Presentation software

[piousp]

Hi guys,

i was wondering if there is any presentation software out there that i can use for my pre-thesis exposition.
I know that openoffice have presentation, but i just dont like the look. I dont like the look of power point presentations either, in case you were wondering.

Is there anything else i can use??

[edm1]

Here's a list of the main linux presentation applications:
http://linuxappfinder.com/office/presentations

[samden]

OpenOffice would be the main one, just as Powerpoint is the main one for Windows. I don't like the look either (I'm fussy too), but if you ditch all the default themes and start from a blank page you can make something pretty nice in either.

If you know or are willing to learn LaTeX (which I'd highly recommend you use for your thesis anyway), you can make presentations in LaTeX using the beamer class. They look great, and this works really well if you're just interested in text and static images. You can set it to zoom in on images you want to show in detail as well. Well worth looking into.
http://latex-beamer.sourceforge.net/

But if you like to illustrate things with (carefully designed!) animated diagrams on your slides, you're better off using OpenOffice.

See which you prefer. I use both, and am currently trying to decide which to use for my thesis defence.

[piousp]

I guess i'm gonna try LaTex after all. I've been reading about it but i havent learn it. Guess its time now...

Thanks for your answers and sugestions!! :D

[kleeman]

I have recently started using open office presenter with the latex plugin. Does a pretty good job and you can create the latex very rapidly either using your own memory or by using lyx and exporting to a latex file. Works pretty well if you have a lot of equations.

[samden]

I guess i'm gonna try LaTex after all.
Good on you! It's a steep learning curve at first, and will take you longer to do the same thing initially, but you'll soon find it quicker and easier than word processors.

Happy LaTeXing!

[piousp]

Good on you! It's a steep learning curve at first, and will take you longer to do the same thing initially, but you'll soon find it quicker and easier than word processors.

Happy LaTeXing!

I just saw the examples on the beamer (http://latex-beamer.sourceforge.net/) page... they ARE REALLY GOOD! Yay, i'm getting excited to see what you can do with it! And i can even combine the generated pdf with keyjnote for some extra (innecesary) eye-candy just because (i'm not gonna do it actually :P )

[myle]

Is keyjnote still mantained?

[meborc]

Is keyjnote still mantained?

the name was switched to impressive and it is in the repos

also here - http://impressive.sourceforge.net/index.php

[Dr Noam]

Thanks for all the advice on presentation software, saves me a separate thread!

I have another question: I'm at the awkward stage of having ubuntu linux at home and using microsoft at work. The open office presentation software seems to be 'almost' compatible with power point, but not 100%. When I open a power point presentation with it, there are more words per line than in the power point version, not sure if the font is slightly different or what. The result is that neat slides in powerpoint might have words over diagrams in open office and vice versa. This means I can't count on a presentation I prepared at home working at the office or at conferences where I'm forced to use powerpoint. Is there an easy answer to this? [other minor differences include slight colour changes, but less important]

Many thanks!

[xadder]

I don't use OO (I'm also a LateX user, with prosper), but can't you convert (export) your OO impress presentation to pdf? Then you can present the pdf at work. That's what I do with latex stuff, and I've never had a problem.

[meborc]

i would second that - use latex + beamer... you can edit them the same both in win and in linux

[ugm6hr]

I don't use OO (I'm also a LateX user, with prosper), but can't you convert (export) your OO impress presentation to pdf? Then you can present the pdf at work. That's what I do with latex stuff, and I've never had a problem.

I always convert to PDF to present too (from OO Impress).

Unfortunately, that does mean you lose any slide animations etc.

[meborc]

I always convert to PDF to present too (from OO Impress).

Unfortunately, that does mean you lose any slide animations etc.

well... if you use impressive (in the repos), you will be surprised ;)

check it out!

[ugm6hr]

well... if you use impressive (in the repos), you will be surprised ;)

check it out!

I have used it before.

However, if I present using work computers (rather than my laptop), I don't have that option.

Also, continuously looping short (~1sec) avi files doesn't work properly on Linux players, meaning I have to resort to PowerPoint sometimes :(

[piousp]

I'm back!!! With victory on my hadns!!

Well, i started to learn LaTeX... man, there is just a LOT of documentation and stuff to learn, but its worth it!!!

My presentation went awesome; beamer is just so much more professional than anything else that you just cant go back once you know the truth!! Heck, some guys even asked what program did i use to make the presentation, and I boldly answer:

LaTeX

Their face was just priceless :D :D

At this point I'm just facinated!!!
Thanks everyone!!!

P.S. @ meborc, thanks for the update info on impressive

[meborc]

I'm back!!! With victory on my hadns!!

Well, i started to learn LaTeX... man, there is just a LOT of documentation and stuff to learn, but its worth it!!!

My presentation went awesome; beamer is just so much more professional than anything else that you just cant go back once you know the truth!! Heck, some guys even asked what program did i use to make the presentation, and I boldly answer:

LaTeX

Their face was just priceless :D :D

At this point I'm just facinated!!!
Thanks everyone!!!

P.S. @ meborc, thanks for the update info on impressive

and another sheep sees the light :)

that is awesome man... good on you!

latex ftw

[XCan]

I'm back!!! With victory on my hadns!!

Well, i started to learn LaTeX... man, there is just a LOT of documentation and stuff to learn, but its worth it!!!

My presentation went awesome; beamer is just so much more professional than anything else that you just cant go back once you know the truth!! Heck, some guys even asked what program did i use to make the presentation, and I boldly answer:

LaTeX

Their face was just priceless :D :D

At this point I'm just facinated!!!
Thanks everyone!!!

P.S. @ meborc, thanks for the update info on impressive

Wow great to hear that! I've been meaning to start using beamer as well if it wasn't because so damn many conferences for retarded reasons only accept .ppt files (pres ubmission)...

[meborc]

Wow great to hear that! I've been meaning to start using beamer as well if it wasn't because so damn many conferences for retarded reasons only accept .ppt files (pres ubmission)...

i wonder if there is an easy way to convert .pdf presentation (done with latex/beamer) into .ppt?

i guess it should be possible as .pdf is basically just a set of pictures, right? so every page would be one picture pasted into new slide in .ppt

any ideas how to do it? maybe with openoffice and export to .ppt?

[ssam]

if files from microsoft office are looking different it may be a font issue. install the package

ttf-mscorefonts-installer or msttcorefonts

as it contains the standard microsoft fonts.

for openoffice to import pdfs you need the package openoffice.org-pdfimport then you can export to doc. this may not be perfect so test it.

for conferences that ask for ppt, have you tried asking if they will accept pdf.

[samden]

Good on you, glad it went well!