Parts of the main Impress window

Parts of the main Impress window

The main Impress window (Figure 8.13) has three parts: the Slides pane, the Workspace and the Task pane. Additionally, several toolbars can be displayed or hidden during the creation of a presentation.

1. Slides pane

·           The Slides pane contains thumbnail picturesoftheslidesinyourpresentation, in the order of our insertion of slides.

·           Clicking a slide in this pane selects it and places it in the Workspace. While it is there, you can apply any changes that are desired to that particular slide.

Several additional operations can be performed on one or more slides in the Slides pane:

·           Add new slides at any place within the presentation after the first slide.

·           Mark a slide as hidden so that it will not be shown as part of the slide show.

·            Delete a slide from the presentation if it is no longer needed.

·           Rename a slide.

·           Copy or move the contents of one slide to another (copy and paste, or cut and paste, respectively).

It is also possible to perform the following operations, other than using the Slides pane.

·           Change the slide transition following the selected slide or after each slide in a group of slides.

·           Change the sequence of slides in the presentation.

• Change the slide design. (A window opens allowing you to load your own design.)

• Change slide layout for a group of slides simultaneously. (This requires using the Layouts section of the Tasks pane.)

2. Tasks pane

The Tasks pane has five sections:

2.1. Master Pages

You define the page style for your presentation using Master Pages. Impress contains pre-packaged Master Pages (slide masters). One of them by default is blank, and the rest have a specific background. (Figure 8.14)

2.2. Layout

Pre-packaged layouts are shown. You can choose the one that you want, use it as it is or modify it to suit your own requirements. At present, it is not possible to create custom layouts. (Figure 8.15).

2.3. Table Design

Standard table styles are provided in this pane. You can further modify the appearance of a table with the selections to show or hide specific rows and columns, or to apply a banded appearance to the rows and columns. (Figure 8.16)

2.4. Custom Animation

A variety of animations for selected elements of a slide are listed here. Animation can be added to selected elements of a slide and it can also be changed or removed later. (Figure 8.17).

2.5. Slide Transition

Transitions are available, including No Transition. You can select the transition speed (slow, medium, fast). You can also choose between an automatic or manual transition, and how long you want the selected slide to be shown (automatic transition only). (Figure 8.18).