2010 International Conference on Intelligence and Information Technology (ICIIT 2010)

A Survey of Text & Image-based Presentation Tools

Imran Ali Qureshi
Mohammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad, Pakistan i4imran@mail.com
Abstract The role of Presentation Tools became very important and significant in Multimedia discipline. By the passage of time we have seen that a lot of tools evolved which are classified in different categories like Text-based, Imagebased, audio/ video-based presentation tools. We have explored Presentation Tools w.r.t. the classification of Text and Image. In this paper, we have listed most of the prevailing Presentation Tools for Text & Image. We have also formulated analysis parameters and on the basis of those parameters we deviced an analysis matrix table showing comparative analysis between all listed tools. This resulted in a need of development of a new tool or upgradation of existing tools in order to qualify the existing needs of ontological engineering towards cognitive and pedagogical requirements. Keywords- text ,image, presentation tools, sematics, pedagogy

Imran Ihsan
Mohammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad, Pakistan iimranihsan@gmail.com We analyzed all the selected tools and after analyzing all the tools we constructed some parameters and on the basis of these parameters we made a comparative analysis of all the selected tools. In this paper we have focused on comparison of Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools. We conducted a detailed and thorough survey of prevailing Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools and at the end we have given a comparative analysis of these surveyed tools. Rest of the paper is as follows. Section 2, which is the main section of the paper, describes Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools, Section 3 is about the analysis, in this section first analyzing parameters are explained, and in next portion a comparative analysis of listed tools on the basis of analyzing parameters is done, while conclusion is given in Section 4. II. TEXT & IMAGE-BASED PRESENTATION TOOLS Tools selection was not an easy task, for this purpose we have done a thorough survey, and found a lot of tools out of which we have selected following twelve (12) presentation tools. These tools primarily deal with text and image-based data; therefore, we could say that these tools are classified in Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools [1,9,13,17,20,22,23,26,29, 30,32]. A. Ability Presentation B. KPresenter C. IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics D. MSPowerPoint E. NeoOfficeImpress F. StarImpress G. Impress H. Preezo I. J. CorelPresentations KingSoft Presentation

I.

INTRODUCTION

In Multimedia discipline, we have to handle different data types and in the computer science field every type of data, which can be store in, is in digital form, and we also know that as a broad sense we can split a digital data in three main categories i.e. Text, Image, Audio/ video Since it is clear from the given topic that we are interested in the presentation tools, which are primarily concern with the text and image based data, although they might provide support for other type of data like audio/ video, but their basic and fundamental identity is that they are classified in Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools. Keeping in mind this basic point we have done a thorough survey about the presentation tools, and found a lot of tools out of which we have selected twelve (12) presentation tools. During the selection process it was not easy to select the tools without proper reasoning, so we decided to select the tools on the basis of some criteria, for this purpose we laid down following three principles and on the basis of these, we selected the twelve tools. 1) The tool should be for commercial/ industrial use, i.e. it should not be an experimental tool. 2) It should be developed/ own by a group/ company, which possessed a good reputation in the market about software development. 3) It should contain enough characteristics that are necessary for any tool that comes in the classification of Text & Image Based Presentation Tools.

K. Adobe Persuasion L. MagicPoint

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2010 IEEE

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2010 International Conference on Intelligence and Information Technology (ICIIT 2010)

A. Ability Presentation This tool is developed by the Ability plus software; it is a Windows based tool and a component of Ability Office. It is a proprietary software [23]. Ability Office provides compatibility supports to Microsoft Office and other popular file formats, for the import and export of their files into ability office. It is popular with (OEM) Original Equipment Manufacturer system builders in the United Kingdom. It is a low-cost and an alternative to Microsoft Office and WordPerfect Office. Ability plus software team announced that they have developed an alpha version of Ability Office for Linux but not yet came in the market [21,24]. Ability presentation has the capability to set timer for presentation as well as include other objects in the presentation [38]. B. KPresenter This tool is developed by the KOffice Team; it is a Linux, Unix based tool and a component of Koffce [21]. KOffice is for the K Desktop Environment (KDE). The current 4.6.x series has released KOffice 2.2.1, which is a more stable released as compare to earlier one, i.e., KOffice release 2.2, anticipated to add compatibility for Mac OS X and Windows [18]. KOffice possess an important feature, i.e., import filters for some file formats which is also provided by its competitors, whereas, KPresenter supports the use of templates and metadata standards [17,19].

such as Microsoft Office. NeoOffice is completely functional and stable program that can be used for office requirements [22]. Since the software is developed and maintained very keenly, therefore, improvements and small updates are made available on a regular basis [21]. It provides compatibility with other tools, as well as it allows user to import and export the files. It provides personalization but at a very limited scale [40,41]. F. StarImpress This tool is developed by Sun Microsystems; it is a Windows, Linux, Solaris based tool and a component of StarOffice [14,21]. Although it is based on the OpenOffice.org package, but the important and significant aspect is it embrace some added features and proprietary components, which are not in OpenOffice.org like StarOffice Configuration Manager A huge clip art gallery Dissimilarity in different credentials e.g. documentation, support options, training materials. There are also some minor differences in icons. Sun uses a per-person license (5 PC) for StarOffice, whereas mostly per-processor licenses used for proprietary software. StarOffice provide support for multi languages, upto 10 languages, but provide limited features as compare to MSPowerPoint [14, 34]. Educational licensing is available for the academic institutions and individuals. Specifically for students and teachers an online tutorial alongwith web-based Training is available free of cost. Another advantage is file size reduction (8% to 15% of the size) as compare to the PowerPoint *.ppt format [12,13,15,16,37]. G. Impress This tool is developed by OpenOffice.org team; it is a Windows, Unix, Mac OS based tool and a component of OpenOffice [9,10,11,21,37]. It provides limited features as compare to MSPowerPoint, like there is no setting for multimedia custom animations, etc.. [14, 33]. OpenOffice.org is an open source, supports for multi languages, these features cause the emerging of StarOffice and NeoOffice which contains the presentation tools i.e. NeoOfficeImpress and StarImpress. Impress has no built-in presentation templates, although third-party templates are readily available on the Internet. H. Preezo This tool is developed by share Methods; it is a Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS based tool and a component of ShareOffice. It is propriety software [21]. Preezo is a tool for making quick presentations on the web. ShareOffice, is a World's First Online Office which is based on Open Standards. It is launched with the consultation of different stack holder. Presentations created by Preezo are access through the internet and issues like

C. IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics This tool is developed by Lotus Software (formerly Lotus Development Corp.); it is a Windows based tool and a component of Lotus SmartSuite. Lotus Freelance Graphics is an informative and presentation tool. Its previous versions were also released for OS/2 [21]. It provides compatibility with other tools, as well as it allows user to import and export the files [39]. D. MS PowerPoint This tool is developed by Microsoft Corporation; it is a Windows and Mac OS based tool and a component of MSOffice [21]. A large community from business and education uses this program. [7,8]. PowerPoint 2007 has introduced the new XML-based file formats which are .pptx, .ppsx and .potx Microsoft Office PowerPoint has gained very popularity and could be counted as the world's very largely being used presentation program [1,2,3,4,5,6,14,25,33,37]. E. NeoOfficeImpress This tool is developed by Planamesa Inc.; it is a Mac OS X based tool and component of NeoOffice. It is based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs

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portability, interoperability are solved through this way because anyone from anywhere can access it [27,42]. It is develop with the help of iNetOffice, EditGrid, ShareMethods and salesforce.com [21,26,28]. Preezo offers six presentation templates, which are very less as compare to MSPowerPoint but from an average users point of view it seems enough. The biggest disadvantage with Preezo is, it cannot open existing presentation from desktop. I. CorelPresentations This tool is developed by Corel Corporation; it is a Windows, based tool and a component of WordPerfect Suite. It is propriety software [21,29]. In CorelPresetations we can save a presentation in various formats like, MSPowerPoint format, PDF, XML, and HTML [43]. Worldperfect suite provides openness in the shape of file formats only. CorelPresentations has several built-in presentation templates. J. KingSoft Presentation This tool is developed by the KingSoft Team; it is a windows, Linux based tool and a component of KingSoft Office [21]. Small size and use of resources are the key factor to make it very easy to use. It is a propriety, but freely available for individuals and non-commercial use [30,31]. Latest version of Kingsoft Office 2007 is fully compliant with prevailing XML standards. It offers considerable templates that can help users to fulfill their needs [31].

III. ANALYSIS We have divided our analysis section in two portions; first portion describes the analysis parameters while the next one shows the analysis matrix. A. Analysis Parameters After reviewing the different Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools as explained in section 2, we identify certain parameters [45], and on the basis of these parameters we have evaluated the selected tools. Following are the analysis parameters: 1) Presentation Model: In which presentation model the tool is classified i.e. [spatial/ temporal/ interactive/ adaptive]. 2) Platform: All such Platforms on which Windows, Linux, Unix, Solaris, Mac OS can operate, this tool can operate, if a tool works on all such Operating systems then it will be called cross-platform. 3) Openness: Access to the resources of this tool from every aspect, i.e. open, verifiable standards, lack of restrictions, etc.. [Yes/ No/ Partially]. 4) Adaptability: The tool has the ability to use any other tools file. [Yes/ No]. 5) Portability: The tool has the ability to target tools on different platforms as well as tools of same platforms for exchange of information. Partially mean only one possibility at a time i.e.[Yes/ No/ Partially]. 6) Personalization: The tool provides facility to the users for customization according to their needs. i.e. [Yes/ No/ Somewhat]. 7) Interoperability: The ability of tool to work on different platforms owned by different vendors to share data. i.e. [Yes/ No/ partially]. 8) Extensibility: The tool has the ability to add additional functionalities/ capabilities. i.e. [Yes/ No/ Somewhat]. 9) Semantic Search & Retrieval: The tool has the ability to search and retrieve data on the basis of its metadata (Semantics). i.e. [Yes/ No]. 10) Integration of Learning Objects: The tool has the ability to integrate such objects which can be counted as learning object. i.e. [Yes/ No/ Somewhat]. 11) Metadata Standards: The tool has the ability to provide metadata facilities, if yes are they open, extensible, proprietary. i.e. [No/Open/Extensible/ Proprietary]. 12) Media Data Standards: The tool has the ability to provide media data standards, if yes are they open, extensible, proprietary. i.e. [No/ Open/ Extensible/ Proprietary]. 13) Schema Definitions: The tool uses schemas in the background i.e. [Yes/ No]. 14) Presentation Templates: The tool uses some presentation templates i.e. [Yes/ No].

K. Adobe Persuasion This tool is developed by Adobe Systems, Aldus Corporation; it is a Mac OS, Windows based tool. Adobe Systems get hold on in 1994 and two companies merged then a Windows version was launched. Adobe discontinued manufacturing of this product from September 1997. The most important characteristic of Persuasion which distinguished it from early versions of Microsoft PowerPoint was the ability to create an outline for a presentation which was instantaneously reflected on the slides [20]. At that time PowerPoint was Persuasion's primary competitor on the Windows platform, compatibility was a significant feature. L. MagicPoint This tool is developed by WIDE (Widely Integrated Distributed Environment) project; it is a tool for Unix like platforms. This tool is available free of cost. [32,35]. We can make a presentation in this tool through text file by using proper syntax in which certain commands are used [44]. Its major drawback is it has no GUI. Slides are created with the help of text editors. It is not counted as a richfeature tool as compare to other presentation tools [36].

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B. Analysis Matrix We have evaluated all the selected tools on the basis of analysis parameters, which are described above, and
TABLE I.

constructed an analysis matrix i.e. Table-1, which shows the comparison of selected Text & Image- Based Presentation Tools.

SHOWING COMPARISON OF TEXT & IMAGE-BASED PRESENTATION TOOLS

Text & Image-Based Presentation Tools

1 Ability Presentation

2 KPresenter

3 IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics

4 MS PowerPoint

5 NeoOffice Impress

6 Star Impress

9 Corel Presentation

10 KingSoft Presentation

11 Adobe Persuasion

12 MagicPoint Spatial Unix like Partiall y No Partiall y No No No No Some what Prop. Prop. No No

Impress

Presentation Model

Spatial, temporal adaptive Windows

Spatial adaptive Linux, Unix, Solaris Yes

Spatial adaptive OS/2, Windows

Spatial, temporalint eract. adaptive Windows, Mac OS X

Spatia l adapti ve Mac OS X

Preezo

Spatial adaptive Windows, Linux, Solaris Yes

Spatial adaptive Crossplatform

Spatial, temporal Crossplatform

Spatial adaptive temporal Windows

Spatial adaptive Window s, Linux

Spatial adaptive Window s, Mac OS Partially

Platform

Openness

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Partially

Yes

Adaptability

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Portability

Partially

Yes

Yes

Partially

Partia lly Some what

Yes

Yes

Partially

Partially

Yes

Partially

Personalization Analysis Parameters

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Some what

No

Some what

Yes

Yes

Some what

Interoperability

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Extensibility Semantic Search & Retrieval Integration of Learning Objects Metadata Standards Media Data Standards Schema Definition Presentation Templates

Some what

Some what

Some what

Yes

Yes

Some what

Some what

Some what

Some what

Some what

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Some what

Some what

Yes

Some what

Some what

Some what

Yes

Some what

Some what

Some what

Prop.

Open

Prop.

Prop.

Open

Open

Open

Open

Prop.

Open

Prop.

Open

Open

Open

Prop. extensib.

Open

Open

Open

Open

Open

Open

Open

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

IV.

CONCLUSION

We have identified various analysis parameters and with the help of these parameters we made a comparison of selected tools as shown above in the Table-1, from analysis matrix it is observed that there are a number of choices for everyone depending on his/ her limitations and restrictions,

however, MSPowerPoint is a better choice keeping in mind the evaluation parameters, like presentation model, extensibility and integration of learning objects, but still it can not be counted as a perfect one. From Table-1 it is obvious that there is a need of a presentation tool, which should possess more characteristics

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like semantic search & retrieval, which at the moment none of the selected tool has. Our analysis will help in this direction for creating new tools or upgrading existing tools according to the evolving needs of ontological engineering towards cognitive and pedagogical requirements. REFERENCES
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