LCC Software and Hardware Analysis

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Adobe Persuasion®

by Freddie Kirkland, Jr.

Features/Functionality

  • Overview

    Like most presentation programs, Persuasion® organizes a presentation as a series of slides. Persuasion® slides are each made up of one or more layers that contain text, graphics, or both, as well as movies and animation. Master slides can be set up to create a consistent look for text and graphics on different slides, and transitions can be used between slides (or between layers within a single slide), such as "wipe," "fade," or more complex effects.

  • The Slideshow

    On The Screen

    Creating a basic slideshow in Persuasion® is simple enough. A template can be selected from the many which are supplied with the program or the user can create one. Text may be entered by typing directly on a slide or by using the outliner, which turns outline points into slide titles, subtitles, and body text automatically. Graphics can be added by using the basic drawing tools included or by importing graphics and multimedia files by dragging and dropping them onto a slide.

    Several tools make Persuasion® easy to use. Menu bars, key commands and floating toolboxes follow the same paradigm as other Adobe products. A cropping tool lets the user mask images and shows only the portion wanted for the presentation. The Nudge toolbox lets the user to move or resize graphics by using arrows on the palette. The Layers toolbox allows one to work with Persuasion®'s layers individually. These floating toolboxes resemble those in Adobe PhotoShop, but unlike PhotoShop's they cannot be combined. However, this functionality still makes it easy to use layers and master slides.

    Like Adobe's PageMaker, the File Info command finds all the attendant fonts and linked files before sending out for external printing. It also provides an overview of embedded URLs and transitions. Persuasion® also uses highly flexible color management options.

    On The Web

    Presentations can be saved in Adobe's ubiquitous Portable Document Format (PDF) or even as a series of JPEG images, however the popular animated GIF format is unavailable. (It was probably omitted since such a GIF file created from a 50 slide presentation with a variety of graphics would probably be extremely large.) Web links in Persuasion® documents are preserved in the transition to PDF.

Compatibility

  • Hardware
      - Any Macintosh computer with a 68020 or greater processor,
         including Power Macintosh
      - 8 MB of RAM
      - 10 MB of available hard-disk space
      - Color monitor
      - CD-ROM drive (disks available on request)

  • Memory:
      Minimum:
      - 8 MB of RAM
      - 4 MB of RAM available to Persuasion®

  • Compatible Software: No incompatabilities were listed in this copy's documentation.

Tech Support

  • Technical Support is provided by the manufacturer, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Cost

  • $395

Conclusion

  • Persuasion® is a useful slideshow production package. It is easy enough for the casual user to obtain professional quality results, but not so simplistic that professionals in marketing or research should overlook it.