, you may be prompted to link Lucid to Google Drive.

Export a presentation

You can export a presentation to Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint, or as a PDF file by following the steps below:

1. Select the Presentation icon from the top-right corner of your document.
2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of the presentation title.
3. Hover over “Export” and select your preferred format:
   • Google Slides
   • PowerPoint
   • PDF

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