Quick Start Guide

Slates is a desktop app for creating AI-generated videos. You write prompts, generate images and video clips, organize them in storyboards, and edit them together on a timeline. This guide walks you through the full workflow.

Time needed: About 10 minutes to read. You'll be generating within the first 2.

Before you start

You need two things:

1. ›Slates installed on your desktop (Windows or macOS).
2. ›At least one API key or Slates Credits so you can generate.

If you haven't set up your keys yet:

• ›Set up your Google AI API key. Powers Veo 3.1 video and Nano Banana 2 images. Pay-as-you-go billing.
• ›Set up your fal.ai API key. Powers Kling V3 video, FLUX.2 Max images, and Seedream 5 Lite images.

Or skip API keys entirely and use Slates Credits. They work with every model, no setup required. You can buy credits from your account page on the Slates website.

Step 1: Sign in

1. ›Open Slates. You'll see a sign-in screen.
2. ›Enter your email address and click Sign In.
3. ›Check your email for a magic link from Slates.
4. ›Click the link in the email. It opens in your browser and confirms your login.
5. ›The app detects the confirmation and signs you in automatically.

No passwords. You sign in with a magic link every time. Your session stays active until you sign out or log in on a third device (Slates allows two active devices).

Step 2: Add your API keys

1. ›Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to open Settings.
2. ›Expand the API Keys section.
3. ›Paste your keys into the corresponding fields and click Save for each one.

Each key shows a green Configured indicator once saved. You can add keys for any combination of providers:

Generation routing. By default, Slates uses your own API keys first and falls back to credits. You can change this in Settings under Generation Route. Choose Slates Credits to always use credits, or BYOK to never use credits.

Step 3: Create a project

1. ›You start on the Home screen, which shows all your projects as a grid of cards.
2. ›Click New Project.
3. ›Give it a name (you can rename it later).
4. ›Click the project card to open it.

Everything you generate (images, videos, characters, storyboards) lives inside this project.

Step 4: Generate your first image

At the bottom of the screen you'll see the prompt box. This is where all generation happens.

1. ›Make sure the mode is set to Create Image (the first tab above the prompt box).
2. ›Choose a model from the dropdown. Start with Nano Banana 2. It's fast and cheap.
3. ›Type a prompt. Something simple like: a detective standing in a neon-lit alley at night, cinematic lighting
4. ›Click Generate.

Your image appears in the Gallery tab once it's done. That's it. You just generated your first image.

Adjusting settings

Click the gear icon inside the prompt box to reveal more options:

• ›Resolution - 1K, 2K, or 4K (higher = more detail, more cost).
• ›Aspect ratio - 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, and more.
• ›Quantity - generate 1 to 4 images at once.
• ›Negative prompt - describe what you don't want in the image.

Step 5: Generate video

Switch to a video mode using the tabs above the prompt box.

Text-to-Video

1. ›Select the Text-to-Video tab.
2. ›Choose a model, like Kling V3 Standard (via fal.ai key) or Veo 3.1 Fast (via Google key).
3. ›Write a prompt describing the motion: the detective walks down the alley, camera tracking slowly behind him
4. ›Adjust the duration (5–10 seconds for most models).
5. ›Click Generate.

Video generation takes longer than images. Expect 1–3 minutes depending on the model and duration.

Frames-to-Video

This mode lets you control a video's start and end points with keyframe images.

1. ›Select the Frames-to-Video tab.
2. ›Click the First Frame slot and pick an image from your gallery (or paste one in).
3. ›Optionally set a Last Frame to define where the motion ends.
4. ›Write a motion prompt: slow zoom in, slight head turn to the right
5. ›Click Generate.

The AI generates a video that transitions between your chosen frames.

Step 6: Use reference images

Reference images are one of the most powerful features in Slates. Instead of trying to describe a look with words, you paste or attach images and the AI uses them as visual guidance.

Paste directly into the prompt box

• ›Copy any image from the web, your file explorer, or another app.
• ›Paste it into the prompt box (Ctrl+V / Cmd+V).
• ›The image appears as a reference thumbnail below your prompt.
• ›Generate as usual. The model incorporates the visual style, lighting, composition, and details from your reference.

Use multiple references

In Create Image mode, you can add multiple reference images depending on the model:

More references give the AI more information about what you want. A pasted screenshot carries lighting, color grade, mood, composition, and atmosphere. Far more than words can describe.

Step 7: Create characters, environments, and styles

These are organizational tools that let you save and reuse reference images with a single keystroke.

Characters

1. ›Open the Gallery tab, then click the Characters sub-filter.
2. ›Click New Character.
3. ›Name your character and choose a style (photorealistic, anime, 3D, etc.).
4. ›Slates auto-generates a turnaround sheet (4-view reference) and an expression sheet (multiple emotions). Or you can pick existing images manually.
5. ›Now in any prompt, type @character_name and Slates attaches those references automatically.

Environments

1. ›Click New Environment in the Gallery's Environments sub-filter.
2. ›Name the location and generate a grid of variations.
3. ›Reference it later with @environment_name in your prompts.

Styles

1. ›Click New Style in the Gallery's Styles sub-filter.
2. ›Add a single reference image that defines a visual style (color palette, lighting, mood).
3. ›Reference it with #style_name in your prompts. Styles automatically pin as "key visuals" that get attached to every generation.

These are shortcuts, not magic. Typing @eric is just a faster way to attach Eric's reference images. You can always paste images manually for the same result.

Step 8: Explore with grids

Grids let you generate multiple variations at once to explore different directions.

1. ›Generate an image as usual.
2. ›In the gallery, right-click the image and choose Generate Grid (2x2 or 3x3).
3. ›Each cell in the grid generates a different variation of your prompt.
4. ›Click any cell to extract it as a standalone image, ready to use in your project.

This is useful for finding the right character design, composition, or color palette before committing to a direction.

Step 9: Build a storyboard

Storyboards organize your shots into a sequence before you generate video.

1. ›Switch to the Storyboards tab in your project.
2. ›Click New Storyboard and give it a name.
3. ›Your storyboard starts with one scene. Add frames to the scene using the + button.

Working with frames

Each frame represents a shot in your sequence:

• ›Image - drag an image from the gallery onto the frame, or generate directly into it.
• ›Shot label - auto-generated (1A, 1B, 2A...), editable.
• ›Notes - free-text field for production notes.
• ›Motion prompt - describe the camera/character motion for when you generate video from this frame.
• ›Frame type - mark frames as:
  • ›First (green) - opening keyframe for frames-to-video generation.
  • ›Last (red) - closing keyframe (needs a First frame before it).
  • ›Ingredient (blue) - reference image for multi-image generations.

Organizing scenes

• ›Drag frames to reorder them within a scene or move them between scenes.
• ›Add new scenes with the + Scene button.
• ›Each scene groups related frames together.

Show Clips

Toggle Show Clips to see all video clips generated from each frame's image. Select a preferred clip for each frame. This is the version that gets used when you export to the timeline.

Step 10: Edit on the timeline

The timeline editor lets you arrange your clips into a final sequence.

1. ›Switch to the Timeline tab in your project, or right-click a clip and choose Add to Timeline.
2. ›The editor shows a multi-track timeline with video and audio tracks.

Timeline basics

• ›Add clips by dragging them onto tracks.
• ›Trim clips by dragging their edges to set in/out points.
• ›Move clips by dragging them along the timeline.
• ›Split clips using the Razor tool - click anywhere on a clip to cut it at that point.
• ›Adjust clips using the Slip tool - shift the in/out points without moving the clip's position on the timeline.

Clip transforms

Select a video clip to adjust:

• ›Scale - zoom in or out.
• ›Position - move the clip on the canvas (X/Y).
• ›Opacity - fade clips in or out.

Keyboard shortcuts

Playback settings

Set the timeline's frame rate (24, 30, or 60 fps) and resolution (1080p, 2K, or 4K) using the controls above the timeline.

Step 11: Export

Export as MP4

1. ›Click the Export button in the timeline editor.
2. ›Choose a save location.
3. ›Slates trims, processes, and concatenates all your clips into a final MP4 file.
4. ›Progress shows stages: preparing, encoding, finalizing.

Export to DaVinci Resolve

If you want to continue editing in a professional NLE:

1. ›Click Export as DaVinci XML in the timeline editor.
2. ›Import the XML file into DaVinci Resolve.
3. ›All your clips, timing, and transforms carry over.

Other generation modes

Beyond images and standard video, Slates offers several specialized generation types:

Ingredients

Combine multiple reference images into a new composition. Select the Ingredients tab, add up to 3 images, write a prompt describing what to create from them, and generate.

Lip-Sync

Sync a character's mouth to speech:

1. ›Select the Lip-Sync tab.
2. ›Add a video clip or image as the source.
3. ›Choose your audio: type text for text-to-speech (with voice, language, and speed options), or upload an audio file.
4. ›Generate. The output is a video with synchronized mouth movement.

Motion Transfer

Transfer motion from one video onto a still image:

1. ›Select the Motion Transfer tab.
2. ›Add a source video (the motion reference) and a target image (the character to animate).
3. ›Choose the character orientation: follow the video's pose, or keep the image's original facing.
4. ›Generate. The character in your image moves like the person in the source video.

Understanding costs

Slates shows you the estimated cost of every generation before you click Generate.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

You pay the AI provider directly at their rates. No markup from Slates.

Slates Credits

Credits cost 1.5x the BYOK rate. The tradeoff is no API key setup, no provider accounts, and instant access to every model.

Your credit balance shows in the top navigation bar. When it drops below $2.00, you'll see a low-balance warning. Click the balance to buy more credits on the Slates website.

Usage tracking

Open Settings and scroll to Usage Stats to see your spending breakdown by model and time period (this month, last 7 days, or all time).

Storyboard JSON import/export

Slates supports importing and exporting storyboards as JSON, designed for LLM collaboration.

Export

Right-click a storyboard and choose Export as JSON. The file contains your scene structure, frame labels, notes, motion prompts, and frame types.

Import

Click Import Storyboard and select a JSON file. Slates rebuilds the storyboard with all metadata intact.

The workflow

1. ›Plan your storyboard in ChatGPT or Claude. Describe your scenes and shots.
2. ›Ask the AI to output a storyboard in Slates JSON format.
3. ›Import the JSON into Slates.
4. ›Your frames appear with prompts and notes ready to go. Just generate.

Quick reference

Troubleshooting

Generation fails immediately

Check that your API key is configured for the model you're using. Open Settings → API Keys and look for green Configured indicators. If you're using credits, make sure you're signed in and have a positive balance.

"Insufficient balance" or "Low credits"

Your credit balance is too low for the generation. Click the credit balance in the top nav to purchase more on the Slates website.

Images or videos don't appear in the gallery

Generation is still in progress. Check the prompt box for a progress indicator. Video generation can take 1–3 minutes. If it's been longer, check your provider's dashboard for errors (fal.ai dashboard or Google Cloud Console).

"Session expired" or unexpected sign-out

Slates allows two active devices. Signing in on a third device automatically signs out the oldest one. Just sign in again.

Video export produces a black screen

Make sure your clips are positioned on the timeline tracks (not just in the gallery). The export only includes clips placed on the timeline.

I want to use a model but I don't have that provider's key

You have three options:

1. ›Set up the API key for that provider (fal.ai guide, Google guide).
2. ›Use Slates Credits. They work with every model, no key needed.
3. ›Some models overlap across providers. For example, Veo 3.1 works with either a Google key or a fal.ai key. Slates routes automatically.