Keynote for iPad

There are several reasons I bought an iPad.  The primary purpose was for the ability to create and present high-impact presentations on a small compact device.  I bought a laptop affectionately known as "The Beast” (18’ display) and quickly learned that this was not the best mobile laptop for delivering client and school presentations.  I guess that why they called it a desktop replacement.  When I saw the iPad's super clear display and sleek design I said to myself "wow I have found my new mobile presentation on-the-go device!"

After sifting through the use once freeapplications in the App Store I finally downloaded two very useful presentation apps (DocumentsToGo and Apple’s iWork Suite (Keynote & Pages).  Let’s take a look at Keynote in this review.

Creating your presentation

I have learned that if you are going to present from the iPad that it is best to create the presentation on a Desktop or Laptop then tweak and finalize it on the iPad.  At first the tweaking on the iPad may seem to be a daunting task but with a little practice you will soon be creating jaw-dropping Keynote for iPad presentations in no time.  Keynote for iPad has some cool features and is one of the best presentation applications designed for a mobile tablet computer.

Depending on the size of your audience you may need a VGA adapter to connect an external monitor.  Another option that will knock the socks off your audience and fellow iPad users is Conference Pad by regularrateandrythm.com.  Conference Pad allows you to transfer your presentation to other iPad users and control the slide advancement and laser pointer from your iPad.  Conference Pad uses Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to control and transfer your presentation.

Keynote for iPad has 12 standard templates or you can purchase a template from one of the top tier Keynote for iPad template providers on the web (i.e. KeynotePlus.com).  A few standard features include the ability to import and crop photos from your iPad photo library.  Yes, I said crop images on your iPad.  It takes a little effort and it also has some pretty slick photo style options.  Everything from animation, text styles, charts and graphs and a generous offering of fonts.  One of the hardest things to learn was how to insert text (not very obvious) but after a little searching and tweaking I figured it out.

If you have a presentation that you created in PowerPoint you need to save it as a 97/2000/2003 version and remove any drop shadows, background, image or blend effects.  Transparent backgrounds and shadow effects do not transfer over seamlessly so you will need to "dumb-down" your PowerPoint as much as possible.  Keynote for iPad loves images and handles them like a true presentation application should. 

If you are looking to get a head start then use a template website by visiting  KeynotePlus.com.  KeynotePlus.com offers professional business presentations.  You can purchase, download, modify and in front of your client presenting in less than 15 minutes.  We use KeynotePlus.com for our iPad template provider and it saves us a ton of time.

Other cool features include the ability to press and hold an area of your presentation to create a laser pointer on the screen.  The latest version allows you to see the presentation while you present.

The Cons
There are a few cons for Keynote for iPad.  My major criticism is that it takes a bit of effort to learn the basic elements of creating a presentation however; this is to be expected when you transition from a mouse world to a touch display program. Be careful of non-standard fonts you use to create your presentation because they will not transfer to your iPad.  The iPad has limited but generation amount of fonts but does not compare to a PC or Mac.

The verdict
Overall I give Keynote for iPad a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I must mention that I am a PC guy and Microsoft is in my blood however; Apple has done a great job with this particular application.  I would give it a 5 if the application supported Wi-Fi and Bluetooth remote control and transfer as a part of the standard application.

Kevin D. Jones