Jul 3, 2017
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emaze: Make amazing HTML5 presentation slides

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“Death by PowerPoint.” This is a phrase known all too well by classroom teachers and college professors alike. While this can happen in any presentation software if the presenter is unable to effectively deliver content, using a platform that makes design intuitive and appealing helps to reduce the effect of poor presentation and poor slides.

Emaze (http://www.emaze.com/) is HTML5-based alternative presentation software that provides a platform for telling cohesive stories. Presentations created on emaze are easily shared, responsive across all devices, and provide analytics to uncover the data behind your viewers.

Intended Audience: Anyone expected to give a presentation, useful for in-classroom and for conference presentations

Subjects: Any subject

Cost: Free with optional upgrades using subscription plans

Features of emaze

Emaze has a lot of useful features:

  1. Variety of presentation templates including video backgrounds and zooming features
  2. Can go beyond presentations to create blogs, photo albums, event flyers, and more
  3. Seamlessly add all types of media add-ons through the addition of HTML5
  4. Use advanced analytics to track views of your presentation; also can be used to track student progress
  5. Cloud-based software so the presentation can be viewed from any device
  6. Automated translation tool so that the presentation can be translated to different languages
  7. Can collaborate with others on presentations

Creating your Account

The first step on your way to creating amazing presentations is to create your account. This can be done via Google, Facebook, or emaze. The platform will ask for your primary role and this will indicate the preferences and choices you receive in emaze.

emaze login screen

emaze Main Page

On the my screen, you have the ability to create a new emaze, to ’emazify’ an existing PowerPoint, to view an introductory presentation to emaze, and to change between a presentation, website, blog, e-card, or photo album. If this is the first time you have used emaze start on the Welcome Aboard presentation. Once you view this presentation, it disappears from the screen.

home screen for emaze

From there you are ready to start creating your first presentation. You will have the option to choose what you are creating at this point. In the case of this how-to guide, we will be creating a traditional presentation. However, it is very easy to imagine how the other creations could be used in the classroom. For example, students could be responsible for capturing photos from a field trip to a nature center and use emaze to create their own photo album around this trip.

Creating Presentation from Scratch

The very first thing you will do when creating a presentation is to choose the template. If you have spent any amount of time creating a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint you know how the formatting changes depending on the design template. While this can be changed later in the process, it is a good idea to spend a significant amount of time planning the presentation before actually creating it. This allows the selection of a theme to fit the goals of the presentation. Make sure to save the presentation frequently while working in order to prevent any lost work.

There are multiple presentation types including:

  • Business
  • Education
  • Art and Design
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Training

You always have the option of starting a presentation without a template. In this case, we will choose the Make a Change 3D template.

Editing the Presentation

The template can either be previewed or edited. The image below shows the main editing pane. From here you can swap out pictures and graphics, add new slides, insert shapes, adjust settings, and then finally save and share the finished presentation. There are editing features for the novice and the more advanced. For example, a novice user should feel comfortable adding a new shape or changing the text on the presentation while a more advanced user can use the settings tab to add HTML or manage the SEO and metatags.

editingtemplate

At any point during creation, you are able to import a PowerPoint as well. Be aware of formatting issues when importing a PowerPoint. You also able to use the ‘view’ button to preview the presentation. While some 3D presentations can be confusing to navigate and design, emaze makes it easy.

When you finish, you need to choose how to share the presentation. Share options include standard social media platforms. A WordPress plugin exists.  In addition, with the premium version, you have the option to make the presentation private, to add collaborators, and a host of other features. The education subscription costs $9.00/month.

sharing features

Creating Presentation from PowerPoint

The editing process is the same as when creating an initial emaze presentation. The difference comes in uploading the PowerPoint and choosing an existing template to convert the PowerPoint too. This works better with a minimal PowerPoint design. A template in PowerPoint skews when converted to emaze.

powerpoint formatting

 

You are on your way to creating an amazing presentation in emaze! Dig in and uncover more of the features and options for creating engaging and memorable work.

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