iWork 05: The Missing Manual

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 projected by a slide projector, overhead display, or computer connected to a video projector, slideshows derive their power from their simplicity. By displaying a single static image at a time, slideshows present information simply and clearlyand often with more impact than you could achieve with a moving picture.

Keynote lets you create very basic, simple slidesfor example, just words on a plain background or a single pictureor carefully designed slides containing photographs, animation, or even movies and sound. If you haven't already done so, you can get a good idea of Keynote's abilities by launching the program and choosing Help iWork Tour. (The Tour shows off Pages and Keynote's features, and is educational in another sense as well: press the Escape key while it's playing to get back to Keynote's editing window, where you can glimpse how it was created. Press the toolbar's Play button to continue playing the presentation.)

Whether you opt for simple or fancy, the basic idea is to 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.