[OS X TeX] preferred tool for presentations

[Christopher Menzel]

> Christopher Menzel wrote:
>>> If you want to move away from tex-based tools, you may try  
>>> Keynote. You can import latex math very easily by cut-and-paste  
>>> from a pdf file.
>>
>> I'm surprised no one has recommended this yet.  Keynote is cheap,  
>> exceedingly easy to use, and makes terrific presentations.
>
> [ . . . snip . . . ]
>
> Keynote is preferable to PP, because it produces more beautiful  
> presentations, and its transitions are smoother and prettier. I  
> think it is also simpler to use, particularly for the Mac user.
>
> Nonetheless, I think that Beamer produces superior presentations,  
> because you can fit more on a page more clearly. With Keynote, as  
> with PP, I find myself compressing what I have to say into short  
> phrases, so that they fit on the Keynote slide. Like PP, Keynote  
> automatically formats the size for you, starting with a pretty big  
> size. Beamer lays out the page better, so you can fit more onto the  
> slide.
>
> I think that this is what Tufte says you shouldn't do, "dumb down"  
> your presentation because of the presentation software. As much as  
> partisanship toward Apple makes me want to say that this doesn't  
> happen with Keynote, I feel that I am forced to sacrifice content  
> for form with it. Perhaps someone else would do better.
>
> My $0.02 . . .

And thus together we demonstrate that choice of software is a matter  
of individual needs and sensibilities! :-)

Re fitting more on the slide -- I find that, after highlighting  
everything on a slide with Cmd-a,  Cmd-<hyphen>/Cmd-+ give you very  
nice fine-grained control over text size.  All fonts on the slide are  
adjusted proportionally in fine increments, letting you depart  
quickly and easily from the initial defaults (which of course are  
themselves adjustable).

Cheers!

-chris



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