iWork 2009: A Hands-On Review, Part 2

Keynote, part of Apple's iWork 2009 product suite, lets users create 3-D charts and graphs, which can be edited freely. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)

Dull graphics and bland charts are reasons why slide-show presentations often put an audience to sleep. To address this issue, some professionals try to mix in a more lively tone to compensate or they simply avoid such presentation forms altogether.

Apple’s slide-show presentation program, Keynote, solves this problem. It has the “made for people” air about it that most Mac users love and brings a graphically pleasing splash of life to the often opaque world of video presentations.

What stands out most with this program is the sheer simplicity of it. It places at your fingertips graphical features that even advanced users would have difficulty matching in similar programs.

Adding audio or video to a specific slide is as simple as dragging its file into the workspace. Three-dimensional pie charts and statistics can be made just as easily as their 2-D counterparts—with just a simple click on the Charts icon at the top of the page. Also, transition effects are easy to add between slides.

When stacked up against PowerPoint—Microsoft’s equivalent—Keynote is easily the better buy. It’s easier to use, allows for a more rapid creation of graphically advanced presentations, and it’s even less expensive. Apple’s iWork goes for as little as $60 while Microsoft Office is closer to $200.

Testing Out the Features

Just as with iWork’s Pages and Numbers programs, when you open Keynote you’re brought to the template-chooser screen. Keynote come with 44 premade templates that you can follow as guides to create a variety of presentation types.

Those who are more familiar with the program will quickly discover that they can easily customize these templates and add additional photos, graphics, and text boxes. There is also a blank template option for those who would prefer working from scratch.

The trial version of Keynote comes packed with premade templates that allow even first-time users to create beautiful presentations that rival those of experienced PowerpPoint users. Most professionals should also be satisfied with its more advanced features.

Improving upon last year’s edition of Keynote, the ’09 version adds a few features such as new graphical options, some new templates, and 3-dimensional charts. The new Keynote can also animate bar charts, making them grow slowly to illustrate rising numbers and statistics. There is also a $0.99 application that lets you use an iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote control for your Keynote presentation.

To add photographs, music, or audio, simply drag the selected file onto the Keynote page. From there, you can edit and customize them. You can have a song play throughout the entire presentation or contain it in a single slide, and you can also choose a specific segment of the song to play—such as a favorite guitar riff.

My favorite feature of Keynote is the in-program photo editor. It only offers simple color and light manipulation, yet I was able to quickly correct the lighting in my photos in less than a minute. You can also layer pictures and make them transparent, adding a new sea of potential to scene design.

In a Nutshell

Keynote is a great program that allows for the creation of beautiful presentations that are hard to match. The program is beginner-friendly, and Apple has provided free tutorial videos on its Web site to help introduce users to some of its more complicated features.

One of the downsides to this program is its compatibility. It can save in several file formats, yet when saved in PowerPoint and PDF it loses some of its visual effects. This makes it difficult if you are sharing your Keynote files with PC users, as iWork is only available for Mac.

If you are creating your own presentations or ones that will be shared with other Mac users, then this program is well worth the price.