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Documents
Documents is where your files live: documents, spreadsheets and slide decks you write, files you import, and everything your rooms produce, like briefs, reports and proposals. Each file opens in an editor made for it, with AI help built in.
Click Library in the left sidebar, then All documents under Documents in its panel. See Library.
What you can do here
- Draft a document, slide deck or spreadsheet with AI from a short description.
- Tailor a document you already have, like a past proposal, to a new set of requirements.
- Import PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and HTML files.
- Improve, shorten or rewrite a passage with AI, or ask for bigger changes in chat.
- Find anything a room wrote, filed under that room.
- Save versions, restore an earlier one, and export to Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel.
What lives here
| Type | Opens in |
|---|---|
| Documents | A word-processor-style editor. Documents Pencel writes may be labelled Report, Note, Draft or Email Draft. |
| Spreadsheets | A grid with rows, columns and formulas. |
| Slide decks | A slide editor with thumbnails and a Present button. |
| HTML files | A viewer. You can view and export them. |
Where room output goes
When a room writes something, it's saved under Rooms ▸ room name in the Documents file list. It also shows on the room's wall, in the Artifacts tab. It's the same file in both places, so a change made in one shows in the other.
Workflows you run from Studio work a little differently. Their output is saved to Documents automatically only when the workflow is set to send its output to your workspace. Otherwise, open the finished job in Studio ▸ Jobs and click Save as document to keep it.
Start something new
When you have no files yet, Documents asks What are you working on?
- Tailor a document: fit a document you already have to an RFP, job post or other requirements.
- Draft with AI: describe what you need and Pencel drafts it. Pick Document, Slide deck or Spreadsheet.
- Import a file: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or HTML. You can also drop files onto the page.
- Or start from scratch: Blank document, Template, Slide deck or Spreadsheet.
Once you have files, the page shows Recent files, with Tailor, Draft with AI and Import buttons at the top. At any time, the New file button in the file list offers Text Document, Slides or Spreadsheet. Each one lets you Generate with AI or start blank.
For step-by-step instructions, see Create documents, spreadsheets and slides with AI.
Edit with AI
In a document:
- Select some text and click Improve or Shorten in the formatting bar. More AI opens Transform with AI, where you describe your own change.
- Type / on an empty line for Write with AI, Continue writing, Summarize document or Translate….
- Use the AI Assistance card in the document sidebar for Improve Writing, Summarize, Expand Section, Change Tone or Adapt Document….
Each AI suggestion appears in the document right where it would go. Click Accept to keep it, Reject to drop it, or Retry for another version.
In a spreadsheet, right-click a cell and choose Ask AI… (or press ⌘I), then say what you want, like "sum column B".
The chat side panel
For bigger changes, open the chat panel with the Show chat panel button at the top right of the window. With a file open, just ask: "Add a pricing section after the overview" or "Make this sound less formal." Pencel knows which file you're looking at.
Each change it proposes appears in the document with the before and after text, and Accept and Reject buttons. Nothing changes until you accept.
Save and version history
Use the Save button at the top of a document to save your edits. If you close a tab with unsaved changes, Pencel asks whether to Save & Close or Discard.
Pencel saves a version automatically every time AI edits a document. To save one yourself, find Versions in the document sidebar (click Show sidebar if it's hidden), click Save and add a short summary if you like.
To go back, hover over a version and click the restore icon, then Restore. Pencel first saves what you have now as a new version, so nothing is lost.
Import and export
Import with Import a file, the Import files button in the file list, or by dropping files onto the page. Excel files come in as spreadsheets and PowerPoint files as slide decks.
When you import a Word file, Pencel asks How should we handle this Word document?
- Keep as Word document keeps fonts, margins and formatting exactly. AI edits change only the text. Best for templates and files you'll send back to Word users.
- Convert to Markdown makes it a regular Pencel document you can edit freely, but the original formatting is lost. Best when only the words matter.
A file you kept as a Word document can be converted later with Convert to AI-editable.
Export with the download button at the top of an open file:
| File | Export to |
|---|---|
| Document | Markdown, HTML, PDF, Word (.docx), or Print... |
| Spreadsheet | Excel (.xlsx) |
| Slide deck | HTML, PDF, PowerPoint (.pptx) |
The share button next to it copies the content, for example with Copy as Markdown.
Find and organize
- Folders. Right-click in the file list to add a file or folder. Right-click a file to Rename it, Move to another folder, or Delete it. You can also drag files between folders. Deleting can't be undone.
- Search. Click the search icon in the file list to filter by name. Press ⌘P to jump to any file by name. Press ⌘K to search your whole workspace, documents included.
- Tabs. Open files appear as tabs. ⌘W closes the current tab, and ⌘1 to ⌘9 jump between tabs.
- Focus mode. Press ⌘. to hide everything but the file. Press it again, or Esc, to come back.
- Tags. Add tags in the document sidebar to group related files.
Documents and Knowledge
Documents is for your work: things you write, send and present. Knowledge is reference material your rooms read as they work, like policies, price lists and product sheets. Both live in Library. A room can still use any document when you point it there: type @ in the room's message box and pick the file.
To have rooms read a document from now on, open its menu and choose Move to Knowledge, then pick a folder and how Pencel reads it. To give it to one room only, choose Keep for a room.