Keynote's purpose and how to use it

Compete with the Microsoft office suite is very difficult. Combining all the essentials for work, the software is implemented at the highest level, but the pearl from the Apple iWork suite of applications - Keynote is beyond doubt in terms of functionality and user-friendly interface of one of the Office suite, PowerPoint.

Work with the Keynote app.

What is Keynote

The popularity of this software is not as wide as in the case of a competitor from Microsoft, and although its first version was released as early as 2003 (the eighth one is available today), many do not know what this program is and are not even aware of the existence of Keynote. Despite this, for users who have to perform tasks for creating presentations of various nature, the service has become a real boon.

The application for creating and demonstrating impressive presentations Keynote includes powerful tools, effects and themes that allow you to make beautiful and high-quality work at the highest level that can be presented to a wide variety of audiences. The rich functionality with great potential does not hide behind the screen of numerous tabs, sections and subsections, it is very convenient and easy to use, so working with it will be simple even for a novice user. All the necessary tools in Keynote are always at hand, they are rendered on the quick access panel and the three tabs in the right block. So, the design realized in the program, providing comfort of management, will allow to create a worthy presentation in a few minutes.

Keynote functions on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch devices, as well as Mac computers. Presentations that you create on one of the devices open on the other, so you do not need to be attached to a place or a specific device. In addition, you can perform joint editing of data in real time, opening access to other users and working on the network. Surprisingly, the service also supports the ability to add PowerPoint files, which can then be edited in Keynote, and presentations can also be saved in the extensions of both programs. So, if your colleagues use a Microsoft product, nothing prevents you from working together on the same project.

Among the many advantages of Keynote service:

  • A wide range of tools for creating high-quality presentations (unique themes, effects, recording and editing audio within the application, inserting photos, videos, texts, tables, charts, graphs, and other features).
  • The program is adapted to work on mobile devices.
  • Ability to work with presentations from different devices.
  • Co-editing in real time.
  • Remote control.
  • The ability to share.
  • Integration with popular services iCloud, Dropbox and Gmail.
  • Compatible with PowerPoint.
  • Live webcast of your Keynote Live presentation.
  • On the iPad with the Apple Pencil, you can add your own notes and illustrations to the presentation.
  • Nice and easy to use interface.

Keynote has a lot in common with PowerPoint, and even if you didn’t use presentation tools before, it’s not difficult to master Apple’s application for iPhone and iPad. Moreover, there will be no difficulties if you have experience with PowerPoint or the desktop version of Keynote.

Making Keynote presentations

Using the service, you can create awesome presentations. Choosing one of the themes during the creation (styles will already be built into it), you will see how good your work will look like in the first step of the creative process. The Keynote application contains dozens of different themes, including ready-made sets of elements, which makes each presentation unique. You can also apply your favorite theme to all new documents in the basic settings of the program.

Making a presentation

Work on the presentation begins with the choice of topics. The window opens when you click the "New Document" button, you can also go to it from the "File" menu by selecting the "New" item. Double tapping selects the desired topic and after downloading a new presentation, you can continue to work on creating it using the available controls:

  • By clicking "+" on the toolbar, you can add slides.
  • Double clicking on the placeholder text adds text to the presentation.
  • You can drag pictures or photos from the device, add pictures from iPhoto or Aperture.
  • Formatting controls applicable to the selected object will be displayed in the panel on the right of the program window. At the top of the sidebar are available variations of design that allow you to change the appearance of the object with one click. Use different tools to customize your presentation and create exclusive works.
  • The ability to customize the top toolbar is available; you can delete, add, or swap buttons for your own comfort when interacting with Keynote.
  • By adding a slide, you select one of the layouts based on the selected theme. You can use it for the next one or set another layout with a different layout. For quick access to an option, you can add a Wizard item to the toolbar.

  • You can also number the slides, change their order, group, skip (in this case, the skipped slide is not numbered), edit, change the scale, etc.
  • Among the tools available tools for editing objects (any part of the presentation, such as photos, charts, shapes, etc.). You can add objects to the document and control their appearance by changing the size, shape, aligning, cropping part of the image, adjusting the background, etc.
  • Text, images or shapes can be converted to links. They will look like ordinary objects, but when you click on one of these objects during the presentation, the corresponding action will be performed.
  • Any actions you perform can be canceled through the Edit menu, and also repeated if you decide that it looks better.
  • If during the work you have decided that this topic does not suit you, simply change it through the “File” menu. Then a new theme will be applied to all slides, including object styles, backgrounds and other elements. In case of making adjustments to the presentation objects, they will be preserved when the topic is changed.
  • If you wish, you can save the changes made as a new style in order to have access to it when creating other objects.
  • You can save the presentation in Keynote as a new topic, after which it will be available in the My Themes category.
  • The ability to save a presentation in another format can be done by exporting it to this format. You can use the function through the menu "File".

This is just a small part of what Keynote can do. Having fully understood how to use the program, you can create unique works using interesting service options, involve other participants in creating presentations, share, broadcast in real time and perform other actions. Users working in Keynote note that, despite the simplicity of the program interface and ease of use, its functionality is enough to do the job at a professional level.

How to share a presentation

Keynote makes it easy to share the result of your work with other users. You can send a link to those who should see the project (or place it on any resource, for example, on a social network), send it via e-mail or via iTunes, as well as print it. In addition, you can link the presentation to the projector using Apple's VGA or HDMI keys or display it on the TV screen via Apple TV.

The online show can be realized after you share a link with the audience. With Keynote Live, you can showcase your presentation using streaming or streaming. So, having saved your work in the iCloud cloud storage and copying the URL, you need to send the link via email. Opening a link can also be password protected if the information is intended for certain people. By setting the permissions, you can give some users the opportunity to edit the presentation, others only allow viewing, and all edits made after sending the URL to the project will be visible to the recipients of the link. In the event that a copy of the presentation is sent, those who receive the document will be able to edit it, but the original version will remain unchanged.

Services with which Keynote has integration

Comfort and speed of work depends largely on the integration of the program with other services. Collaboration and the own efficiency of creating high-quality presentations is provided by integration with iCloud and Dropbox, while Gmail provides access to communications. With Keynote, you are free to choose your device and place of work, because slides created, for example, on a Mac, will look the same as on an iPhone or in a browser. At the same time, other users via Mac, iPad, iPnone, or PC can join the project. The use of hotkeys that allow you to instantly perform various tasks will also help speed up work.