Presentation program

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LibreOffice Impress, one of the most popular free and open-source presentation programs LibreOffice 7.2.4.1 Impress screenshot.png
LibreOffice Impress, one of the most popular free and open-source presentation programs

In computing, a presentation program (also called presentation software) is a software package used to display information in the form of a slide show. It has three major functions: [1]

Contents

Presentation software can be viewed[ by whom? ] as enabling a functionally-specific category of electronic media, with its own distinct culture and practices as compared to traditional presentation media (such as blackboards, whiteboards and flip charts).

Presentations in this mode of delivery have become pervasive in many aspects of business communication, especially in business planning, as well as in academic-conference and professional conference settings, and in the knowledge economy generally, where ideas are a primary work output. Presentations may also feature prominently in political settings, especially in workplace politics, where persuasion is a central determinant of group outcomes.[ citation needed ]

Most modern meeting-rooms and conference halls are configured to include presentation electronics, such as projectors suitable for displaying presentation slides, often driven by the presenter's own laptop, under direct control of the presentation program used to develop the presentation. Often a presenter will present a lecture using the slides as a visual aid both for the presenter (to track the lecture's coverage) and for the audience (especially when an audience member mishears or misunderstands the verbal component).

Generally in presentations, the visual material is considered[ by whom? ] supplemental to a strong aural presentation that accompanies the slide show, but in many cases, such as statistical graphics, it can be difficult to convey essential information other than by visual means; additionally, a well-designed infographic can be extremely effective in a way that words are not. Endemic over-reliance on slides with low information density and with a poor accompanying lecture has given presentation software a negative reputation as sometimes functioning as a crutch for the poorly informed or the poorly prepared.

List of presentation programs

History

Using Autographix and Dicomed, it became quite easy[ dubious discuss ] to make last-minute changes compared to traditional typesetting and pasteup. It was also a lot easier to produce a large number of slides in a small amount of time. However, these workstations also required skilled operators, and a single workstation represented an investment of $50,000 to $200,000 (in 1979 dollars).

In the mid-1980s developments in the world of computers changed the way presentations were created. Inexpensive, specialized applications now made it possible for anyone with a PC to create professional-looking presentation graphics.

Originally these programs were used to generate 35 mm slides, to be presented using a slide projector. As these programs became more common in the late 1980s several companies set up services that would accept the shows on diskette and create slides using a film recorder or print transparencies. In the 1990s dedicated LCD-based screens that could be placed on the projectors started to replace the transparencies, and by the early 2000s they had almost all been replaced by video projectors.[ citation needed ]

The first commercial computer software specifically intended for creating WYSIWYG presentations was developed at Hewlett-Packard in 1979 and called BRUNO and later HP-Draw. The first microcomputer-based presentation software was Cromemco's Slidemaster, developed by John F. Dunn and released by Cromemco in 1981. [2] [3] [4] The first software displaying a presentation on a personal computer screen was VCN ExecuVision, developed in 1982. This program allowed users to choose from a library of images to accompany the text of their presentation. Harvard Graphics was introduced for MS-DOS and Lotus Freelance Graphics was introduced for DOS and OS/2 in 1986. PowerPoint was introduced for the Macintosh computer in 1987. [5]

Features

A presentation program is supposed to help both the speaker with an easier access to his ideas and the participants with visual information which complements the talk. There are many different types of presentations including professional (work-related), education, entertainment, and for general communication. Presentation programs can either supplement or replace the use of older visual-aid technology, such as pamphlets, handouts, chalkboards, flip charts, posters, slides and overhead transparencies. Text, graphics, movies, and other objects are positioned on individual pages or "slides" or "foils"[ citation needed ]. The "slide" analogy is a reference to the slide projector, a device that has become somewhat obsolete due to the use of presentation software. Slides can be printed, or (more usually) displayed on-screen and navigated through at the command of the presenter. An entire presentation can be saved in video format. [6] The slides can also be saved as images of any image file formats for any future reference. [7] Transitions between slides can be animated in a variety of ways, as can the emergence of elements on a slide itself. Typically a presentation has many constraints and the most important being the limited time to present consistent information.

Many presentation programs come with pre-designed images (clip art) and/or have the ability to import graphic images. Some tools also have the ability to search and import images from Flickr or Google directly from the tool. Custom graphics can also be created in other programs such as Adobe Photoshop or GIMP and then exported. The concept of clip art originated with the image library that came as a complement with VCN ExecuVision, beginning in 1983.

With the growth of digital photography and video, many programs that handle these types of media also include presentation functions for displaying them in a similar "slide show" format, for example iPhoto. These programs allow groups of digital photos to be displayed in a slide show with options such as selecting transitions, choosing whether or not the show stops at the end or continues to loop, and including music to accompany the photos.

Similar to programming extensions for an operating system or web browser, "add ons" or plugins for presentation programs can be used to enhance their capabilities.

Apps can enable a smartphone to be a remote control [8] for slideshow presentations, including slide previews, speaker notes, timer, stop watch, pointer, going directly to a given slide, blank screen and more. Presentation programs also offer an interactive integrated hardware element designed to engage an audience (e.g. audience response systems, second screen applications) or facilitate presentations across different geographical locations through the internet (e.g. web conferencing). [9] Hardware devices such as laser pointers and interactive whiteboards can ease the job of a live presenter .

See also

Related Research Articles

Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditional mass media, such as printed material or audio recordings, which feature little to no interaction between users. Popular examples of multimedia include video podcasts, audio slideshows, and animated videos. Multimedia also contains the principles and application of effective interactive communication, such as the building blocks of software, hardware, and other technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft PowerPoint</span> Presentation application, part of Microsoft 365

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins, Tom Rudkin and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoint for about $14 million three months after it appeared. This was Microsoft's first significant acquisition, and Microsoft set up a new business unit for PowerPoint in Silicon Valley where Forethought had been located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overhead projector</span> Device that projects a transparent image

An overhead projector, like a film or slide projector, uses light to project an enlarged image on a screen, allowing the view of a small document or picture to be shared with a large audience.

In computing, an icon is a pictogram or ideogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system. The icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol of a software tool, function, or a data file, accessible on the system and is more like a traffic sign than a detailed illustration of the actual entity it represents. It can serve as an electronic hyperlink or file shortcut to access the program or data. The user can activate an icon using a mouse, pointer, finger, or voice commands. Their placement on the screen, also in relation to other icons, may provide further information to the user about their usage. In activating an icon, the user can move directly into and out of the identified function without knowing anything further about the location or requirements of the file or code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visualization (graphics)</span> Set of techniques for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message

Visualization, also known as Graphics Visualization, is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas since the dawn of humanity. from history include cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek geometry, and Leonardo da Vinci's revolutionary methods of technical drawing for engineering purposes that actively involve scientific requirements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual communication</span> Method of communication

Visual communication is the use of visual elements to convey ideas and information which include signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising, animation, and electronic resources. Visual communication has been proven to be unique when compared to other verbal or written languages because of its more abstract structure. It stands out for its uniqueness, as the interpretation of signs varies on the viewer's field of experience. The interpretation of imagery is often compared to the set alphabets and words used in oral or written languages. Another point of difference found by scholars is that, though written or verbal languages are taught, sight does not have to be learned and therefore people of sight may lack awareness of visual communication and its influence in their everyday life. Many of the visual elements listed above are forms of visual communication that humans have been using since prehistoric times. Within modern culture, there are several types of characteristics when it comes to visual elements, they consist of objects, models, graphs, diagrams, maps, and photographs. Outside the different types of characteristics and elements, there are seven components of visual communication: color, shape, tones, texture, figure-ground, balance, and hierarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slide show</span> Presentation of a series of still images on a projection screen or other display

A slide show, or slideshow, is a presentation of a series of still images (slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manually controlled by a presenter or the viewer. Slide shows originally consisted of a series of individual photographic slides projected onto a screen with a slide projector. When referring to the video or computer-based visual equivalent, in which the slides are not individual physical objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web conferencing</span> Forms of internet interaction communication

Web conferencing is used as an umbrella term for various types of online conferencing and collaborative services including webinars, webcasts, and web meetings. Sometimes it may be used also in the more narrow sense of the peer-level web meeting context, in an attempt to disambiguate it from the other types known as collaborative sessions. The terminology related to these technologies is exact and agreed relying on the standards for web conferencing but specific organizations practices in usage exist to provide also term usage reference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interactive whiteboard</span> Large interactive display

An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board, interactive display, interactive digital board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform tasks and operations, or a connectable apparatus used as a touchpad to control computers from a projector. They are used in a variety of settings, including classrooms at all levels of education, in corporate board rooms and work groups, in training rooms for professional sports coaching, in broadcasting studios, and others.

Presentation technology consists of tools used to assist in conveying information during a presentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Page layout</span> Part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement of visual elements on a page

In graphic design, page layout is the arrangement of visual elements on a page. It generally involves organizational principles of composition to achieve specific communication objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VCN ExecuVision</span> Graphics and presentation program

VCN ExecuVision, a combination graphics program and file manager, was the first presentation program for the personal computer, created by Visual Communications Network, Inc. and published by Prentice-Hall, Inc. for the IBM PC in 1984. The program's pre-loaded graphics library and its separate additions make the VCN ExecuVision the first professional digital clip art library. Featuring ten different typefaces, 64 color schemes, clip art, animation options, the ability to import images and the ability to draw freehand using a mouse, this program allowed users to manipulate graphics and text built with business data presentation in mind but could be used for all visual communication purposes. The program's capabilities were expanded with the release of six supplemental graphics libraries sold as individual floppy disks, which were to be joined by four more said to be in production but were ultimately never released. All of these functions required PC DOS 1.01, 128KB RAM, two disk drives, a color monitor and color graphics adapter to operate, as well as either an IBM dot-matrix or Hewlett-Packard printer to print visuals created within the program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audiovisual</span> Electronic media with both a sound and a visual component

Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphic communication</span> Communication using graphic elements

Graphic communication as the name suggests is communication using graphic elements. These elements include symbols such as glyphs and icons, images such as drawings and photographs, and can include the passive contributions of substrate, colour and surroundings. It is the process of creating, producing, and distributing material incorporating words and images to convey data, concepts, and emotions.

Document cameras, also known as visual presenters, visualizers, digital overheads, or docucams, are real-time image capture devices for displaying an object to a large audience. Like an opaque projector, a document camera is able to magnify and project the images of actual, three-dimensional objects, as well as transparencies. They are, in essence, high resolution web cams, mounted on arms so as to facilitate their placement over a page. This allows a teacher, lecturer or presenter to write on a sheet of paper or to display a two or three-dimensional object while the audience watches. Theoretically, all objects can be displayed by a document camera. Most objects are simply placed under the camera, and the camera takes the picture, which in turn produces a live image using a projector or monitor. Different types of document camera/visualizer allow great flexibility in terms of placement of objects. Larger objects, for example, can simply be placed in front of the camera and the camera rotated as necessary, or a ceiling mounted document camera can also be used to allow a larger working area to be used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screenshot</span> Digital image output of computer display

A screenshot is a digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by the operating system or software running on the device powering the display.

A slide is a single page of a presentation. A group is called slide deck. A slide show is an exposition of a series of slides or images in an electronic device or in a projection screen. Before personal computers, they were 35 mm slides viewed with a slide projector or transparencies viewed with an overhead projector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-image</span>

Multi-image is the now largely obsolete practice and business of using 35mm slides (diapositives) projected by single or multiple slide projectors onto one or more screens in synchronization with an audio voice-over or music track. Multi-image productions are also known as multi-image slide presentations, slide shows and diaporamas and are a specific form of multimedia or audio-visual production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dunn (software developer)</span> American music and art software developer

John Francis Dunn was an American music and art software developer. He created several visual art, music, and design software programs, including Lumena, MusicBox, SoftStep, and others. He has also written and performed a variety of electronic music compositions throughout his career. He was a graduate of Sonia Landy Sheridan's Generative Systems program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also founded Time Arts, Inc. and Algorithmic Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless clicker</span>

A wireless clicker or wireless presenter is a handset remote used to control a computer during a presentation, by emulating a "mouse click" + "some keys of a PC keyboard"; usually incorporating a laser pointer to pinpoint screen details. It is mainly used for presentations with a video projector or a big TV screen, allowing the presenter to move freely in front of the audience.

References

  1. Rouse, Margaret (March 2011). "presentation software (presentation graphics)". WhatIs.com. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  2. "About John Dunn". Algorithmic Arts. Retrieved 25 June 2018. Dunn ... developed the first ever professional paint program for a microcomputer, Cromemco's "Slidemaster," released in 1981.
  3. "Cromemco Unveils Desktop Unit with Business Software, DBMS". Computerworld. 15 (43): 61. October 26, 1981. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  4. Shea, Tom; Freiberger, Paul (November 1, 1982). "Artists use computer graphics as new palette and canvas". InfoWorld. 4 (43): 18–20. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. Brock, David (31 October 2017). "The Improbable Origins of PowerPoint". IEEE Spectrum.
  6. "Turn your presentation into a video". www.support.office.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  7. "Save a slide as a separate image file". www.support.office.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  8. "LibreOffice Impress Remote". LibreOffice.org.
  9. Shiao, Dennis (28 August 2012). "Online Presentation Tips from an Online Presentation Coach". INXPO. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2013.

Further reading