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Microsoft PowerPoint vs Other Presentation Tools: Which is Right for You?

In today’s digital age, presentations have become an integral part of business communication. Whether it’s a sales pitch, a training session, or a conference talk, having the right tools to create and deliver impactful presentations is crucial. One of the most popular presentation software options is Microsoft PowerPoint. However, there are also other presentation tools available in the market that offer similar features and functionalities. In this article, we will compare Microsoft PowerPoint with other presentation tools to help you determine which one is right for you.

Features and Functionality

When it comes to features and functionality, Microsoft PowerPoint sets the benchmark for presentation software. It offers a wide range of design templates, animations, transitions, and multimedia integration options. With PowerPoint’s intuitive interface, users can easily create professional-looking slideshows without any prior design experience.

On the other hand, there are alternative presentation tools like Google Slides and Apple Keynote that offer similar features with their own unique advantages. Google Slides allows real-time collaboration among multiple users and seamless integration with other Google apps such as Docs and Sheets. Apple Keynote provides stunning visual effects and smooth animation capabilities that are unmatched by any other software.

Compatibility and Accessibility

Microsoft PowerPoint has long been the industry standard for creating presentations, making it highly compatible with various operating systems including Windows and Mac OS. It also offers mobile versions for iOS and Android devices, ensuring accessibility on-the-go.

In comparison, Google Slides is entirely web-based which means you can access your presentations from any device with an internet connection. This cloud-based approach makes it easy to collaborate with team members remotely without worrying about compatibility issues or version control.

Apple Keynote is exclusively available for Mac OS devices but offers seamless integration across Apple’s ecosystem including iPhones and iPads. If you’re already using Apple products in your workflow, Keynote might be the ideal choice for you.

Pricing and Affordability

Microsoft PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft Office Suite, which means it comes bundled with other productivity tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook. You can purchase a standalone license or subscribe to Microsoft 365 for a monthly or annual fee. While this provides access to all Microsoft Office applications, it might be more expensive if you only need presentation software.

Google Slides, on the other hand, is completely free for personal use and offers affordable pricing plans for businesses through Google Workspace. Apple Keynote is free for all Mac users and comes pre-installed on new Apple devices.

User Experience and Learning Curve

Microsoft PowerPoint has been around for decades, making it widely known and used by professionals across different industries. Its user-friendly interface and extensive online resources make it relatively easy to learn and master. However, some advanced features may require additional training or experience.

Google Slides has a similar user interface to PowerPoint, which makes it easy to adapt if you’re already familiar with PowerPoint. It also offers helpful collaboration tools that enhance the overall user experience.

Apple Keynote provides a seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem with its intuitive design and user-friendly interface. If you’re already accustomed to using Apple products, Keynote will feel natural from the start.

When choosing between Microsoft PowerPoint and other presentation tools like Google Slides or Apple Keynote, consider your specific needs in terms of features, compatibility, pricing, and user experience. If you value extensive design options and compatibility across multiple platforms, Microsoft PowerPoint might be the right choice for you. On the other hand, if collaboration features or affordability are your priorities, Google Slides or Apple Keynote might better suit your needs. Ultimately, it’s important to choose a presentation tool that aligns with your goals and helps you deliver engaging presentations that captivate your audience.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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Top 10 Best Presentation Software For Linux Desktop

Presentation always plays a vital role in decision making and in closing any kind of deal. It provides graphical descriptions and clears the situation. In ancient times, we used papers for presentation. With the revolution of our modern technology, we shifted to screens from the papers and developed a lot of tools for making our work easy. If any company’s core system in Linux, then they should go through the whole post and find out the best presentation software for Linux.

Our world has many types of operating systems for our personal computers and laptops. Among them, Linux is one of the most popular ones because it’s free and has a lot of open-source tools. With that, a user can customize his/her’s operating system at his/ her will. But getting the right presentation software for Linux distributions can be quite tough. Don’t fear, and we will discuss the presentation software in our content today. I hope you will get the right match for your work.

Best Linux Presentation Software

If you are an MD or CEO or Human resource manager of a company, you probably interviewed the recruits who will handle your company’s presentation-related stuff. The first question from the technical side might be about asking them about the software they know or can work with.

It can provide an understanding between you and them about the capabilities of yours and your uses. Knowing about the features of this software might help you choose a suitable candidate and the best presentation software of Linux for the work.

1. LibreOffice Impress

Regular Linux users often heard the name of this software. Most of the developer calls it the Microsoft office of Linux. Although it’s as powerful as Microsoft Office Suite, it costs us nothing. It’s fully free software, and who switched his/ her operating system from Windows to Linux , they will find it the interface of this software mostly known. It should be in your no.1 priority list if you are searching for presentation software for Linux.

Features of LibreOffice Impress

• Dragging and dropping is a handy feature while using software where a lot of media files are needed to upload simultaneously.
• Vector graphics give the user an edge if he wants to give a presentation on printed paper or if he needs to zoom file in between the works.
• Its dynamic effects, including transaction and animation effects, can make your presentation way better. 
• Presentations might be needed to be published on different platforms for better understanding. It can publish documents on-screen or as an HTML document, making your experience of spreading your creation in different platforms easy and less critical. 
• Handout copies are not so important in the corporate world, but if the marketers want to seek the attention of the general public, then it’s a must. It can make handout copies, which is so useful in these situations.

Get LibreOffice Impress

2. Linux WPS Office

Tensed about the condition of your computer? It has gotten old, and heavy software isn’t meeting its requirements, but you have to give a presentation the next day. Then don’t worry. Linux WPS Office can help you in this situation. It’s quite popular in android platforms, but the Linux version of it’s quite light and has a ton of features that can make your working experience on old computers too smooth.

Features of WPS office

• The size of the whole software is too light. So, it will be easy to install in low-powered systems. 
• Templates make the work easy and can provide an idea about your work. It has tons of free and paid templates that can help you in creating awesome presentations. 
• If the user shifts from Linux to any other operating system or might need to edit a few things on the go, then cross-platform features might help the user a lot.
• The world is full of languages, and presentation is a way to communicate. If you are working for a multinational company, then you might need to work with different languages, but most of the software doesn’t support multiple languages. But this software supports 8 languages.
• Few effects are essential in every step, and a creative director will use them on a daily basis. It has every kind of necessary effect. 

Get WPS Office

3. Latex Beamer  

Latex Beamer as known as beamer is Latex-based presentation software. For those who want to make presentations in any latex format, it can be an excellent option. Its latex structures make the PowerPoint-style presentation. It will be the best presentation software for Linux if you often deal with Latex.

Features of Linux Beamer

• Predefined looks can assist a creative director in making a healthy habit of remembering stuff clearly, and use them punctually.  It has predefined styles and looks that can help you in the same way. 
• For working on this, no external program is needed and supports the AMS math package. 
• Hypertext support is an essential thing if you want to work or are working with it. You will get this feature in this Beamer. 
• Capabilities of creating overlays, handouts are always an added advantage, and this software has this advantage.
• Alerts, Itemizations are handled in a structured way.

Get Latex Beamer

4. Calligra Stage  

It’s a part of KDE’s suite as known as Kpresenter. It’s not featureful software, but if you want to do your work in a simple interface, then it can be a good option. Although, lack of features might make you unhappy. So, before using it, know your needs.

Features of Calligra Stage

• Generating files with ODP/ ODF extension is a different but useful feature. For the creators who need this feature, this software is a must. 
•  Navigation and organization bars can make the working experience smooth and faster. This feature can give you an advantage if you are writing a whole book.  
• The presentation view option that helps its user to control its flow is a must-needed feature if you give presentations frequently.  
• This software is highly configurable. So, if the user wants, she/ he can configure it base on their needs.

Get Calligra Stage

5. Impressive

It’s a post-processing presentation tool. If you already have a presentation made and want a few additional touches up during the presentation, then you should go for it. You will have to convert your file into pdf to make changes.

Features of Impressive

• Lightweight and portable software are so popular because a user can work on low or high power systems, and this software is super light and portable.  
• Hassel of installing software can stop a potential future user from using it. It doesn’t require installation. So, this is a great advantage for those who want to use the software without installing it. 
• Carrying software and using it in any system whenever we need it is a handy feature and can provide its users a great advantage in utilizing their works, and this software can be carried on a USB stick. 
• Spotlight distinguishes a keyword from the whole paragraph or the presentation, and it is the spotlight-making master. So, if you are the user who wants to do this kind of work, then you must try it. 
• Terminal-based software is easy to handle, and this one is one of them.  

Get Impressive  

6. Google Slide

Google Slide is a part of Google’s online office suite . I can run as an extension in any version of Chrome. It’s an online office suite’s part, so it won’t make your desktop heavy. You can also run it on old computers because it needs a little power to run itself. And it’s not only one of the best presentation software of Linux, but it is also considered one of the best presentation software on every platform.

Features of Google Slide

• User can edit their files from anywhere and any computer. This feature is an opportunity cost saving. 
• Google’s regular updates its templates and other support modules make it enrich in effect and other libraries. 
• Business templates can close a deal on the go. This has many business templates that can allow you to make a presentation in 1-2 minutes.
•  Multiple people can work on the same project at the same time in this. 
• A ton of effects and animations helps its documents to transform into an attractive presentation. 

Get Google Slide

Sozi is a storytelling software and especially build on python . But don’t contain your presentations as a presentation slide but as a poster.  You have to zoom at certain points to make it visible and take it into focus. If you want to post your presentations on any online platform, then you should consider it as a good option as presentation software of Linux distribution.

Features of Sozi

• The poster-based presentation capabilities give it an upper hand. 
• A lot of information in one poster can be taken in one page, helping users in zoom-based presentations.
• Sozi’s official supports makes it user-friendly and easy.
• Enriched online assets help its users in making better presentations.  

8. FFDiaporama

It’s a video editing software , but creative users use it to make awesome presentations. It has its animations and transactional effects that give it an edge on doing any presentation-based work. It might confuse you at first glance and make your experience easy by the time you master it.

Features of FFDiaporama

• Capabilities of screen-cast and multimedia presentations help its users in securing their main purpose.
• Cliparts are a great help in making an interactive presentation, and it has a lot of cliparts for editing. 
• Dealing with videos in this software has no kind of issue. 
• Making Titles in this software is so easy and can be turned into an attractive one with a perfect tweak.
• This software supports 1080p videos on an editing platform.

Get FFDiaporama

9. Slide Crunch

The users who love to make a presentation through the command line, it’s the perfect presentation software of Linux. It can merge files into slide shows and can separate presentations into individual parts.

Features of Slide Crunch

• The command-based interface is kind of easy and fast for those who are proficient in terminal. So, if you are a terminal lover, then you should give it a try.
• It doesn’t require installation and can save time and opportunity costs.
• Cues, notes, and information about the author can be contained in it. 
• Merge files ( PDF and SVG) can be so handy if you want to use this in your presentation. You should give it a try.

Get Slide Crunch

10. Imagination

If you are searching a lightweight presentation software, then you should consider imagination as a good option. It doesn’t have too many transactions or other advantages, but if you want to do your work faster with higher accuracy, it will help you a lot.

• Cutting, copying, pasting ability on slides can give you a good experience.  
• The latest version of it has 69 transactions.   
• Can create, and import multiple versions of the video what help in seeking other’s presentation.
• Text on the slides with some text animations, ability to add an empty slide with a gradient editor

Get Imagination

Final Thoughts

Presentation software is useful and necessary. This can give your company an edge in closing deals. It can clear your growth pattern to the inverts in an easy way. It has multiple uses and importance. Better knowledge of the feature can provide you a clear idea and the power of taking future steps. If you use any of this 10 software, you will get your desired result, might find the best presentation software for Linux. Good luck, and keep growing.

Thanks for your article. 1) LibreOffice Impress – doesn’t have object inheritance. So when using cut and paste of an object, it’s properties are not copied. This can be a real pain where there are many objects on one slide. Other tools do this. 2) Google Slides is not a Linux desktop app. Plus – it has far fewer important features compared to other tools, especially animation. Personally I use SoftMaker. It comes at a cost, but is feature-rich and highly MS-Office compatible.

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8 Best Free and Open Source Linux Presentation Software

A presentation software is a tool used to show information in the form of a slide show, a presentation of a series of still images.

Presentation software helps a speaker keep structure to a presentation when standing in front of an audience. Like any good composition tool, this type of application should help the presenter focus on the substance of the presentation. Effective presentation software will also help the audience follow the matters being discussed, whether it is being conducted in a business or personal setting.

This type of software is a presenter’s best friend helping information to be communicated effectively at events, meetings, conferences, lectures, sales presentations, and more. Embellishing the presentation with smooth transitions, text, photo and video will help retain the attention of the audience, bring out the key ideas that are being shared, and make the presentation more professional.

To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 8 high quality open source Linux presentation software. The software listed below will help make your slides look stunning. Whether you are teaching a lesson, pitching a product, delivering a keynote, or trying to promote a worthy cause, these tools will help bring simplicity and engagement to your presentations. Hopefully there will be something of interest for anyone who needs to produce professional quality presentations.

Let’s explore the 8 presentation applications at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the tool in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.

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A Beginner-Friendly Guide for Linux / Start Learning Linux Quickly...

The best powerpoint alternatives for linux.

If you are a Linux user and looking for the best PowerPoint alternative (either desktop or web-based), you have come to the right place. In this article, you will find a brief overview of some interesting presentation applications that can be natively installed on a Linux distribution or used online via the browser.

[ You might also like: The Top 5 Open-Source Microsoft 365 Alternatives for Linux ]

They may vary in terms of functionality and usability but they have one important thing in common – they all are available free of charge, so everyone can make use of them to create presentations.

On this page

• Open-Source Desktop Software for Linux
• Proprietary Desktop Software for Linux
• Online Presentation Tools for Linux

Part 1. Open-Source Desktop Software

Here we will discuss all open-source desktop software for Linux.

LibreOffice Impress

Almost every article about PowerPoint alternatives for Linux that you can find on the Internet starts with LibreOffice Impress , and ours is not an exception. This presentation tool forms part of the famous LibreOffice suite distributed under LGPLv3 (GNU Lesser General Public License). The given software is remarkably similar to its Microsoft rival, so the vast majority of Linux users choose it daily for creating, editing, and sharing presentations.

Apart from the different approaches to the UI, the daylight between the two programs is not so noticeable and includes the ability to export presentations in video formats or the use of animated diagrams. In terms of the main features, LibreOffice Impress is a worthy alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. It allows you to use a large number of transition effects between slides, leave notes, insert images and chats of different types, export presentations as SWF (Shower Adobe Flash).

LibreOffice Impress saves presentations in OpenDocument format and is compatible with PowerPoint files, making it easy to edit, open, or save any presentation that has been created with the Microsoft app. Its wide range of viewing modes as well built-in templates let you create presentations with ease. You can make use of various drawing tools and even export your work in different formats, including PDF.

Install the latest version of the LibreOffice suite for your Linux distribution here .

Calligra Stage

Another decent PowerPoint alternative for Linux users is Calligra Stage . It’s a presentation application that forms part of the Calligra office suite, an open-source project that is developed by KDE and based on the KDE Platform. Apart from Stage, the office suite also contains a word processor, a spreadsheet tool, a database manager, and an editor for vector graphics, which makes it a versatile solution designed for various purposes, not only for editing presentations.

With Stage , you can create and edit presentations and slides in the same way as Impress or PowerPoint . A huge amount of ready-to-use templates lets you create something impressive quickly and without too much effort. The graphical interface is not very different from what you are used to. The slide list on the left and some editing options are located on the right. You can choose between different default layouts such as title and text, two columns, graphics, or images.

Stage allows you to use all kinds of transitions that can be previewed while editing the presentation. Moreover, each transition has different alternatives. Calligra Stage uses the OpenDocument file format, which makes it compatible with other ODF supporting applications, like LibreOffice Impress or OpenOffice Impress. The application also works with Microsoft PowerPoint files.

Download the latest version of the Calligra office suite for your Linux distribution here .

ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor

Less famous than LibreOffice Impress or OpenOffice Impress , ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor is one more good option for Linux users who need a presentation application. It forms part of the ONLYOFFICE suite that is freely distributed under AGPL v.3 (GNU Affero General Public License).

The solution is natively compatible with OOXML formats, which makes it a decent PowerPoint alternative. ODF formats are also supported, so you can open and edit presentations created with other programs.

ONLYOFFICE Presentation Editor has an intuitive tabbed interface. All editing and formatting features are grouped into tabs on the top toolbar, and you can easily switch between them depending on what you need at the moment. If you have some experience in working with PowerPoint, you will find it easy to get used to ONLYOFFICE.

When editing a presentation, you can add ready-to-use transitions between slides and various objects, like images, Text Art, shapes, and chats. The Presenter View mode lets you add notes and switch to any slide with a click. You also have access to third-party plugins that enhance the basic functionality. For example, the Photo Editor allows you to edit images without leaving the application, and the YouTube plugin makes it possible to add videos from the corresponding website.

If you need to collaborate on presentations with other users in real-time, you can connect ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors to a cloud platform (the available options are ONLYOFFICE, Seafile, ownCloud, or Nextcloud). Once connected, the desktop app brings in some collaborative features — you can track edits made by your co-authors, leave comments for them right in the text, and communicate in the built-in chat.

Download the latest version of the ONLYOFFICE suite for your Linux distribution here .

Part 2. Proprietary Desktop Software

Here we will discuss all proprietary desktop software for Linux.

SoftMaker FreeOffice Presentations

FreeOffice Presentations is an application for creating and editing slides that comes as a part of the FreeOffice suite developed by SoftMaker. Basically, it’s the freeware version of the commercial office suite for personal and business use, so it’s delivered with limited functionality. Despite this fact, the software has a decent range of features that help you make your presentations eye-catching.

When it comes to the user interface, you are offered to choose between two options. If you prefer the traditional PowerPoint interface, you can opt for the same look with classical menus and toolbars. However, if you like the Ribbon style, which is typical of the latest versions of the Microsoft app, you can select the corresponding option in the settings.

The application is compatible with PowerPoint because it opens and saves PPT and PPTX presentations, including password-protected files. However, compatibility is not 100% complete – some PowerPoint animations and transitions don’t work as properly as they are intended.

When using FreeOffice Presentations , you can choose from a vast array of default design templates to get your work done quickly. Just like PowerPoint, the app allows you to add multimedia objects, drawings, pictures, shapes, and Text Art into your slides.

Download the latest version of the FreeOffice suite by SoftMaker for your Linux distribution here .

WPS Office Presentation

The developers of WPS Office claim that their software is the best Microsoft Office alternative . Believe it or not, the free version of this office suite includes three programs that can be used instead of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel — Writer, Presentation, and Spreadsheets respectively. It also offers a free PDF editor, which is not typical of other office packages.

The main advantage of WPS Presentation is excellent compatibility with PowerPoint files. Although the default file format is DPS, the application opens and saves both PPT and PPTX. This makes it possible to work with presentations received from other people and then save them directly to WPS Office with full confidence that other users will be able to open them without any problems.

WPS Presentation is very similar to PowerPoint. Its tabbed interface allows you to view your presentations slide by slide without having to open several windows, which is very convenient. Such an approach lets you view all the available templates in the My WPS tab.

When working with presentations in different formats, you will find out that some features are missing. For example, the app doesn’t export to HTML, SWF, and SVG. Of course, you can export your presentations to PDF but the output files will contain watermarks. This is one of the limitations of the free version. The others include sponsored ads that can be removed by switching to the premium version.

Download the latest version of the WPS Office suite for your Linux distribution here .

Part 3. Online Presentation Tools

Here we will discuss all online presentation tools for Linux.

Canva – Graphic Design Platform

Canva is a web-based tool that is gaining more and more attention from users today. It is an easy-to-use online program for creating images and content for social networks, advertisements, and designs for print materials.

Canva can also be used to make presentations based on a wast gallery of templates. The most outstanding feature of this software is its ability to create branded photo filters.

The tool allows you to create a customized template for your presentation with a corporate logo if necessary. In addition, you can share it with your team so they can use it as a default design for their own presentations. You can edit your content from anywhere: on your mobile device, tablet, or computer.

One drawback is that the free options are limited so if you need to create a more complex and elaborate presentation, you may need to purchase the paid option. However, even the free version offers plenty of templates, images, and fonts that you can use to create impressive content right in your browser.

Visme –

Visme is a web-based application designed for creating different kinds of content. Apart from traditional presentations, you can use this tool to make infographics, social media graphics, videos, and animations regardless of the operating system that is running on your PC. Its interface is quite similar to PowerPoint although the developers have managed to simplify the user experience thanks to more intuitive navigation.

Even so, you should take your time to discover all the customization options it offers. The platform has a wide mage gallery and useful infographic elements with which you can add to make your presentations more dynamic.

The app allows you to share or download your presentation with a single click, publish it online or use it offline; you can even make it private for internal use. There is no desktop client for Linux but all the features are available via the browser.

Genial.ly is probably one of the best alternatives to the classic PowerPoint that are available online. With this tool, you can create interactive content using all kinds of resources that can be accessed from a free account. Used by design professionals mainly, it also finds wide application in the field of education. Genial.ly is ideal for university or school presentations and you can use it free of charge, although there are payment plans, too.

Once registered, you will have access to all the available options – infographics, reports, guides, gamification, presentations. You can choose from all kinds of presentations with animated and interactive elements and you can also use a template if you don’t want to start from scratch.

When you choose a template, you can select the pages you want to use. These pages can be personalized with your own texts, images, and design elements. To make your presentation more visually appealing, you can add icons, shapes, illustrations, charts, and even maps.

This article briefly reviews some of the best alternatives for Microsoft PowerPoint, both desktop and web-based. What is your favorite solution? Let us know in the comments section below!

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4 thoughts on “The Best PowerPoint Alternatives for Linux”

I love Genially!

For online presentation editor, there is also Powerpoint online.

Compatibility with Android, Apple? Reading this article on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Pro. Using Android smartphones. Also using Windows & Linux.

Since I use LibreOffice (I try to have the newest stable edition) so I use Impress for presentations. In fact, I teach in a short course at Virginia Tech each August, and I am sent the presentations in PP on a USB Flash Drive.

When I receive it I copy the files to my computer, then I convert them all to LO Impress. I find that the latest version of LO Impress will render PP very good. Last August I did my presentations via Zoom and no one could tell the difference between my Impress and PowerPoint. From my perspective, Impress is great.

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Presentation Software for Linux - Create Seamless Presentation in Your Way

Summary of Linux Presentation Software

There are few presentation programs can work on Linux, but Edraw presentation software for Linux is exactly the one. It is a desktop tool that allows users to easily create animated presentations, brochures, newsletters, leaflets and so on. And it provides numerous symbols and templates for users to drag-and-drop, even a newb learner can attractive presentations with it.

System Requirements

Compatible with the most popular Linux distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, OpenSUSE, Mint, Knoppix, RedHat, Gentoo and More.

Superior Features of Presentation Software for Linux

Below are just the tip of the iceberg for what Edraw can do. Experience the full features by downloading it trying free for a month and you are gonna love it!

• The price of Edraw is affordable for most people and users can enjoy a lifelong upgrade guarantee once they buy a lifetime license.
• There are thousands of various built-in elements provided for users to drag, drop and edit. Users can design different kinds of presentations with them and Edraw is keeping creating more elements.
• Ever-increasing well-designed presentation templates are offered for users to get started quickly.
• Audience will be engaged and enjoy a better visual experience by its resourceful data insertion, such as pictures, hyperlinks, attachments and note.
• Real-time collaboration and multiple file formats import & export enable users to share presentations with their colleagues & friends within several mouse clicks.

Free Download Presentation Software to Create Attractive Presentations on Linux Easily :

Customizable Pre-made Elements for Linux Presentation Design

Vaious ready-made elements are one of the key features of our Linux presentation software. All the elements are classified into different categories in the left libraries and all elements are free to edit and download. Users can also create their own elements with the prepared drawing tool and save them as the predefined symbols.

Guide on Creating Presentation on Linux

Edraw is such a great tool that makes creating presentation on Linux much easier than you think.

• Open A New Drawing Page

Launch Edraw, go to File menu > New > Presentation, and then double click any icon under templates window to open a blank drawing page.

• Drag And Drop Symbols

Navigate to left libraries and select a proper category, then drag the symbols you need from it and drop them on the blank page.

• Add Contents

Double click the symbols or go to Home page and click Text to add key contents, then finishing typing by clicking any blank area on the page.

• Change The Theme

Just navigate to Page Layout and change the theme from various built-in themes if you are not satisfied with the current one. You can also change the background by clicking Background.

• Save or Export The Presentation

Save the presentation as default .eddx format by clicking Save on File tab; for sharing conveniently, hit Export & Send under File to export it to common formats such as Word, PPT, PNG, PDF, etc, Visio is also supported.

Examples Created By Linux Presentation Software

Here listed 3 presentation examples created by our Linux presentation software. All of them are in different themes and free to download, edit and share. Just download if interested.

Presentation 1

This is a bamboo theme presentation, which is suitable for presenting tenacious and high-minded contents.

Presentation 2

Here is a cross road theme presentation. It can be used to present the entangled and complicated mind of the author who is at the junction of life.

Presentation 3

Below is a creative geometry theme presentation and it is usually applied in presenting contents which can arouse the creativity of people.

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Light easy to use Presentation software

I am looking for an easy to use light presentation software.

The main features I need are :

• Light (on dependencies and resource consumption)
• Easy to use
• Align & Distribute information on slide
• Use pictures
• Offline editor

The extra features I would like are:

• On click animations
• .ppt Import/export
• Use templates/themes for easily unified presentation

Sliderocket looks like a presentation tool matching my needs. Unfortunately it is an online presentation editor and I am looking for an offline one.

I don't mind the software being proprietary and for-pay

• software-recommendation
• presentation

• Does this question belong on this stack exchange or should I migrate to Unix & Linux? –  danjjl Aug 20, 2011 at 20:00
• It's fine to ask here, if you're asking about Ubuntu, which you are. :) –  Jo-Erlend Schinstad Aug 20, 2011 at 20:02

10 Answers 10

I've asked the same question on the Unix & Linux stack exchange hoping I would get answers from a different community and so far the answers are quite different.

Here is a summary of the answers on the other stack :

• S5 template : edit html/css/js templates for a cross-browser based output (Keith)
• Lyx and Beamer :

LyX is a semi-wysiwyg document editor that uses LaTeX as its document format. LyX produces PDF output which you then present in the PDF viewer of your choice (..). (Giles)

• org-mode : generate presentations from text files using org markup with . Check out this link for a complete review. ( Riccardo Murri)

• Are you waiting until you can mark this as your accepted answer, or are you going to wait until someone posts about something else that has the features you need? –  Thomas Boxley Aug 23, 2011 at 2:21
• Waiting for something that meets my needs. For the moment JessyInk is my favourite solution –  danjjl Aug 23, 2011 at 7:18
• I'll give the bounty to whoever you think deserves it. –  Thomas Boxley Aug 27, 2011 at 0:45

JessyInk is an interesting solution, which works ontop of Inkscape and Firefox. It lacks PowerPoint import, templates and animation (unless Master Slide and Slide Transitions fulfil your needs).

Picture and Align&Distribute are fine via Inkscape features.

It's lightweight in the sense that it only uses software that you already have.

You can learn how to use JessyInk fairly quickly during preparing your first presentation. However, the GUI is not dead-simple 'easy'. You have to read the documentation, will take 15 minutes.

you can play any PDF presentation via impressive (its in the repos): http://impressive.sourceforge.net/

There is a lot of software capable of exporting to pdf. Including (but not limited to)

• (Open|Libre)office
• Latex (use the beamer package as suggested above)
• Ease (see above)

For my presentations I use prezi (http://prezi.com/jipjiqvj6dsc/about-perspective/). It is an online tool like sliderocket (so its not exactly what you have searched for), but i find the zooming-approach very appealing. Iirc you can also download a standalone player for your presentations.

• 2 PDFCube is similar: code.100allora.it/pdfcube –  f4lco Nov 24, 2011 at 11:56

From what I've heard, Ease is lightweight and simple. The link includes a PPA for installation. I'm unsure if it meets all of the features you want though.

• It looks really nice. I quickly tried it and it lacks one major feature I find important : distributing and aligning items on the page. Do you know if it is still being developed the last version dates from 29-Oct-2010 and is a 0.4 version (doesn't seem quite finished) –  danjjl Aug 20, 2011 at 20:40
• 1 I just checked and it looks like development is dead :/ I checked the IRC channel listed on the development page and there was no one in it. Sorry. What do you mean by aligning items on the page though? If you insert a text box, and then hold Ctrl and drag it, you can move it around. –  Thomas Boxley Aug 20, 2011 at 20:56
• I mean automatically putting it in the middle of the page. or selecting two items and distributing them at equal distance of both edges. –  danjjl Aug 20, 2011 at 21:04
• Ah, okay. I don't know what else to suggest then, other than the 600-pound gorillas OpenOffice and LibreOffice, and they're not light . Sorry. –  Thomas Boxley Aug 20, 2011 at 21:09

Prezi is a nice presentation tool. It doesn't work the same as usual presentation programs in that there is one big 'slide' on which you move and zoom around, instead of flipping pages. I like it a lot.

• It is online, but they do have an offline editor and presenter (offline editor is a paid service).
• It is easy to use, I think
• Has pictures, movies, etc.

As Prezi works in a different way, it doesn't offer PowerPoint import, slide animations, or distribute tools (although it does align very well).

html5slides is a presentation framework that works in your (local) browser. You can see a demo from Google here.

I've personally never worked with it, but it looks nice and I've seen good presentations from others and them having a good experience with it. Here's a blog post from Handcraft stating their use.

I just have discovered Sozi . It's probably lacking Powerpoint import. It has both the power and the complexity of Inkscape. In my opinion the solution - scalable graphics and a web browser - could definitely lead into the right direction.

Update: I've read about jessyink and both projects seem to be similar in a way.

One option is Google Docs Presentation. It fulfils all the requirements that you have mentioned except "offline editor". The presentations can be viewed offline but can not be edited.

• Unfortunately being an offline editor is one of the major features I need. –  danjjl Nov 24, 2011 at 15:54

You should already have this installed with Ubuntu - LibreOffice Impress (recall that LibreOffice is the Ubuntu variant on OpenOffice.) It can import (and save as, I believe) .ppt, and has many, if not all, of the same features.

• I find it much to heavy. But you are right it does fulfil my other requirements –  danjjl Aug 23, 2011 at 17:57

sent is quite certainly the simplest and most lightweight presentation tool you can find.

It runs on X11 systems only (Unix, Linux, OSX), so it does NOT run on Windows without an X11 emulation.

feature "matrix":

• LIGHT (on dependencies and resource consumption)
• (extra) On click animations
• (extra) .ppt Import/export
• (extra) Use templates/themes for easily unified presentation

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27 Open Source Slideshow Presentation Editors and PowerPoint Alternatives

Presentations and slideshows are essential tools for marketeers, strategists, teachers, and ofcourse students.

Basically, a slideshow is a presentation of series of still images on a projection screen or a projector (displaying device).

Microsoft powerpoint carries the same technique with more of magic transition effects, ability to add interactive diagrams, videos, and videos.

PowerPoint Open Source Alternative

Many think that there is a lack of alternatives for Powerpoint especially for Linux, but that is far from the truth as we are about to offer you many, so stay tuned.

Prezi, a new generation presentation

However, before we start we have to differentate between the old classicial slideshow presentation as MS PowerPoint, and the new fancy presentation by Prezi.com.

While PowerPoint and its open source counterpart in office suites keep the old approach, Prezi.com offered a large canvas presentation with stunning catching effect, that proven to be reliable for many enterprise users.

Presentation extensions and compatability

There are many presentation extensions that is supported by the popular office suites. Many of these extensions are supported in the open source apps as LibreOffice, Calligra suites. Also, in the free WPS Office suite.

On the otherhand, Prezi or canvas style presentation, has their own extension which is not compatable with the office suites.

Another note worth mentioning here is, Markdown and Terminal based presentation app, are often use Text-based Markdown files to build the presentation, which can be edited by any text editor, yet not compatable with any office suite presentation apps.

PowerPoint, and PDF Style Presentation Apps

1- libreoffice impress.

LibreOffice is an open source office suite and the ideal alternative for the commercial enterprise released office suites as MS Office. It includes a text processor, presentation manager, spreadsheet program and other apps.

The LibreOffice Impress has similar features as PowerPoint, It enables you to create a rich slideshow and presentation with dozens of customizable options. It contains a rich set of page transition animation, text styles, and dozens of shapes, diagrams, with a rich built-in 2D/ 3D library set.

LibreOffice works on Linux, Windows, macOS.

2- Calligra Stage

Calligra Stage is a presentation software and a part of Calligra office suite. It uses the OpenDocument file format standard which is compatible with other office suites.

With Stage, you can design your slides, control added shapes, charts, diagrams, and style your text. You can also add notes, change your page layout, and enjoy a long list of page transition and included animations.

Calligra Suite is an open source office and graphic suite by KDE; the popular Linux desktop environment. It also includes a text document editor (Words), a vector editor (Karbon), Spreadsheet editor (Sheet), Visual Database creator (KEXI), and an amazing project management application (Plan).

3-  Impressive

Unlike the previous apps, Impressive is a standalone open source free presentation and slideshow generator that uses PDF to render your slides.

It contains many page translations, enable you to view your slides in an overview screen, highlight text boxes, and add spotlight effects.

The app is completely free, and open source for Linux systems.

4- Spice-up

Spice-up is a lightweight free presentation manager for Linux systems. It features a simple user-friendly interface, and allows you to create quick presentations without a fuzz.

Spice-up enables you to export your presentations directly to PDF.

5- Imagination

Imagination is a minimal yet feature-rich presentation software for Linux. Originally built by an open source enthusiast and Linux user who noticed a lack of presentation software for Linux systems.

It includes about 70-page transition effects, and enables you to export your presentation to video formats as OGV Theora/Vorbis, widescreen FLV video, 3GP for mobile phones, H264 and H265 for HD slideshows.

6- WPS Office (Free)

WPS Office is a free professional enterprise-grade office suite for people who look for a Microsoft Office replacement.

WPS Office enables you to edit and manage Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheet, and PDF with others at the same time. It is fully compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS and supports 47 file formats and 46 languages.

Prezi.com style presentation

Prezi.com is a commercial web-based presentation service, that allows you to create beautiful unique presentation as it treats the whole canvas as one slide, where you move, pane, or zoom to your next area of interest.

Unlike the classical slideshow presentation, Sozi is an amazing presentation program that allows you to create a catchy zoomable presentation. It is based on open standard and released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

Sozi can be installed on Linux, Windows, and macOS. It can also be installed using Docker for macOS and Linux.

With Sozi, you can add URLs, embed videos, and audios, and convert your presentation to PDF or videos.

2- DeckDeckGo

DeckDeckGo is a self-hosted collaborative web-based presentation manager, that also can be used directly from CDN or integrate with other frameworks such as React, Vue, Angular and Ember.

Although, the official commercial service is deprecated, the source code is available and supported by a good community of user and developers.

3- RevealJs

RevealJS is a popular JavaScript presentation and slideshow library that developers can install, integrate and use in their projects. It plays well with other JavaScript framework as React, Vue, and Angular.

RevealJS presentations are responsive and works smoothly with mobile browsers.

4- Impress.js

Impress.js is a presentation framework based on the power of CSS3 transforms and transitions in modern browsers and inspired by the idea behind Prezi.com.

Impress.js demo is pretty cool as it offers an interactive canvas that zoom into the point of interest and focus area in steps.

It also comes with amazing 3D transitions that you can customize.

The primary downside of this stunning framework is that it requires coding skills to make it work. However, this can be resolved by using some Impress.js based apps which you will find in this post.

5- Hovercraft

Hovercraft is a stunning presentation software that allows you to create Prezi grade presentation using Impress.js, without having to worry about any code.

Hovercraft feature highlights

• Write your presentations in a text markup language. No slow, limiting GUI, no annoying HTML!
• Pan, rotate and zoom in 3D, with automatic repositioning of slides!
• A presenter console with notes and slide previews!
• Support for showing mathematical formulas.
• Styling is easy with CSS.
• The slide show generated is in HTML, so you only need a web browser to show it.
• Easy sharing, as it can be put up on a website for anyone to see!

Strut - An Impress.js and Bespoke.js Presentation Editor that is based on Impress.js. The project now is getting a new update as the old code is becoming obsolete.

7- Impressionist

Impressionist is a visual 3D editor for creating stunning impress.js presentations. It uses Electron to build a visual WYSIWYG for Jmpress.js.

However, it is tricky to install, therefore there are video tutorials on how to make your edition up and running on Windows and Linux.

8- Reveal.js with R Studio

The R language is a primary language for data scientists and engineers, many of them use it for everyday purposes. This is a handy tool for them to create a catchy presentation within R Studio using Reveal.js.

9- Reveal Hugo

This one is an addition for Hugo Static Site Generator to create presentation websites using Reveal.js.

10- Reveal.js 3D

Although, the Reveal.js library does not have 3D support , some developers decided to make a 3D Reveal.js edition. It works with Google Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox, yet the lazy-loading option does not work well with some browsers.

11- ShowPreper

ShowPreper is a free open-source web-based presentation that is based on Impress.js, and Bespoke.js libraries. It is released as an open source project under the MIT license.

Gosspi is an amazing web-based slideshow and presentation editor, It uses Impress.js. It is considered the open source alternative for Prezi.com

13- Reveal.js Simple Menu

This is a simple library that adds a simple navigation menu for your Reveal.js slides. You can customize the menu position, selection and auto-generate menus easily.

Terminal based presentation

This section for old school terminal users, who prefer doing many through their terminal apps.

Slides is a terminal-based presentation with Markdown file processor that supports tables, code, simple diagrams, and more useful features.

Slides is written with the Go programming language, and it is packed by many contributors.

The present app is a colorful terminal-based presentation written with Python. It supports colors, and comes with many fancy effects.

The app works directly with Markdown files, and converts Markdown directly into rich slides that you can view directly within your terminal.

The terminal Matrix effect is one of the best catchy transition you can use there.

patat ( P resentations A top T he A NSI T erminal ) is a small tool that allows you to show presentations using only an ANSI terminal. It does not require ncurses .

patat features highlight

• Leverages the great Pandoc library to support many input formats including Literate Haskell.
• Supports smart slide splitting.
• Slides can be split up into multiple fragments
• There is a live reload mode.
• Theming support including 24-bit RGB.
• Auto advancing with configurable delay.
• Optionally re-wrapping text to terminal width with proper indentation.
• Syntax highlighting for nearly one hundred languages generated from Kate syntax files.
• Experimental images support.
• Supports evaluating code snippets and showing the result.
• Written in Haskell.

4- lookatme

lookatme is an interactive, extensible, terminal-based markdown presentation tool.

lookatme features higlights

• Markdown rendering
• Built-in tutorial slides lookatme --tutorial
• Live (input file modification time watching) and manual reloading
• Live terminals embedded directly in slides
• Syntax highlighting using the Pygments library
• Loading external files into code blocks
• Support for contrib extensions
• Smart slide splitting
• Progressive slides with <!-- stop --> comments between block elements

5- SSH Slides

SSH Slides is an SSH server that hosts terminal-based presentations where your viewers can follow along in their own terminals. This service is currently located at slides.tseivan.com .

mdp is yet another terminal Markdown presentation tool. It is written in the C language. mdp can easily be installed on macOS using Homebrew and MacPorts. Debian and Ubuntu users can use the DEB package, while Arch Linux users can get it directly from the AUR repos.

7- Showtmux

Showtmux creates terminal-based interactive presentations. It can be used to script terminal-based demos ahead of time, and play them in tmux.

8- dss (Dead Simple Slides)

Dead Simple Slides (DSS) is a text/terminal based slide presentation tool that reads .txt files for formatted slides. These slides are then displayed to the terminal.

Presentation and slideshow apps are essential tools for making eductional and informative document to present in meetings or in classroom. While they have different shapes, styles, extensions and features, we encorage you to go through and test the ones in the category you require, evaluate the features, and pick the one that fits your workflow.

If you are going with an office suite style presentation we recommend LibreOffice, as it is proven reliable and solid for countless users over the years.

Do you know any other open source free presentation app that we missed, kindly send us a hit, to add it to this list.

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Beyond PowerPoint: 4 Linux Presentation Tools

Go beyond LibreOffice Impress, go beyond PowerPoint! Linux has many options for presentations, and these lesser-known desktop apps are lightweight, powerful, and will certainly surprise you with what they can do.

Presentations are a curious thing.

Many people hate them with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Yet there are many who love experimenting with typography and color in their slides. Regardless of which team you're on, you should know there are other options for presentations on Linux besides LibreOffice Impress. I'm not talking about online tools like Prezi , because this time the spotlight is on lesser-known desktop apps. They are lightweight, powerful, and different than what you're used to.

ffDiaporama

The primary purpose of ffDiaporama is not creating presentations—it's actually a movie creator application. While it's relatively simple compared to other video editing tools for Linux , ffDiaporama supports several effects and filters for images and animations, lets you add music to videos and combine several clips into one movie. The interface might seem daunting at first, but putting together a slideshow is not too hard.

If you try ffDiaporama, you'll realize there is nothing stopping you from creating presentations with it. Instead of importing video, you'll add text as Titles, and thanks to extensions like Texturemate and OpenClipart you can insert different shapes and backgrounds into slides.

ffDiaporama is particularly suitable for screencasts or multimedia-rich presentations, which can be rendered into one of many supported video formats, in Full HD or as a lighter video for smartphones and Web. Speaking of Web, ffDiaporama makes it possible to upload videos to YouTube or Dailymotion. You can install it from packages provided on the official website , or build it from source.

• Can create video presentations and slideshows with background music
• Offers more than a hundred transition effects
• The usage learning curve could be too steep
• Cannot import PowerPoint or Impress files

If you don't want to give up Impress, but still want to try something new, Impressive is a good choice. Simply put, it's a presentation post-processing tool. Create a presentation in whichever application you want, export it to PDF, then use Impressive to display it. This might seem counter-intuitive (or just plain superfluous), but Impressive has a few attractive features to impress you.

First of all, Impressive is super-lightweight and portable. It doesn't require installation and you can take it anywhere on a USB stick. Furthermore, it doesn't have an intrusive or complicated interface; in fact, it just runs from the terminal. Put your presentation in the same directory as Impressive, then type

into the terminal, and start gliding through your presentation with either the keyboard (arrow keys, Space and Backspace) or the mouse wheel.

The main point of Impressive is to keep the audience focused on the important parts of your presentation. You can do this by drawing highlight boxes around parts of text with the mouse, zooming in with the Z key, or pressing Enter to activate the Spotlight which follows the cursor. When you need to jump to a specific slide or want to see all slides at once, access the Overview mode by pressing the Tab key.

Like any other command-line tool, Impressive can run with different options (switches) appended. For example, the

option shows a progress bar for the presentation, while

starts Impressive in windowed instead of full-screen mode. The complete list of options is available in the official documentation . There you will also find information on how to create a custom settings file for each presentation.

• Portable and cross-platform, easy to navigate
• Offers practical, attention-grabbing features
• Runs in the terminal, which might put off beginners
• Any configuration beyond the basics requires studying the manual

Calligra Stage

Of all the tools in this text, Calligra Stage is the one you've most likely heard of, since it's a part of KDE's office suite . Previously called KPresenter, Calligra Stage doesn't have as many features as LibreOffice Impress, but it has a solid basic set of functions. You can use templates or make a presentation from scratch with custom slides, and there are several effects for slide transitions. Stage can work with Microsoft PowerPoint and MagicPoint presentations, but its default file format is ODF (or more precisely, ODP).

Apart from features you'd expect from a presentation tool (like slide navigation and organization), Stage lets you export presentations into fully functional HTML pages, which is great if you want to make a slideshow or design an interactive infographic . Stage makes use of view modes for different purposes, offering Normal View for editing slides, Notes View for adding notes to each slide, and Slide Sorter where you can reorganize, rename, remove or duplicate the slides.

You can also enable a docker (a sidebar within the Stage window) where you can see all slides as thumbnails, in a detailed list or in Minimal View mode. Finally, the Presenter View helps you control the flow of your presentation by displaying slide notes, a timer, and the current position in the presentation.

Stage can be installed as a standalone application, or you can grab the entire office suite from the repositories of most Linux distributions . Good news is that Stage is available for Windows and OS X as well, and even better news is that a special Calligra Gemini version with adaptive interface for tablets is in the works. You might wonder, are there any bad news?

Well, Stage (and the entire Calligra suite) is still in development; in fact, a new version came out a while ago. This means that features are still missing, especially in terms of tweaking Stage itself, as the configuration dialog is quite limited for a KDE application. Like in most other Microsoft Office alternatives, support for proprietary file formats in Calligra Stage remains to be improved.

• Handy view modes for better control over the presentation
• Innovative interface for tablets is in development
• Lacks application preferences and advanced features
• Importing PPT(X) files is not always satisfactory

SlideCrunch

What pdftk is to PDF files, SlideCrunch is to presentations. For users who are not allergic to the command-line, this tool is a great way to manage presentations. It can merge files (PDF or SVG) into a slideshow, separate a presentation into individual slides (images), and even create a slidecast with audio narration. If your presentation has notes, SlideCrunch can arrange them next to the slides to produce a neat handout.

SlideCrunch doesn't require installation, although it does have a list of dependencies . Once those are satisfied, you can run it as any other executable script. However, it won't do much for your presentation if you don't specify the options in a separate text file called slideshow.txt . This file can contain cues for slide duration, notes for each slide, information about the author, and more. SlideCrunch can supplement your current presentation tool, but it can hardly replace a full-fledged application like Impress.

• Provides a quick way to merge or split presentations
• Practical for generating handouts
• Requires the use of terminal and a DIY configuration file
• Documentation is not novice-friendly

While Impress still reigns as the unbeatable alternative to PowerPoint , it might not be long before that changes. After all, new office tools are on the horizon, and small applications like the ones listed here already have their users. As they continue to improve, some of us might even start enjoying presentations.

Have you tried any of these apps or perhaps discovered other presentation tools for Linux? As always, you're welcome to share your experiences and opinions in the comments.

Image Credits: Business vector designed by Freepik , ffDiaporama screenshots page , Calligra Stage screenshots page , Calligra Gemini project , SlideCrunch project page .