We put the question out on IG: “What would you like to read next on the Ghost Blog?”, and one of the answers was the one above. It’s a nuanced question, and it deserves an equally layered answer to do it justice.
Over the past ten years in the market, we’ve probably tried and tested every single program and software out there that supports pitch-style decks.
We definitely have our preferences, but at the end of the day, it’s almost always the director or executive producer who decides which program will be used for a given treatment.
The most common choice tends to be whichever platform provides a shareable link. Decks that can be viewed online in-browser are often preferred for their accessibility and professional appearance. A few years ago, only a handful of programs offered this feature, but now, most do. However, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems.
Sometimes the link works, but the fonts render incorrectly because the live system doesn’t support them. The layout might look slightly off. Screen ratios shift. The program shows one thing, the final output shows another.
As designers, you not only learn to handle these issues, you learn to expect them. No single program is perfect for treatment creation. Maybe there’s a gap in the market?
That said, when you see a treatment that flows well, feels cinematic, and delivers a director’s voice clearly, it’s natural to wonder what tools were behind it. But the truth is: tools are just one part of the equation. The real work lives elsewhere.
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The Platforms
Most treatment designers and directors today rely on a mix of programs. Google Slides and Keynote are popular for their simplicity and speed, though they’re often dismissed by top-tier players in the industry for not being “professional enough.” InDesign was a long-time favorite, but its popularity has declined with the rise of newer tools that are easier to work with and support online publishing.
Canva and Figma are on the rise, though each comes with constraints that may frustrate directors who want full control over layout and typography. PowerPoint still exists, especially for corporate-heavy clients, and like Google Slides, can work well for interactive decks that mimic PDFs (for better or worse).
There are also a number of web-design-focused platforms that, while not marketed as pitch tools, can be adapted with a few tweaks.
It’s also worth noting that the platform you choose may affect the fee. At Ghost, for example, we’re able to offer more competitive pricing if a treatment is built on Keynote instead of InDesign.
Each platform has its strengths and limitations. Google Slides and Figma make collaboration easy, but their design constraints can be limiting. InDesign gives you full control over spacing, pacing, and hierarchy, but it’s slower to work with, and clients usually can’t make changes themselves. Figma is increasingly popular and flexible but wasn’t designed for long-form writing. Most professionals end up using a combination of tools, depending on the timeline, budget, and creative ambition of the project.
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The Missing Ingredient
The software is just a vessel. The key ingredient is how it’s used.
A strong treatment isn’t simply a sequence of slides, it’s a narrative structure. It’s rhythm, tone and argument. It’s knowing how to make a transition feel like a cut, how to write direction that sounds like cinema, and how to use type, layout, and imagery to hold attention, and no platform can do that for you.
Focusing too much on software can create the illusion that beautiful equals effective.
But in this world, that’s not always true. We’ve seen jobs go to treatments that looked simple but were strategically sharp, and we’ve seen beautifully designed layouts fall flat because the thinking wasn’t there.
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So, What Should You Use?
Use whatever helps you work with clarity and speed. Use what brings your ideas across cleanly. And if you’re pitching at a high level, invest in learning how to structure a narrative, not just decorate one.
Because in the end, treatments aren’t about programs, they’re about persuasion :)
What Next?
If this resonates with you, we’ll be sharing more deep dives into the craft of treatment writing and design. Let us know if there’s a topic you’d like us to explore next.
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