Presentation Tools

If you need to put together a professional-looking visual portfolio of your photos, drawings or visual layouts, here is a collection I have put together for my own use, pointing to the very best tools and services available online to do this.

While most of these image portfolio builders are free, many have Pro paid options that allow to further improve the presentation, the number of images shown and their quality, as well as the ability to share, export or import images from other sources.

Free to use.

Collection of online image portfolio builders:

http://pinterest.com/robingood/best-visual-portfolio-website-builders-2013/

If you are looking for an online image editor, with which to resize, crop, add filters or effects to your images here is my collection of the best free web services you can find out there.

The list includes:

• BeFunky
• Ribbet
• PicFull
• Fotor
• Photoshop Express
• Photozoe
• Spashup
• Picmonkey
• Citrify
• iPiccy
• Fotoflexer

Full list: http://pinterest.com/robingood/best-free-online-image-and-photo-editors-2013/

Fotor is a great web-based image editor that is particularly talented at creating photo-montages, image strips and boards, photo cards and other similar image compositions.

The beauty of it is that Fotor connects directly to your Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Instagram photo accounts, giving you the opportunity to easily find, drag and position your ideal images on the canvas. You can also upload images from your computer and easily crop, rotate or resize it.

Fotor also allows to overlay and position any text messages on your final composition allowin you to create those effective "social flags" for your online fans.

Fotor saves in JPG or PNG format and can post or upload directly your compositions to anyone of your connected social media accounts.

My comment: Excellent image editor for creating image compositions and photo montages. Lots of features and options. Easy to use.

Free to use.

Try it out now: http://www.fotor.com/

Polychart is a web-based app which allows you to connect to your database data (MySQL, SalesForce, PostgreSQL, InfoBright) and to generate professional-looking charts and graphs that can be edited interactively and that can be extensively customized.

As far as source data is concerned, you can connect to any online MySQL, Salesforce, InfoBright or PostgreSQL database repository and connect directly to the existing data.

Once you have connected your database you can select which fields you want to be visualized and you can customize the type of chart (bar, line, scatter, area, tile and spline) and the individual elements that make it up.

Your final chart visualization can be easily exported to a PDF, PowerPoint, vector (.SVG) or image (.PNG) file.

Free to use.

Find out more: https://www.polychart.com/

Emaze is a new web-based HTML5 presentation builder, that makes it extremely easy for anyone to create effective presentations that can be viewed across different types of screens and devices. Emaze presentations can also be downloaded and played offline as well be embedded on any web site or blog.

Emaze provides a set of ready-made templates that include sample text and images as to make easiest for the user to edit and replace these with its own custom text and images. Emaze supports also the integration of video clips, the creation of different sections within a presentation and the option to make a slideset private or public depending on needs.

My comment: In the same family as Slid.es and several others, emaze is a great and very promising web-based HTML5 presentation tool.

Easy to use, it sports a clean and simple interface. All operations are intuitive and commands easy to find, though in general many icons-buttons are a bit to small for my taste.

The basic templates are good, above average, but here it is where I would expect additional improvements as these can really make a difference in the usefulness of the whole tool.

Free to use.

Try it out now: http://emaze.com/

Sample presentations:

http://app.emaze.com/24/Getting%20more%20users

http://app.emaze.com/5268/Home%20Made%20Marmalade

MagPointer is a downloadable Windows PC software which provides a set of highlighting tools to support the delivery of a PowerPoint presentation.

MagPointer leverages in-depth PowerPoint traits and characteristics, enabling the user to highlight and manipulate easily objects inside any slide.

The toolset includes:

• Selecting and enlarging a specific slide object
• Creating frames around specific elements present on a slide
• Laser pointer
• Zooming tool
• Dimming screen outside of the highlighted area
• Magnify and freeze
• Element Highlighting tool

MagPointer auto-activates itself when you are in PowerPoint slideshow mode and it appears on the right side of the screen as a vertical toolbar.

It can be used only in conjunction with PowerPoint.

My comment: Very useful tool for presenter and effective feature set. The integrated features and tools are very useful but when MagPointer is active I dislike seeing subtle grey areas appear under every object in a slide. Usability leaves something to be desired especially when it comes to the vertical toolbar and cursor-contextual menu. Could prove very useful and handy for certain trainers/educators who find themselevs at ease with this small downsides.

Free trial version available: http://www.magpointer.com

(padi version $19.95)

Download: http://www.magpointer.com/download.html

Get started: http://www.magpointer.com/getting-started.html

User Guide: http://www.magpointer.com/uploads/1/2/1/2/12121421/magpointer_user_guide.pdf

Buy: http://www.magpointer.com/buy.html

If you need to rapidly add some notes, text, highlights or arrows to a screenshot or a photo, there is no better and easier free tool that I know of than Evernote Skitch.

The newly released version 2.5 introduces full PDF annotation capabilities, and a great set of superuseful "visual stamps", that further enhance Skitch fast and elegant markup capabilities. 

At its core Skitch is a super-handy image capture and editing utility that allows you to resize, crop, and add unique annotations and highlights to any image while allowing you to save and export in all major image file formats.

Skitch fully integrates with Evernote allowing you to automatically save all of your annotated images into one or more dedicated "notebooks".

Free to download and use.

More info: http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2013/04/18/the-new-skitch-for-mac-and-ios-the-fastest-friendliest-way-to-give-feedback-on-pdfs/

Video intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XE325A4RvQc

iTunes info: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skitch/id425955336?mt=12

Official site: Try it out: http://evernote.com/skitch/

Downloads:

• iOS download: http://appstore.com/skitch/skitch/
  
  
• Windows download: http://evernote.com/download/get.php?file=SkitchWindows
  
  
• Windows 8 (touch): http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/skitch/95a8df2f-f779-4034-a995-82d8e723b246
  
  
• Mac: http://evernote.com/download/get.php?file=SkitchMac
  
  
• Android download: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.evernote.skitch

Vizalizer is a web app which allows you to create professional-looking graphs and charts out of your own data.

From standard bar graphs to 3D pies, Vizalizer offers already 18 types of graphs you can create by simply a) selecting a ready-made template and b) editing the data inside via a simple dialog box.

The final graph created can be easily exported and downloaded as a high-quality PDF.

Excellent tool to show your data in simple but elegant and effective ways, especially when you want to slice and dice the same data-set in different ways.

Free plan available. It includes 10 charts per month, some ads, Vizalizer logo and no PDF downloading feature. The Pro plan starts at $9.99/mo for unlimited charts, no logo, and PDF download.

Try it out now: http://vizalizer.co/

Pricing: http://vizalizer.co/pricing/

To see the different types of charts available scroll down to the bottom of this page: http://vizalizer.co/index/

ClippingMagic is a great free web app which allows you to easily remove background information from any image by simply highlighting the "type" of areas that need to be preserved from those that need to be "cut out".

The tool allows you to import your selected image and to utilize two variable size brushes to identify with red and green colors the areas of the image that need to be cut out rather than preserved. Once done the basic stroking of the image you also have more advanced automatic tools, inside the Refine menu, to further improve the outline smoothness, aliasing and offset. You can also determine whether to leave the background transparent or to apply a specific color before saving your silhouette.

Excellent. Highly recommended.

Free to use.

Try it out now: http://clippingmagic.com/

If I were to recommend an online image/photo editor, that is fast, flexible and that provides all of the tools and features I generally need, I wouldn't hesitate a second in recommending Pixlr.

Not only this free web-based image editor is zippy and responsive as it can get, but it offers three alternative "versions" depending on your needs and skill level.

1) The Open Pixlr Express is the one I use the most, as it offers all of the basic functionalities I generally need, such as cropping, resizing, converting and basic retouching.

2) The Open Pixlr Editor is the advanced version which integrates all of the photo retouching tools you may need, as well as image layers, filters and more.

3) For non-technical people, kids and novices the Open Pixlr-o-Matic offers a perfect solution by integrating all of the key basic functions in an attractive and much simplified interface.

There is also a free mobile version both for Android and one for iPhone/iPad.

Free to use. No regsitration required.

Try it out now: http://pixlr.com/

Related tools: Picmonkey

TotSplash is a web-based presentation app which allows anyone to easily create visual presentations without needing to install or download any software, by simply working on a mindmap into whose nodes simple texts, images and video clips can be added.

This allows authors to focus more on the key content essence ideas of their presentation first, and to let the delivery and visual aspects to be taken care of by the TotSplash app.

A completed TotSplash presentation can be displayed in one of three possible modes:

a) Smooth - converts your ideas into a Prezi-like presentation, with zooming and rotating effects, complete with an overview

b) Popup Deck - presents each node as a Popup Slide and allows your audience to follow through your presentation with meaningful breadcrumbs, like a deck of cards

c) Pan and Zoom - presents directly from the Tot canvas view, by slowly zooming in to focus from one node to the next

TotSplash presentations can also be shared on social media and can be fully embedded on any web site.

A paid account costs $5.75/mo (billed annually) and it provides 100MB of storage space and unlimited presentations.

Free basic plan available.

My comment: Interesting tool, it is indeed very easy to use and to get started. Not intuitive how to bring in images and video unless you read the help. Too tight a free version to get traction, too expensive the paid one given the number of free alternatives.

The mindmap approach to outline and deliver the presentation and the option to choose among different delivery style are key new trends that will be increasingly adopted and improved by other web presentation tools.

More info: http://www.totsplash.com/

Pricing: http://www.totsplash.com/pricing

Help: http://www.totsplash.com/help

Freepik is a search engine dedicated to find, index and make available good quality images, photos, vector illustrations and clipart and PSD files.

Having given a few tries to Freepik, I can confirm that there are plenty of good, free images that this search engine will find for you in a matter of instants.

Here is for example the results that you get if you look for some cool, professional ribbons: http://www.freepik.com/index.php?goto=2&searchform=1&k=ribbon

Free to use.

Try it out now: http://www.freepik.com/

Latest arrivals: http://www.freepik.com/new

Popular files: http://www.freepik.com/popular-vectors

Fotor is a free cross-platform image editing tool and web app which makes it easy for everyone to crop, resize, filter or optimize any image without needing advanced skills or an expensive piece of software.

Key features include an easy-to-use gallery of over 60 image filter effects, ability to control contrast, brightness, manually controllable tilt-shift effect, borders, backgrounds, clipart, instagram-like presets, and full file export support for JPG, PNG, BMP and TIF formats.

The interface is excellent, intuitive, easy to understand and use even after a few seconds of use, and the app, both on the web as well as in its dedicated OS versions is very responsive to every action and commnd applied.

The collage making facility is excellent and provides a good selection of ready-made collage layouts which can be further adjusted and personalized.

Fotor is available both as a web-based app, immediately accessible here: http://www.fotor.com/ as well as a free download app for Windows 8, Mac OS X, iOS and Android.

Free to use.

Try it out now: http://www.fotor.com/

Downloads:

• Windows: http://www.fotor.com/windows8/index.html

• Windows: http://www.fotor.com/desktop/index.html

• Mac: http://www.fotor.com/desktop/index.html

• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.everimaging.photoeffectstudio&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5ldmVyaW1hZ2luZy5waG90b2VmZmVjdHN0dWRpbyJd

• iOS: http://www.fotor.com/iphone/index.htm

Slideshark is a free mobile app which allows you to show and broadcast PowerPoint presentations to anyone across the desk or around the world while providing you with tens of useful features. PPT presentations maintain all of their original look, fonts, graphics, animations and links.

Slideshark is a great tool for any professional presenter, who travels, moves from conference to conference but needs to have always access to all of its presentations in a reliable fashion. Additionally Slideshark makes your iPhone/iPad/iPod act as super-efficient remote controller and preview unit for your slide, giving you the possibility to deliver and control your presentations directly from your iPhone or iPad.

Key features included in version 3:

• Broadcast Slides over the Web
• Slide Annotation
• Laser Pointer in iPhone
• Import Files from SkyDrive, Syncplicity & Google Drive, Box & DropBox
• Support for .wmv sound effects (PPT 2010)
• Remote Control via iPhone/iPod of the presentation
• Support for embedded video
• Pinch to "zoom in" on slides on iPhone or iPod touch
• Support for projector or TV (iPhone 4 and later)
• Access presentations from multiple iOS devices
• Support for streaming to a projector/monitor via Apple AirPlay
• View slide notes
• Slide and presentation timers
• Animation counter
• See previous and next slides
• Hide or re-order slides
• Share presentations online for on-demand viewing
• Share via email and social media
• User & permission management
• Usage reporting and analytics
• Auto-advance slides and "looping mode"

  
There are two versions of SlideShark available: a Individual Free version that is completely free and which offers up to 100MB of storage space or a Slideshark Plus version which includes 500MB of space and costs $49/year.

For businesses there is SlideShark Pro version which costs $95/year (less than $10/mo) and it provides 1GB of presentation space for one user. The Team Edition, which costs $149/year offers access to unlimited team members and 5GB of storage space.

Pricing info: https://www.slideshark.com/Products/Compare-Products.aspx

Find out more: https://www.slideshark.com/

Download free mobile app here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/slideshark-view-share-presentations/id471369684?mt=8

(Thanks to Baiba Svenca for reporting on this new release)