fundamentals
Module 1, Lesson 3:
Understanding Cards
GAMMA 1O1
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Let's talk about cards, because they're kind of the whole foundation of how Gamma works.
In traditional slide software, you're stuck with fixed slide dimensions—usually 16:9 or 4:3. Everything has to fit in that rigid box. Gamma doesn't work like that.
Cards are flexible containers for your content. They expand and contract based on what you put in them. So if you have a card with three bullet points, it'll be shorter. If you have a card with three bullet points, an image, and a video embed? It'll be taller. The card adjusts to fit your content.
See how that just... flows? You're not fighting with margins or trying to shrink text to make things fit. The card does the work for you.
Adding Cards
To add a card, just hover between two cards until you see this plus icon, then click it. Boom—new blank card.
You can also use AI to suggest and add cards based on your existing content, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Card Styling
Now, let's make this card interesting.
See this little menu in the top left? This is where you control how the card looks.
You can add an accent image—that's a visual that sits next to your text. These are great for adding product shots, icons, or just visual interest.
You can also change the card color to a solid background [show], or use a background image with an overlay. The overlay intensity controls how much the image shows through, so your text is always readable.
One more thing—under Page Setup, you can control whether cards are fluid or if you want to set a minimum aspect ratio. Most of the time, fluid is what you want. But if you're presenting on a specific screen size, you have control.
📌 Quick Activity:
Alright, try this:
- Open a blank gamma (or create a new one)
- Add three cards manually using the plus icon
- On one card, experiment with adding an accent image
- On another, try changing the card color or background
Play around for a minute. Get a feel for how cards work.
Demo Time
Okay, let's go back to the dashboard. I'm going to use Generate mode to start building our coffee subscription pitch deck right now, and you'll see how fast this goes.
I'll type:
"Pitch deck for a premium coffee subscription service called BrewBox, targeting urban professionals who want specialty coffee delivered monthly."
I'm going to leave Advanced mode off for now—let Gamma surprise me. And for images, I'll choose "AI-generated" because I want to see what it comes up with.
Alright, time to generate. This usually takes about 30 to 60 seconds depending on how complex your prompt is. And honestly? This moment—watching Gamma build your first draft—it never gets old.
Okay, look at this!
We've got a title card, a problem statement, our solution, pricing tiers, a "Why Canopy" section—Gamma put together a full pitch deck structure in under a minute. And the images? Not perfect, but honestly pretty solid for a first pass.
Now, this is a starting point. We're going to refine this, make it ours, and use Agent to polish it up. But compared to starting with a blank slide? This is lightyears ahead.
📌 Quick Activity:
Your turn. Pick one of the four modes and try it:
- If you're using Generate, pick a topic you're actually interested in—something you might actually present on. The more specific your prompt, the better the result.
- If you're using Paste, grab some text from anywhere—an email, a doc, your notes app—and see how Gamma formats it.
- If you're using Remix, browse the templates and pick one that matches something you need to create, then customize it with your own topic.
- If you're using Import, try uploading a PowerPoint or Word doc you already have.
Take five minutes, create something, and then come back. I'll be here.
Alright, now you've got a gamma—or at least the bones of one. In the next section, we're going to make it good. We'll work with Agent, explore Smart Layouts, and build something you'd actually be proud to share. Let's go.