google
Google Presentations
November 13, 2007 Filed in: Apps and
Tools
Recently, Google has added an online presentation
application in addition to their word processing and
spreadsheet applications. Google Presentations is an
interesting experience in that it is capable of
more than I expected, but, depending on the
features you are looking for, it may still not
do enough. I took some time testing Google
Presentations in Camino (a Mac-specific Firefox
derivation) to see how things work. Please note
that Google does not fully support Safari at
this time in its productivity tools. I had no
problems using Safari, but your mileage may
vary.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how efficiently Google manages the documents created with their online apps. Managing your documents is very similar to managing an online email account, and opening a specific document takes you directly to the corresponding online application. In Camino, the document opens in a new tab, leaving the other documents easily accessible. I don't know what I was expecting when it came to document management, but this feature comes as a pleasant surprise.
Once in the presentation application, the abilities and the limitations are immediately visible. You can perform basic text editing on your slides including font, size, color, highlight, lists, and alignment, but I had no luck editing already formatted text. (This may not be the case in other browsers.) It seems you have to plan ahead when it comes to formatting, or be prepared to type a few things over. You can include hyperlinks in your presentation, which can be especially useful since the presentation will already be in a browser when displayed. It's also very easy to save your slides as well as duplicate and delete individual slides. In fact, I found the Duplicate command quite useful, but we'll revisit that in a few paragraphs.
When creating your presentation, Google offers a few basic slide layouts and themes. When you choose to insert a new slide, a dialog appears offering you the available templates. You'll notice none of the slides have placeholders for images, and this is because there is no clip art or word art available in Google Presentations. On the other hand, you can upload your own images for use in the presentation, negating this limitation. Image uploads can also be used for inserting charts and graphs if you export them as images or take screenshots of them.
A similar box appears if you want to choose a new theme. Here are some of the designs available for your presentations:
The themes are very reminiscent of PowerPoint, and those used to the Microsoft-designed themes of that program will feel right at home. However, those looking for something a little more refined will be left wanting. Shelly, Blank, and Gradient Black are the three best themes in my opinion, offering simple color schemes and minimal distraction.
Google Presentations will also directly import PowerPoint files, and the results look pretty decent. Text colors, slide designs, and text formatting remains entirely intact. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Google Presentations, all text build and slide transitions are lost upon import. However, I was surprised to see that the slides are completely editable.
Garr Reynolds should be proud...
All of this leads up to the ability to share your presentations anywhere you have an internet connection. A published presentation will be assigned a unique URL you can send to others, or you can play the presentation directly from the Google application in a maximized browser window. Furthermore, you can share your presentations with others and collaborate on editing the slides – an especially welcome feature for those times you have to collaborate on a presentation, even if you only use Google Presentations to draft the slides before finalizing them in a dedicated application like Impress or Keynote.
One of the only real issues I ran into was the lack of support for text builds. If you enter a list onto a slide, then the entire list will appear at once. This is where the Duplicate command comes in useful. To work around this limitation, I created a bullet-filled slide, then duplicated it several times. Next, I deleted the text I did not want on the slides leading up to the entire list, creating the illusion of text builds. This will greatly increase the physical size of your slide deck, but the difference should be transparent to viewers.
notice the expanding list in the slide sorter
The other major limitation comes from the nature of sharing over the internet. Depending on the connection, your slides may hesitate before loading. Also, some design backgrounds may look pixelated when scaled up to higher resolutions, and the browser window will always be present. This can be somewhat alleviated with browsers that feature full-screen modes.
Let me conclude with one more screenshot and hint.
looking like Keynote
In this deck, each slide merely has an image placed upon it. I took a completed Keynote presentation, exported all of the slides (and builds) as individual images, and then uploaded each image onto its individual slide. Now I have a presentation that is accessible anywhere but still looks like it does when presented from my laptop. Again, thanks to the ability to upload images, you don't have to feel constrained by the limited editing tools provided by Google Presentations.
A few years ago, I would have never dreamed I'd be editing slides in a web browser. Google Presentations, while limited in many ways, is a great backup and collaboration tool, and it is serviceable as a composition application as well. The sparse feature set may be unsettling at first, but you might find yourself getting more work done without the many distractions of PowerPoint. Google Presentations is not a competitor to dedicated slide applications. Rather it is an augmentation to those programs, and it makes for a fine addition to the tool set of any presenter.
Like Google, both of these services require you to sign up for a free account.
Basic Features
I've never used Google's online productivity tools before. I have certainly been aware of their existence, but I had never seen them in action. As a result, some of the features I cover may be familiar to users of Google Docs and Spreadsheets – such as the document manager.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how efficiently Google manages the documents created with their online apps. Managing your documents is very similar to managing an online email account, and opening a specific document takes you directly to the corresponding online application. In Camino, the document opens in a new tab, leaving the other documents easily accessible. I don't know what I was expecting when it came to document management, but this feature comes as a pleasant surprise.
Once in the presentation application, the abilities and the limitations are immediately visible. You can perform basic text editing on your slides including font, size, color, highlight, lists, and alignment, but I had no luck editing already formatted text. (This may not be the case in other browsers.) It seems you have to plan ahead when it comes to formatting, or be prepared to type a few things over. You can include hyperlinks in your presentation, which can be especially useful since the presentation will already be in a browser when displayed. It's also very easy to save your slides as well as duplicate and delete individual slides. In fact, I found the Duplicate command quite useful, but we'll revisit that in a few paragraphs.
When creating your presentation, Google offers a few basic slide layouts and themes. When you choose to insert a new slide, a dialog appears offering you the available templates. You'll notice none of the slides have placeholders for images, and this is because there is no clip art or word art available in Google Presentations. On the other hand, you can upload your own images for use in the presentation, negating this limitation. Image uploads can also be used for inserting charts and graphs if you export them as images or take screenshots of them.
A similar box appears if you want to choose a new theme. Here are some of the designs available for your presentations:
The themes are very reminiscent of PowerPoint, and those used to the Microsoft-designed themes of that program will feel right at home. However, those looking for something a little more refined will be left wanting. Shelly, Blank, and Gradient Black are the three best themes in my opinion, offering simple color schemes and minimal distraction.
Google Presentations will also directly import PowerPoint files, and the results look pretty decent. Text colors, slide designs, and text formatting remains entirely intact. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Google Presentations, all text build and slide transitions are lost upon import. However, I was surprised to see that the slides are completely editable.
Garr Reynolds should be proud...
All of this leads up to the ability to share your presentations anywhere you have an internet connection. A published presentation will be assigned a unique URL you can send to others, or you can play the presentation directly from the Google application in a maximized browser window. Furthermore, you can share your presentations with others and collaborate on editing the slides – an especially welcome feature for those times you have to collaborate on a presentation, even if you only use Google Presentations to draft the slides before finalizing them in a dedicated application like Impress or Keynote.
The Limitations
I've already touched on some of this, but these tools are very basic. Don't expect to find automatic builds, slide animations, object paths, clip art, word art, or drawing tools here. If you create your presentation entirely within the Google app, you will be forced to keep things very simple – which might actually be a good thing. While others might bemoan the lack of eye candy in Google Presentations, I think such a Spartan feature set forces users to really think about content and how to present it meaningfully rather than impressively.One of the only real issues I ran into was the lack of support for text builds. If you enter a list onto a slide, then the entire list will appear at once. This is where the Duplicate command comes in useful. To work around this limitation, I created a bullet-filled slide, then duplicated it several times. Next, I deleted the text I did not want on the slides leading up to the entire list, creating the illusion of text builds. This will greatly increase the physical size of your slide deck, but the difference should be transparent to viewers.
notice the expanding list in the slide sorter
The other major limitation comes from the nature of sharing over the internet. Depending on the connection, your slides may hesitate before loading. Also, some design backgrounds may look pixelated when scaled up to higher resolutions, and the browser window will always be present. This can be somewhat alleviated with browsers that feature full-screen modes.
Final Thoughts
One might be left wondering if it's possible to create attractive slides in Google Presentations at all, and that all depends on what you are looking for aesthetically. Simple can be beautiful, and Google Presentations epitomizes simplicity at this point. It's features are extremely basic, but it is functional and provides one more way to have access to your slides in various settings. It may not serve as a primary presentation package, but it excels at being a good backup or a convenient way of collaborating and drafting slides.Let me conclude with one more screenshot and hint.
looking like Keynote
In this deck, each slide merely has an image placed upon it. I took a completed Keynote presentation, exported all of the slides (and builds) as individual images, and then uploaded each image onto its individual slide. Now I have a presentation that is accessible anywhere but still looks like it does when presented from my laptop. Again, thanks to the ability to upload images, you don't have to feel constrained by the limited editing tools provided by Google Presentations.
A few years ago, I would have never dreamed I'd be editing slides in a web browser. Google Presentations, while limited in many ways, is a great backup and collaboration tool, and it is serviceable as a composition application as well. The sparse feature set may be unsettling at first, but you might find yourself getting more work done without the many distractions of PowerPoint. Google Presentations is not a competitor to dedicated slide applications. Rather it is an augmentation to those programs, and it makes for a fine addition to the tool set of any presenter.
Other Perspectives
Other Online Presentation Tools
I discovered these while researching this post and thought I would pass them on. Perhaps I will test these out as well.Like Google, both of these services require you to sign up for a free account.