Office files are rejected on upload. That is deliberate: they are authoring formats, they depend on fonts and an application to render, and there is no sensible way for a screen to page through one.
Export first. The export takes under a minute, and which format you choose decides how the content behaves on screen.
Which export to choose
| Export as | Choose it when |
|---|---|
| Images | Slides differ in importance and you want per-slide control |
| The deck changes often and you want one file to manage | |
| Video | Animations, transitions, or builds carry the message |
| A live link | The content updates and you do not want to re-export |
As images
Each slide or page becomes a separate item, so each gets its own duration, can be reordered in a playlist, skipped, or mixed with other content. A title slide can hold for five seconds while a figures slide holds for thirty.
Google Slides: File, Download, then JPEG or PNG. PowerPoint: File, Save As, then PNG or JPEG. It asks whether to export the current slide or all of them. Keynote: File, Export To, Images.
For Word, Docs and Pages, which have no direct image export, paste the page into the matching presentation app and export from there. A screenshot cropped to the page works for one page.
As a PDF
The whole deck stays one file. Screenly then lets you enable the pages you want, each becoming a playlist item with its own duration.
Google Slides and Docs: File, Download, PDF Document. PowerPoint: File, Export, Export to PDF. Word: File, Export, Create PDF/XPS, where you can set a page range. Keynote and Pages: File, Export To, PDF.
See PDFs.
As a video
The right choice when motion is part of the design. Everything plays back exactly as built, and it loops like any other video.
The trade is that timing is baked in and cannot be changed afterwards.
Google Slides: File, Download, MP4 video, setting the slide duration first. PowerPoint: File, Export, Create a Video, setting seconds per slide and resolution. Keynote: File, Export To, Movie.
See Videos.
As a live link
Google Slides can publish to the web, and the published URL goes into Screenly as a web page. Edit the deck and the screens follow, with nothing to re-export.
- In Google Slides, go to File, Share, Publish to web.
- Choose Link, set an auto-advance interval, and copy the URL.
- Add that URL as content.
Good for a weekly briefing or a rotating set of announcements. It is a live page, so it needs the network at play time. See Web pages.