Create documents, spreadsheets and slides with AI

Use this when you need a first draft fast: a capability statement, a client proposal, a board deck, a tracking sheet. Pencel drafts it using what it knows about your business, and you review and edit before anything is final. Everything here happens in Documents.

Better drafts start in Knowledge

Pencel drafts with your company facts and documents in mind. If a draft gets your business wrong, fix the source in Knowledge and it stays fixed for next time.

Draft a document

1. Click Documents in the left sidebar, then Draft with AI.
2. Under What document do you want to create?, describe the goal, who it's for and what it should cover. For example: "A one-page capability statement for school district facilities managers, covering our janitorial services, certifications and three recent contracts."
3. Click Plan Document. Pencel shows the guidelines, memories and reference files it found in your workspace. Untick anything you want left out.
4. Answer A few quick questions if Pencel asks any, and add anything else under Additional context (optional).
5. Click Generate Outline. (Skip goes on without your answers.)
6. Review the plan. Edit the title, Audience, Tone and Length. Edit, reorder or remove sections, or add one with Add section.
7. Click Approve & Draft. The document opens and Pencel writes it section by section while you watch.

Draft a slide deck

1. In Documents, click Draft with AI, then Slide deck. If you already have files, click New file ▸ Slides in the file list instead, then Generate with AI.
2. Under What presentation do you want to create?, describe the topic, the audience and what to cover.
3. Click Generate Outline. Review the design (title, Audience, Tone, number of slides, and a preview of the colors and fonts) and the Slide Outline.
4. Click Generate Slides, check the preview, then click Create Slides.
5. The deck opens in the slide editor. Click Present to show it full screen.

Draft a spreadsheet

1. In Documents, click Draft with AI, then Spreadsheet. If you already have files, click New file ▸ Spreadsheet in the file list instead, then Generate with AI.
2. Under What spreadsheet do you want to create?, describe what you want to track. For example: "A bid tracker with agency, due date, estimated value, status and owner."
3. Click Generate Spreadsheet. Review the title, the columns and the Data Preview.
4. Click Create Spreadsheet.

To work with it later, right-click a cell and choose Ask AI… (or press ⌘I), then say what you want, like "sum column B" or "sort by due date."

Tailor an existing document

Use this to fit a document you already have, like a past proposal or a résumé, to a new set of requirements.

1. In Documents, click Tailor a document (or Tailor at the top of Recent files).
2. Under Base document, Choose a document to tailor, or click Upload from computer. Word files and Pencel documents keep their formatting; a PDF comes in as text only. Your original is never changed.
3. Under Requirements, paste the requirements or click Upload file to use the RFP, job post or evaluation criteria.
4. Click Analyze requirements. Pencel turns each requirement into a check and shows how many your document already passes, partly meets or fails.
5. Untick any requirement you'd rather leave alone, then click Apply changes.
6. Pencel creates a tailored copy and opens it with each proposed change marked in place. Click Accept or Reject on each one, or Accept all.

For government bids, the RFP Operations room can start this for you from an opportunity, with the requirements already filled in.

Edit with AI

• Quick fixes. Select some text and click Improve or Shorten. For anything else, click More AI and describe the change under Transform with AI.
• Write more. Type / on an empty line and choose Write with AI, Continue writing or Translate….
• Review every suggestion. Each one appears in the document where it would go. Click Accept, Reject or Retry.
• Bigger changes. Click Show chat panel at the top right and ask in plain words: "Add a pricing section after the overview" or "Make the tone warmer." Pencel knows which file you have open. Each change shows the before and after, and nothing changes until you click Accept.

Summarize a document

• In a document you can edit, type / on an empty line and choose Summarize document. The summary appears as a suggestion. Click Accept to keep it.
• For any file, including an imported PDF, open it, click Show chat panel and ask: "Summarize this in five bullets for my team." The summary appears in the chat.

Ask a room to write it

A room can write documents as part of its work. This is handy when the document depends on what the room already knows, like the bids it found or the emails it read.

1. In the room, ask for it: "Write a one-page summary of this week's best bid opportunities."
2. The room writes the document. It appears on the wall in the Artifacts tab, and in Documents under Rooms ▸ room name.
3. Click Open to read it or Open in editor to edit it.
4. To change it, click Ask for changes on the Artifacts tab. A "Revise" chip appears above the message box. Say what to change and send.

Export

Open the file and click the download button at the top.

File	Choose
Document	Word (.docx), PDF (.pdf), Markdown (.md), HTML (.html), or Print...
Slide deck	PowerPoint (.pptx), PDF (.pdf) or HTML (.html)
Spreadsheet	Excel (.xlsx)

Tips

• Say who it's for. "For a school district facilities manager" gets a better draft than "for a client."
• Name the must-haves. List the sections, numbers or examples the document has to include.
• Save a version before big changes. Click Save under Versions in the document sidebar. You can Restore it later.

Related

• Documents
• Knowledge
• Programs and rooms
• RFP Operations