How should I present a slideshow consisting of PDFs?

Question

I need to present a slideshow on a projector. I know that if I use openoffice it can send a seperate image to the laptop screen and the projector.

If I have some other application (like a PDF viewer) being used to view the slideshow, how can I make the presentation display on both the screen and the projector?

Solution 1

PDF presenter consoles

A presenter console is a tool that allows you to see an overview of your slides on one monitor while holding the presentation on another. Both OpenOffice and LibreOffice come with such a plugin for odt files.

For pdf files there are a number of solutions. I have found pdfpc to be the most polished presenter console. It has a number of comfort functions, e.g. you can:

• freeze the presentation for your viewers while browsing through your slides
• display an overview of all of your slides
• turn off the presentation screen
• set up a timer and be alerted when your presentation time is up

If you look through the website you will also find key configurations for common presentation remotes and other nifty ways of customizing the application.

Here are some screenshots:

Solution 2

The proprietary NVidia driver for Ubuntu provides a Twinview mode you can access through the NVidia driver GUI program. This allows you to present the same desktop on both your screen and the projector.

Solution 3

Check system settings (gear icon on top right) and select "Monitors". There you can configure each one resolution, duplicate screen and select which one will display HUD.

Comments

[Dan]

What if I don't have an Nvidia card?

[Barbarrosa]

The proprietary ATI graphics driver provides the "Catalyst Control Center" application for managing graphics. Try looking for a Twinview equivalent there if you have ATI.

[Dan]

What about intel?

[Barbarrosa]

You might be able to use just Intel. Take a look at help.ubuntu.com/community/… .