iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Chapter 12. Creating a Keynote Slideshow

Slideshows have come a long way since the days of kerosene-powered magic lanterns, but the basic concept remains the same: Project an image with words or pictures on a screen for an audience’s entertainment or edification. Whether you’re an old-schooler clicking your slide carousel or a 21st-century citizen with a computer connected to a video projector, slideshows derive their power from their simplicity. By displaying a single static image one at a time, slideshows present information simply and clearly—and often with more impact than you could achieve with a moving picture.

Keynote lets you create very basic, simple slides—for example, just words on a plain background or a single picture—or carefully designed slides containing photographs, animation, or even movies and sound. Whether you opt for simple or fancy, the basic idea is the same: Pick a theme, a predesigned template that gives your slideshow a cohesive style or look; create the individual slides; and arrange them in the proper order.

This chapter takes you through the basics of all these steps, giving you an overview of all of Keynote’s main features before diving into them in more detail in the following chapters.