Keynote vs Powerpoint
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- nylon
OK so quite possibly the most serious post I've done on here.
Ive been a professional designer for 20 years and Im happy to admit that I DO NOT know PowerPoint. It has always been my understanding that most designers DO NOT use Microsoft products.
I have landed a 5 week freelance gig that providing it goes well would turn into a full-time opportunity.
Essentially they are giving me the keys to sort out their brand internally and look to build a creative team from scratch. I believe it is a fantastic opportunity.
A big part of what they want me to do initially is 'sort out' their decks. As I'm sure you can imagine, the previous guy (as would most designers) did everything in InDesign so that he could make it look as good as possible and of course, supply a top notch PDF.
As you know, this is great BUT the client then cannot edit it as they don't know Adobe products. They want to be able to edit their files themselves.
So, I am faced with the issue, do I learn PowerPoint or do I convince the entire company that they are going to use Keynote going forward.
Just my opinion but Keynote is so much easier and will more than be good enough for them.
Just kind of shitting myself about telling them THOU SHALL NOT USE PP again and we are going to Keynote seeing as you all have macs...
What are your feelings about PP vs Keynote and vice versa?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated...
- kgvs720
Powerpoint and OneDrive is a plus. There's Office for Windows, Mac, and other types of the devices, even online so that's a plus too. Keynote is pretty decent too, but cloud access regardless of device is giving Office an advantage
- utopian3
Keynote is so much better than Powerpoint on so many levels...Everything from the initial document set-up, visual transitions, animations, font control (kerning, leading, typeface usage, etc), exporting to print ready PDF files, as well as teaching others how to use it. I create at least 1 to 2 proposals a week using Keynote and we are now even building brand guidelines instead of using Adobe InDesign because it is so much faster and easier to use.
- agreed the UI alone on PPT is a freakin disaster and keynote feels simple yet powerful.Boz
- cannonball19781
Powerpoint is for out of touch suits
- Continuity2
Keynote is great. It's got the simplicity of use of Pages, and the output looks far more polished than PPT's.
Unfortunately, the overhwleming majority of companies use PPT. So, whilst your own client may be happy and willing to switch to Keynote, if they need to send a presentation to *their* clients, those people will undoubtedly want it as a PPT file.
(That said, anyone who sends a client a presentation in its native open format — Keynote or PowerPoint — is really just asking for trouble. Presentations should be forwarded to clients as PDFs. Sadly, many clients don't respect this.)
- Daithi2
Had this issue before myself. My experience is that there will always be someone on the client side who won't or can't part from Powerpoint. The rising cost of Apple hardware is a related issue, as it can mean that you're asking a client to be wed to that ecosystem indefinitely.
On the positive side... the export to Powerpoint feature in Keynote has gotten way better than it once was. So you can square off large parts of layout etc in Keynote before moving to Powerpoint to resolve as templates etc.
- Hayzilla2
Keynote is better but it's easier for one person (you) to learn PPT than an entire company to learn Keynote. Believe me, there will be issues with freelancers, accountants, project managers etc. not having/wanting to have keynote and not interested in learning.
I'm so similar to you in terms of experience and being shit at powerpoint. Especially setting up 'templates' that even the receptionist or cleaner can use. Good luck.
- aslip0
Our agency is constantly handling presentations and PPT files for clients. I've grappled with this same scenario. Over the years, I've found that Keynote is the way to go when it comes to any designers editing or enhancing deck files. If you have the opportunity to push mac-using clients into Keynote, then by all means, to it. If not, then exporting to PPT for their use is the next best thing. The only thing will be the added step of opening the edited file and proofing in PPT yourself before you send. I do this at the end and am still way more timely and efficient that if I were to work in PPT the whole time. Note: Make sure to keep your transitions and effects dumbed-down for PPT to translate into their canned effects. Best of luck!
- nbq1
I love Keynote, but for corporate, sales, and internal needs, PPt is your best bet since most people who need to edit and move slides from one presentation to another already use PPT and are on PC...
I know PPT's UI sucks but you can make pretty neat animations by combining animations and transitions. I use the slide master to create templates that contains animations for the titles and backgrounds. I also make sure people don't move things around or change too much things... as much as possible. But, they always end up breaking things anyways :S
- exador11
Nylon. learning powerpoint is as easy as falling off a log. It's dead simple.
You're right about coworkers needing the ability to edit. that's crucial. handing them a 'finished product' isn't going to win you any points, as most suits want the ability to tinker with the text etc.
learn the tool. it's super easy to learn. and honestly, it's not that bad for doing presentations.
ultimately, what you'll need to do is create a huge template file, with multiple 'example' versions of different pages etc...
you'll also need to set up the file with all the fonts sizes, H1 H2 blah blah...You can easily 'kick-start' the process by finding something you like on graphicriver.com or something like that... that's a pretty simple way to go about it... then tinker and tailor it to your purposes, or you can start one from scratch...or find a free one online and start from there.... there's plenty of free one's you can find etc...
anyhow just go with Powerpoint... if you crack it open this evening, and spend a few hours fucking around, I guarantee you'll see a) how easy it is and b) start to imagine all the things you can do with it etc...
- Yep. Working with other people's ppts can be truly horrible but if you get to make and brand some templates, not the end of the worldFax_Benson
- Is there even a tutorial to do this? "you'll also need to set up the file with all the fonts sizes, H1 H2 blah blah..."nylon