Mac Lab Report

Appendix 4

Starting a Presentation in AppleWorks

2001.01.04 -

This short appendix is not a tutorial on how to make presentations on the computer, but rather how to get one started in AppleWorks 5. AppleWorks 5 has the ability to take almost any document and turn it into a full-screen, menuless display, but the functions are hidden. There are also some built-in presentation templates and tutorials, but if you're like me (site license with no manual) they're kind of hard to find.

AppleWorks 6 solves most of these problems by making presentations one of the major document type choices when you begin using the program.

When you start AppleWorks, you get the usual splash screen. Instead of picking "Create New Document," pick the radio button for "Use Assistant or Stationery" instead.

To use Stationery pick "All Stationery" from the Category drop down menu, where you can find "Presentation Index" down the list as shown here.

Opening this gives you access to stationery templates for several kinds of presentations which you can then edit.

Alternatively, you could pick the presentation assistant from the Category drop down menu, which gives you a presentation assistant down towards the bottom of the list :

This option walks you through some basic choices about what you want the presentation to look like.

Both options leave you with a partially completed presentation which you must edit slide by slide. The display options for the slide show are limited compared to PowerPoint, and basically consist of Fade and Not Fading.

A couple of other points and then you're on your own. These are based on difficulties my own students have had using AppleWorks for presentations.

Remember, AppleWorks makes presentations by displaying other document types on the screen without a menu. So a database, word processor, drawing or painting can be a slide show.

If you want to make a database presentation, then insert fields on the screen, you can approximate PowerPoint's ability to type an outline and then let the screen layout handle the arrangement of the letters.

If you make a drawing a slide presentation, you will only be able to edit the number of pages using the Document command from the Format menu which includes the number of pages control shown here:

As for the content of the presentation, you're on your own. Happy Presenting!

Jeff Adkins is a science teacher who isn't afraid to state his preferences in computing platforms. In his classroom he has everything from a beige All-in-One to a a G4 XServe, and they all work together nicely. He calls himself the "poster child for technology integration" in the classroom. He was the 2006 Outstanding Educator of the Year for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) organization. He also maintains a site for astronomy teachers at www.AstronomyTeacher.com.

Recent Mac Lab Reports

Microsoft Word 2004 vs. iWork Pages 1.0 for writing a book, 2008.01.10. Microsoft Word is great for technical writing, powerful yet slow, while Pages lets you concentrate on just writing, making it great for novels.
iWeb a great tool for quickly creating an attractive website, 2007.09.11. Apple's iWeb software isn't just easy to use, it also integrates nicely with .mac and other programs in the iLife bundle.
Use your Bluetooth phone to control your Mac? Maybe, 2007.02.27. Salling Clicker software turns many Bluetooth phones into remote controls for Bluetooth-equipped Macs.
More in the Mac Lab Report index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIci, introduced 1989.09.20. The fastest Mac to date, the 25 MHz IIci was a real workhorse and a big hit.
February 12 in LEM history: 99: $4,320 for a 'free' iMac - 01: 10 Commandments of Macintosh - High-end word processing for free - 02: 8 OS X gotchas - Working less with my Mac than with my PC - Microsoft Office v. X - 03: New Zealand's Mac mag - 04: Nothing else is a Mac - 07: On Mighty Toaster Wings - Jobs stirs up DRM hornet's nest - OS X 10.2 best for Classic? - 08: Too much software choice is not a blessing - A month with Windows
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Mac Lab Report copyright © 2000-08 by Jeff Adkins. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay