Creating a PDF slideshow

The creation of PDF slideshows takes PagePlus’s PDF publishing a step further. While a PDF file shows the exact replication of your original project for electronic distribution or printing, the PDF slideshow feature does the same, but with the intention of creating automated multimedia presentations. These can be shared by email and viewed without the need for special presentation software.

PagePlus pdfslideshow Creating a PDF slideshow

The main features of PDF slideshow include:

  • Advance of each slide manually or automatically.

  • Creation of multi-section slides from individual PagePlus pages.

  • Use of slide-specific layer control (switch layers on or off).

  • Freedom to reorder your slideshow.

  • Apply slide-specific transition effects.

  • Control of slide duration.

  • Play a soundtrack for single slides or for the entire slideshow.

To publish a slideshow:

  1. Select Publish as PDF Slideshow… from the File menu.

  2. In the dialog, on the General tab, choose a default Transition type for all slides, e.g. Blinds, Wipe, or Dissolve. An individual slide can override this setting with its own transition setting.

  3. Check Manual Advance if you don’t want your slideshow to display slides one by one automatically—slides will be progressed manually by mouse-click or by pressing the space bar. For automatic slideshows, choose a Duration, i.e. the number of seconds each slide will remain on screen.

  4. Uncheck Preview PDF file if you don’t want to see a slideshow preview in your PDF reader immediately after publishing.

  5. When your slideshow reaches the last page you can Loop slideshow continuously or Return to normal view to exit the slideshow.

  6. In the Compatibility field, select a version of Adobe Reader. You’ll get best results by using the latest version, but if your intended audience is unlikely to have the latest Reader software, you may opt for an earlier version.

  7. For accompanying music, in the Media box, click the Open button to navigate to and select an audio file (WAV, MP3 and AIFF files supported).

  8. Set a percentage Scale.

  9. Select from the Publish profile drop-down list to choose a preset publishing profile. You can modify a selected profile to create custom profile settings using Save As….

  10. For multi-section slides, from the Slides tab, duplicate or copy a selected slide with the Insert or Copy button, respectively. Delete a slide if needed, or rearrange the playback order of existing slides with the Up or Down buttons. For more information, see Multi-section slides.

  11. The Compression, Security and Advanced tabs are as described in Exporting PDF files, and should be set accordingly. For most slideshows, the Compression tab’s Downsample Image option should be checked and set to 96dpi (suitable for on-screen display).

  12. Click OK. In the dialog, save your named PDF file to a chosen location. If Preview PDF file in Acrobat was checked, your slideshow will start to run automatically.

Multi-section slides

One strength of the slideshow feature comes from the ability to make “multi-section” slide variants based on a single PagePlus page (this is done using page layers). Multi-section slides allow you to build up an image in sections; display multiple images and text objects sequentially on the same page; show and hide page elements; and so on. Simply create slides based on the original page then edit them by switching on/off specific layers to create unique slides. A few examples…

  • Create time-delayed bulleted lists—great for mouse- or pointer-driven presentations.

  • Introduce artistic elements to your page over time.

  • Change photos over time.

PagePlus pdfslideshow bulleted Creating a PDF slideshow

To create multi-section slides:

  1. In the Slides tab of the Publish PDF Slideshow dialog, choose a page from which you want to create a slide and click the Insert or Copy button. The former inserts a chosen slide above the currently selected slide as a copy; the latter simply places a copy above a selected slide.

  2. Select the new slide and click the Properties button.

  3. Set a slide-specific Transition and Duration (in seconds) from the drop-down menus.

  4. Uncheck any layers which you don’t want to be part of the slide to make it distinct from other slides.

  5. Click the PagePlus pdf slideshow2 Creating a PDF slideshow browse button and then browse to and select a Media file, which will play while the slide is displayed. For the slide’s duration, this will override any default media file set up to play throughout your slideshow.

  6. Repeat the insert, copy, and layer control for another slide, building up your multi-section slide arrangement.

  7. To undo the slide properties settings (reset the content of your slideshow so that there is only one slide per page), click the Reset button on the Slides tab.

Creating a PDF slideshow