Keynote for iPad and PowerPoint

When I was recently given an iPad 2, I was keen to see how well it might function as a presentation device. I give a lot of presentations and training courses where all the content is currently based in Microsoft PowerPoint. So I wanted to see whether an iPad could substitute for my laptop.

The first task was to install Keynote. For just $9.99 or £4.99, there is certainly no need to worry about justifying the cost!

Then I needed to try opening a PowerPoint presentation in Keynote. The first step is to get the file onto the iPad.  There are a number of ways to do this.



Import

I tried iTunes. With the iPad attached, select the iPad under devices and then the Apps tab. Under 'File Sharing' select Keynote and you can then add files from your computer. Simple enough.

I also tried Dropbox. Again this is straightforward to add presentations to your Dropbox for subsequent download to the iPad.

Dropbox is useful in that it doesn't require a connection to the computing running iTunes and so can be used on the go. An alternative would be to email the presentations to yourself. iCloud of course will be another option.

The next step is then to open these files using Keynote on the iPad. Again this is straightforward. Touch 'Presentations', and then the + to create a new presentation. Touching the 'copy from iTunes' button...

... brings up the list of files just synched.

A presentation is then imported when the file is selected.
You may find a list of 'Presentation Import Warnings' comes up if there is anything it cannot convert. For example the iPad may not have the same fonts that were used to build the presentation

Using Dropbox is again straightforward. Open Dropbox on the iPad and a list of your files should appear. Select a presentation and then it can be opened in Keynote.

The same dialog as with iTunes and any similar warnings then follow.

I did have a couple of graphic glitches such as lines appearing with arrows where there was no arrow in the PowerPoint version.

I also got a warning "build order has been changed" on import, but I didn't actually spot where in my slide builds and animations that happened...

Otherwise, it worked well.

Presenting
When the iPad is connected to an external monitor or projector a number of layout options are provided that allow the iPad to show a different view to the presenter than to the audience. This includes showing the next slide, or the current and next as shown below, or the current and (scrollable) speaker notes. This was introduced in Keynote 1.2.  It also shows a clock to the presenter which can be a useful device.

Export
Exporting a presentation back to another computer is the reverse of the above, except you cannot export a file back to Dropbox. So Dropbox is a one-way ticket unfortunately. iTunes works fine if you are connected to a computer, but if not then iWork would be an alternative.

If you send to iTunes, a dialog appears asking for the file format to export - Keynote, PDF, or PowerPoint

If you share via iWork, then a dialog appears asking who you want to send the presentation to. (so simply send it to yourself)

Touching 'sharing options' allows the various download formats to be selected, and to password protect the file is required.

The recipient then follows the link in the resulting email and they can then download the presentation in the format required

And that is it really. Overall a straightforward process.
I look forward to trying it in anger in a customer-facing situation.