Presentation program - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A presentation program is a computer software

Computer software

Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....

package used to display information, normally in the form of a slide show. It typically includes three major functions: an editor that allows text to be inserted and formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating graphic images and a slide-show system to display the content.

Notable examples

Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
Corel Presentations
Corel Presentations
Corel Presentations is a presentation program akin to Microsoft PowerPoint and OpenOffice.org Impress. The current release, version X5 , is available only as part of the Corel WordPerfect office productivity suite.-History:Presentations shares much of its code with WordPerfect...
Google Docs
Harvard Graphics
Harvard Graphics
Harvard Graphics was a pioneering presentation program developed for DOS and Microsoft Windows by Software Publishing Corporation . Harvard Graphics, Inc...

(obsolete)
IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics (obsolete)
OpenOffice.org Impress
OpenOffice.org Impress
OpenOffice.org Impress, a part of the OpenOffice.org office suite and developed by Sun Microsystems, is an open source presentation program compatible with and similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. In addition to being able to create PDF files from presentations, it is also able to export presentations...

(open source)
SlideRocket
SlideRocket
SlideRocket is an online presentation platform that lets users create, manage, share and measure presentations. SlideRocket is provided via a SaaS model offered via monthly or annual subscription plans. Users initially sign up for a free 14-day trial then decide which plan to subscribe to...
Prezi
Prezi
Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software and storytelling tool for exploring and sharing ideas upon a virtual canvas. Prezi is distinguished by its Zooming User Interface , which enables users to zoom in and out of their presentation media...
Apple Keynote

History

The presentation graphics software ran on computer workstations, such as those manufactured by Genigraphics

Genigraphics

The Genigraphics presentation graphics was derived from a flight simulator designed by General Electric for NASA in the late 1960s The Computed Images System & Services division of General Electric delivered the first presentation graphics system to Amoco Oil's corporate headquarters in 1973...

, Autographix, and Dicomed

DICOMED

Dicomed was founded in 1968 and in the early 1970s became a leading manufacturer of precision color film recorders such as the D47 and D48.-Use:...

. It became quite easy 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 or Macintosh to create professional-looking presentation graphics.

Originally these programs were used to generate 35 mm slides, to be presented using a slide projector

Slide projector

A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. Slide projectors were common in the 1950s to the 1970s as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would gather to view slide shows...

. 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 or print transparencies. In the 1990s dedicated LCD

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

-based screens that could be placed on the projectors started to replace the transparencies, and by the late 1990s they had almost all been replaced by video projector

Video projector

A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...

s.

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 software displaying a presentation on a personal computer screen was VCN ExecuVision

VCN ExecuVision

VCN ExecuVision was the first presentation program for the personal computer. This program allowed users the ability to manipulate graphics and text not just for business data, but for all communication purposes...

, developed in 1982. This program allowed users to choose from a library of images to accompany the text of their presentation.

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 visualaid technology, such as Pamphlet

Pamphlet

A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...

s, handouts, chalkboards, flip charts, posters, slides and overhead transparencies. Text, graphics, movies, and other objects are positioned on individual pages or "slides" or "foils". The "slide" analogy is a reference to the slide projector

Slide projector

, a device that has become somewhat obsolete

Obsolescence

Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that is superior in one or more aspects. Obsolete refers to something...

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. 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.

Recently a new presentation paradigm has emerged: zooming presentation programs. Instead of individual slides these ZUIs (zoom user interface) are based on one infinite canvas on which all content is presented. This allows for non-linear presentations, the option to present richer detail of content, and to give a better overview and understanding of complex visual messages and relations.

Another recent development which internet based software such as SlideRocket

SlideRocket

SlideRocket is an online presentation platform that lets users create, manage, share and measure presentations. SlideRocket is provided via a SaaS model offered via monthly or annual subscription plans. Users initially sign up for a free 14-day trial then decide which plan to subscribe to...

, Office Web Apps

Office Web Apps

Microsoft Office Web Apps is a web-based version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite. It includes the web-based versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft OneNote. The web applications allow users to access their documents directly from anywhere within a...

or Google Docs has enabled is collaborative development of the presentation. Several people can work on the presentation at the same time revising content or reviewing the changes as they are made by others.

Many presentation programs come with pre-designed images (clip art

Clip art

Clip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...

) and/or have the ability to import graphic images. Custom graphics can also be created in other programs such as Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...

or Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. Illustrator is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to its competitors, CorelDraw, Xara Designer Pro and Macromedia FreeHand....

and then exported. The concept of clip art

Clip art

originated with the image library that came as a complement with VCN ExecuVision

VCN ExecuVision

, beginning in 1983.

With the growth of digital photography

Digital photography

Digital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film...

and video

Digital video

Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...

, many programs that handle these types of media also include presentation functions for displaying them in a similar "slide show" format. For example, Apple's iPhoto

IPhoto

iPhoto is a digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. and released with every Macintosh personal computer as part of the iLife suite of digital life management applications...

allows 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

Extension (computing)

Software extension, is a file containing programming that serves to extend the capabilities of or data available to a more basic program. It is a kind of list of commands which are directly included in the program. This term often coincides with the plug-in...

for an operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

or web browser

Web browser

A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...

, "add ons" or plugins for presentation programs can be used to enhance their capabilities. For example, it would be useful to export a PowerPoint presentation as a Flash

SWF

SWF is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Originating with FutureWave Software, then transferred to Macromedia, and then coming under the control of Adobe, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function.,...

animation or PDF

Portable Document Format

Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....

document. This would make delivery through removable media or sharing over the Internet easier. Since PDF files are designed to be shared regardless of platform

Platform (computing)

A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...

and most web browsers already have the plugin to view Flash files, these formats would allow presentations to be more widely accessible.

Certain presentation programs also offer an interactive integrated hardware element designed to engage an audience (e.g. audience response systems

Audience response

Audience response is a type of interaction associated with the use of audience response systems, to create interactivity between a presenter and his/her audience. Systems for co-located audiences combine wireless hardware with presentation software, and systems for remote audiences may use...

) or facilitate presentations across different geographical locations (e.g. web conferencing

Web conferencing

Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...

). Other integrated hardware devices ease the job of a live presenter such as laser pointer

Laser pointer

A laser pointer or laser pen is a small portable device with a power source and a laser emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light...

s and interactive whiteboard

Interactive whiteboard

An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...

Notable examples

History

Features

See also