How to Use Build In Slide Effects in Apple Keynote ’09

Building a slide piece by piece adds a bit of flair to your presentation. Here’s how to use Apple Keynote’s build in effects in your next slide show.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Apple Macintosh Computer running Mac OS 10.5+
• iWork '09

1. 
    

   Launch Apple’s Keynote '09 application from the Dock or your Applications folder.

2. 
    

   Select a theme for your presentation. For this example we will be using the “Leather Book” theme.

3. 
    

   Add a new Title Slide. It should already be there when you create a new Keynote ’09 document, but just in case it’s not a “Title & Subtitle” slide, select the “Masters” item from the top menu and select the appropriate slide master.

4. 
    

   Double-click where it says “Double Click to Edit” and enter your own text in both spots.

5. 
    

   Open the Inspector by clicking on the Inspector button on the top menu.

6. 
    

   Open the Build Inspector by clicking on the orange-yellow box with motion lines to the right of it on the top of the Inspector window.

7. Select the Title text (the big one).

8. 
    

   Click “Build In” on the Build Inspector window.

9. 
    

   Select the effect you want from the “Effects” drop-down box. For this example we’ll use the “Typewriter” effect. You can see what the effect will look like in the Inspector preview window.

10. 
     

    Choose which direction you want the effect to run from the “Direction” drop-down menu. Each time you select a new option the Inspector Preview will show you what it looks like.

11. 
     

    Increase or decrease the duration of this effect by increasing or decreasing the number of seconds in the “Duration” box.

12. Repeat the above steps with the other text on the page, using the same or different effects. Have fun with this!

13. 
     

    If you want the effects on each object (lines of text) to take place at the same time, make sure the same value is in the “Order” drop-down box in the Inspector. If you want one to happen before the other, assign one of them “1” and the other “2.” The “Order” drop-down will have as many numbers as there are objects on the page.

14. 
     

    Click the “Play” button at the top of the screen to preview your effects. By default these effects are triggered by click, but you can change this by opening the “More Options” drawer in the Inspector.