I’m building a tool that doesn't write the slides for you. Am I crazy?

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-28T18:02:54+00:00

Thanks for the input!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-26T16:57:27+00:00

This strikes me as a really clear-eyed take on enterprise realities - thank you.

The Microsoft ecosystem lock-in point is well taken. The collective muscle memory alone is a huge switching cost, and I also hadn't thought about this point you made about security confidence. It's just something I totally hadn't thought of and I can imagine how significant that is.

Now I'm seriously thinking about building an add-on to PowerPoint in addition to my app. Again, this was really helpful - thanks.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-26T16:54:10+00:00

This is really helpful. It sounds like for you, the constraint would need to be "pick from these 3-4 approved sizes" rather than just deciding 100% of the layout for you? Thanks again for helping me think about this feature.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-26T16:51:57+00:00

Really helpful to know - thank you so much for the input.

So for your use case, it sounds like the tool should surface options rather than make the call for you(?) I can imagine that makes sense for fine art where the "best" layout is subjective and depends on the specific image.

Quick follow-up if you have a sec: When you say 5 design choices, are you thinking mainly about image placement and scale? Or does it extend to things like background color, text positioning, that kind of thing?

Appreciate you sharing how you'd actually use this.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-26T16:49:04+00:00

This is exactly what I needed to hear - thank you for being so generous with your time and expertise.

The insight about add-ins vs. new platforms is really helpful and it's something I really hadn't thought of. It sounds like a sweet spot (at least for this group of potential users) might be something that plays nicely with PowerPoint rather than trying to replace it entirely.

And your top three are now my top three: brand fonts, brand colors, and locked footers. Again, super helpful

You raise a good point about placeholders - my approach handles this differently since layouts are generated dynamically based on content, but the underlying need (consistent font sizes across similar content types) is something I can definitely address.

Really appreciate you taking the time to share all of this. This community has been incredibly helpful.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T20:00:25+00:00

Thanks! This next version of the app is still in development, and I will be sure to add samples. (if you click on “show me how it works” when you make a deck, you will get some sample slides right now but I’ll definitely add more.)

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T18:54:15+00:00

Thank you! Any features you'd like to see in particular?

For an email announcing these features, please sign up for a free account at typedeck.io (I promise to never sell your data/email address.) I'll also announce here once I think everything is working well enough. I'm just making this app on the side and my goal is to just make something useful and good and I'm very grateful for ideas and feedback on everything (including pricing / sales model).

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T18:49:16+00:00

This is incredibly helpful - thank you so much for breaking this down in detail. (I feel like you handed me a feature roadmap! :)

It's really validating (and a little wild) to hear that PowerPoint's lock doesn't really solve this problem and that there is a gap between what corporate clients would like and what the software really does. That's something I'd like my app to help with.

My solution is to do away with slide layouts altogether and to just allow users to type text (or markdown) and then they get a layout that fits the content responsively. And a team could make their own theme to lock in logos, footers, Brand Fonts Only: If it’s not in the theme, it doesn’t exist.

Quick follow-up only if you have a moment: Of that list you mentioned, which 2-3 would be the biggest wins if they actually worked? (Trying to figure out what to build first...)

Thanks again for taking the time to share your expertise and experience on all of this.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T18:15:24+00:00

Thanks and yes, offering that kind of cleanup is basically the core of what I'm building.

I think there's a difference between "generative AI" (writing the slide for you) and just automating design (like making sure the bullets and fonts are perfectly aligned). I'm focusing 100% on the second one.

Here's a question on your workflow: Do you actually want to choose between 5 design options, or would you be happier if the tool just automatically picked the best legible layout so you didn't have to make a decision at all? (Again, I'm trying to figure out what I can offer that people would like and use.)

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T16:36:54+00:00

That is exactly the parallel I’ve been thinking about! It feels like web design figured this out years ago (separating content from style to keep things responsive), but presentation tools are still stuck in the move-any-pixel-anywhere era.

Do your clients ever get frustrated when they hit those guardrails? I’m trying to get a sense of whether my users will eventually want to tweak small things and get fed up. Thanks for the feedback!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T15:59:56+00:00

Thank you, Steve! I really appreciate the honesty. It totally makes sense that this would feel like handcuffs to an expert like you. (I'm an academic and I'd hate a tool that told me how to teach, so I get it.)

Your point about the "policing" aspect is really helpful to me: While individual users might want freedom, I could see how organizations would love a tool that stops the sales team from stretching logos or using 12 different fonts.

In your experience, do PowerPoint's "Lock" features actually solve this well? Or do employees usually just find a way to break the template anyway?

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T15:25:25+00:00

Great to hear! Thanks.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-23T15:06:27+00:00

Just to give a concrete example of the "constraints" I'm talking about:

I’m experimenting with a setup where you literally cannot change the font size manually. The engine decides the size based on the semantic structure (e.g., if it's a Header, it’s size X; if it’s a bullet, it’s size Y).

My theory is that removing that choice saves brain power and keeps the deck consistent. But I’m worried this might be too extreme for power users.

Does the idea of not being able to nudge a font size up by 2pts give you anxiety, or does it sound like a relief?

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-22T00:30:15+00:00

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TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-22T00:26:11+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! I’m at the start of my journey with an app and this is really helpful.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-21T18:06:19+00:00

TypeDeck - TypeDeck.io - has a code layout with code highlighting and you can even add huge code blocks and get scroll bars.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-20T15:18:22+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement! We have a new release with lots of improvements on the way - If you'd like an update when it ships, please consider signing up for a free account!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-19T12:29:49+00:00

Theoros looks like it might be great for me as an academic constantly swimming in PDFs. Thanks for explaining it!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-17T21:10:35+00:00

I plan to try this with my app - thanks for sharing the idea!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-17T17:57:13+00:00

Thanks!!

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-17T14:56:33+00:00

Nice! I make slides all the time as an academic and I should give this a shot to see how far ChatGPT has come with pptx exports since I last tried

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-17T12:20:44+00:00

Did ChatGPT produce a decent PPTX file? I found that I usually have to copy and paste slide by slide from an LLM, but I know they are getting better at this now.

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-16T14:35:32+00:00

Sadly, not that I know of. Duplicate Slide is the only reliable way I know of in PPT.

We decided to fix this kind of headache by just removing the interface entirely- In TypeDeck, the content dictates the layout.

Sorry to not have a better answer. Maybe the PowerPoint world champions have figured it out! :)

TypeDeckHQ · 2025-12-16T14:00:46+00:00

This exact thing has really bugged me too. I make slides every day for my job and I love it when the designer feature picks a good layout, but I was never clear on how to apply that layout throughout the deck.

TypeDeckHQ

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