:date: 2012-07-30 10:03

.. index:: tech, linux, presentations

PDF presentations with impressive
=================================

.. image:: http://impressive.sourceforge.net/logo.png
   :alt: Impressive Logo
   :align: right

Finally a useful application: Simple and does what it's supposed to do and nothing more: `Impressive <http://impressive.sourceforge.net/>`__

If you went through the other articles (:ref:`2012-pdfjam`, :ref:`2012-scribes_and_markdown`) you might end up with the question of how to present your PDF. Personally I wasn't in the situation that I needed to present a PDF file (I don't do that very often, unfortunately). Beside `deck.js` (which you could use), a similar but still different approach offers `Impressive <http://impressive.sourceforge.net/>`__

While `deck.js` puts your presentation in a HTML format and makes it available online if you want, `Impressive` just takes your PDF file, uses its content and creates a presentable show around it. And beside that it gives you the tools to interact with your slides, like

* Zoom in and out.
* Highlight certain elements, paragraphs, etc.
* Highlight the area around the pointer and resize the area on the fly.
* Access the overview screen and jump directly to the page you're looking for.

.. image:: http://impressive.sourceforge.net/spotlite.png
   :alt: Spotlight feature
   :align: center

You should also take the time to read the `man-Page <http://impressive.sourceforge.net/manual.php#cli>`__ for the application. There's more to discover....much more.