Tip
To save time when configuring Presenter settings, it’s quickest to have the set of slides created and the basic titling finished. That way, when you select some of the configuration options, you won’t have to guess at settings.
To get under way, open your presentation in PowerPoint and then choose Adobe Presenter > Presentation Settings to open the four-tab dialog (Figure 63).
Figure 63 Specify choices for Adobe Presenter in this dialog.
Use the settings in the dialog to configure the presentation features:
1. In the Appearance tab, change the publication appearance:
•
Type an alternate title for your presentation if you don’t want to use the default title, which is the PowerPoint file’s name.•
Type a summary for the presentation to describe its purpose and contents. If you use your presentation on Adobe Connect Pro, the summary is shown with other presentation data; in a PDF or local presentation, the summary isn’t used.Creating a presenter publication
# 63
To Preload or Not to Preload: That Is the Question
Adobe Presenter gives you two options for managing Flash movie preloading.
Choose Download Slides Completely Before Playback if your users are likely to use slow download speeds to view the presentation.
It will take a short while to download all the slide con-tents and delay the start of the presentation, but there won’t be interruptions dur-ing the presentation.
If you have multiple Flash movies on your presentation (and two or more are on con-secutive slides), choose Disa-ble Preloading of Embedded Flash Movies. This way, the first movie must finish play-ing before the second one can start playing.
165
•
To configure the appearance and function of the SWF interface, select and edit a theme. Read about using themes in #64, “Specify-ing a Theme.”2. In the Playback tab, choose settings for playing the presentation:
•
Select “Auto play on start” to have the presentation begin immedi-ately after loading. Otherwise the user has to click the Play button on the presentation’s interface to start the presentation.•
Presenter runs the presentation once and then stops by default; if you want it to loop—like presentations used in a kiosk or public display—select Loop presentation.•
Select “Include slide numbers in outline” if you want to include slide numbers in the Outline pane of the presentation (a handy option for different presenters with varying levels of familiarity with the content).•
If you want the presentation to stop after a slide’s animation is com-plete, choose “Pause after each animation.” That way, a viewer has time to make notes or check out the finished slide before continuing.•
Slides display according to the length of their audio or video; for slides without media, specify a display time in seconds. The default is 5 seconds.3. In the Quality tab, choose image and audio qualities based on how you intend to use the presentation.
•
Click the Publish For drop-down arrow and choose from My Com-puter, Adobe Connect Pro, or Adobe PDF to automatically optimize the levels, or select the options manually.•
Select the Control Preloading check box, and choose either “Down-load slides completely before playback” or “Disable pre“Down-loading of embedded Flash content,” based on your presentation’s character-istics. Read about the differences in the sidebar “To Preload or Not to Preload: That Is the Question.”•
Save some time configuring future projects by selecting the “Use these settings for new presentations” check box.#63: Creating a Presenter Publication
Exceptions to the Rules For the most part, Presenter default choices for image quality are fine—with a few exceptions. To prevent blurry content, be sure to set image quality to high in your pres-entation if it includes charts, Smart Art, Word Art, Quick Styles, or shapes using 3D effects, like shadows.
You can view presentations on mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs that use Flash Lite 3. If you intend your output for mobile devices, use the low-quality setting for images and audio to reduce the size of the finished file.
What about Playing Flash?
You don’t have to worry about installing Flash Player, or whether you have the right version. The latest ver-sion of the Flash Player (Flash Player 9) is installed when you install Presenter.
(continued on next page)
C h a p t e r N i N e Building Content with Adobe Presenter
4. In the Attachments tab, select and add files to attach to the presen-tation. Click Add to open the Add Attachment dialog, where you can locate content such as spreadsheets or charts that you want to provide with the presentation. An attachment can be either a file or a link—to discover how to use links and attachments, check out #66, “Including Attachments.”
5. Once you’ve finished modifying the settings, click OK to close the dialog.
Create slide titles to give users easy access to any slide. Check that titles appear in the PowerPoint outline for all slides, including graphic-only slides, before publishing your presentation.
Taking It Mobile Presenter output can be used on mobile devices that run Flash Lite 3. Many features are supported, including slide animations and backgrounds, audio, and embedded SWF and FLV files.
Some Presenter content isn’t supported in Flash Lite 3, including the side panel, quizzes, themes, and the playbar.
167
Presenter publications show a presentation running inside a customiz-able interface called a theme. You can customize features such as color, tab display, graphics, fonts, and interface functionality. Once you have chosen, customized, or created a theme, save it for reuse.
Adobe Presenter uses a default green-colored presentation theme named Sage, but you can alter it. Open your presentation in PowerPoint and then follow these steps:
1. Choose Adobe Presenter > Presentation Settings. Click Theme Editor to open the dialog shown in Figure 64a.
Figure 64a Select details to customize the appearance of the theme according to your company, brand, or club colors.
2. Choose a theme to start customizing from the Theme pop-up menu.
The new theme appears in the preview window.
3. Change Appearance options as desired:
•
Click the color swatch for different interface elements to open color pickers and choose custom or branding colors.•
Click Modify Text Labels to change the text in different areas of the theme, such as the field names in the Search tab or the label assigned to a quiz score. You can’t change the column headings“Slide Title” and “Duration” on the Outline pane.
#64: Specifying a Theme