Posting Keynote to web

October 28th, 2009 Posted in faculty, tech, workshop

Apple-folks, I was asked how to post Keynote presentations to the web for students to review.

First, know that Keynote files are Apple-only. There is a simple export function that will allow you to convert your Keynote presentation into a PC-compatible Powerpoint file. Under the Share menu, choose "Export", and then select Powerpoint.

Keynote export menu

Second, know that Keynote files are not files in the way that we normally think of files, they are containers. That is to say, a Keynote "file" is most similar to a folder. Your Mac knows that this folder belongs to Keynote and that everything inside of it is related, so it treats it as a file - but not all applications know this, and other computers certainly don't. This is why it is sometimes difficult to email a Keynote file; it's like emailing a whole folder - which can rarely be done. And this is why you cannot simply post a Keynote file to your website or CatLink (our in-house Moodle install, for our outside readers).

Back to the original question then, how can we post Keynote files to the web for students? I recommend converting to PDF. You could do it through the Share menu and the conversion dialog shown above - simply choose PDF instead of PPT. This will put one slide on one 8.5x11 page, if students print. That strikes me as wasteful, and so I recommend using the Print dialog, and placing multiple slides on a single piece of paper.

Begin through File > Print, and then follow the screenshots below.

At the PDF button (step 3 above), choose "Save as PDF." This will result in a PDF suitable for students to print, whether they are on Macs or PCs.

As always, if you have questions, please let me know.

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  1. One Response to “Posting Keynote to web”

  2. By Jamie Pruden on Oct 28, 2009

    One other technique for getting more than one slide on a page is to go to the print dialog shown above and set it to print individual slides, then click the pop-down called “Keynote” and choose the Layout option.

    This allows you to set the number of slides per page… with the caveat that it does not give you the ability to “save” some space next to your slides for notes or other comments. This solution will give you a sheet with up to 16 slides, reduced to fit on the page. If you’re actually printing (as opposed to creating a PDF, you can also create double-sided prints by accessing the Layout option.

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