Gamma

Gamma.app presentations are fundamentally different from static presentation exports, such as those from Figma Slides, due to Gamma's 'web-first' architecture, which prioritizes live interactivity, responsiveness, and dynamic content over static, fixed-format files. A live Gamma presentation is not a file but a web page, delivered to viewers via a unique URL. This web-native format allows for the inclusion of a wide array of functional, interactive elements that are not possible in a static export. Users can embed live content directly into their presentations, including videos from YouTube or Loom, fully navigable Figma designs, live data from Airtable bases or Google Sheets, and other web applications via iframes. These embeds are not mere screenshots; they are fully functional within the Gamma presentation, allowing viewers to play videos, interact with data, or explore designs without leaving the presentation environment. This web-native approach also ensures that Gamma presentations are inherently responsive. The platform utilizes a fluid, 'card-based' layout that automatically reflows and adjusts content to provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices, from large desktop monitors to tablets and mobile phones. This contrasts sharply with the fixed 16:9 aspect ratio of traditional slides, which often render poorly on vertical screens. Furthermore, live Gamma presentations support features like real-time multi-user editing and commenting, similar to Google Docs, fostering a collaborative creation process. They also enable the use of built-in analytics, allowing creators to track viewer engagement, see who has viewed the deck, and analyze time spent on each card—data that is impossible to collect from a static, offline file. Static presentation exports, whether from Gamma itself or from a tool like Figma Slides, represent a completely different paradigm. When a presentation is exported to a format like PDF, PowerPoint (.pptx), or a series of PNG images, it becomes a fixed, non-interactive document. All the live, dynamic elements that define the web-native Gamma experience are lost. Embedded videos, applications, and interactive data widgets are converted into static placeholder images. All animations and transitions are removed. The presentation loses its responsiveness, becoming a fixed-size document that does not adapt to different screen sizes. This conversion process is particularly problematic for Gamma's own exports due to its vertical card layout, which maps poorly to PowerPoint's horizontal slides, often resulting in broken layouts, misaligned text, and other formatting errors that require significant manual cleanup. Figma Slides, while a powerful design tool, faces similar limitations upon export. Interactive prototypes, code blocks, and other dynamic components created within Figma are also converted into static images when exported to PDF or PPTX. Visual fidelity can be compromised, with issues like gradient fills being flattened to solid colors and fonts being substituted if not available on the recipient's system. The primary difference is that Gamma is built from the ground up as a presentation tool focused on narrative and AI-assisted content generation, while Figma is a design tool where presentation creation is one of many functions. However, both are subject to the same fundamental constraint: the rich, interactive experience of a web-based application cannot be fully preserved in a static file format. In practice, this means a live Gamma link offers a modern, engaging, and data-rich experience for the viewer and provides valuable feedback for the creator. A static export, in contrast, serves as a non-interactive, offline-accessible snapshot that sacrifices all dynamic capabilities for portability and compatibility with traditional workflows.