It’s presentation time! Whether you are creating a template for your boss or prepping slides for a talk, using the right software can make the job a lot easier. We’re pitting Keynote vs. PowerPoint against one another to lay out the pros and cons of each.
For Mac users, there are two pretty obvious choices – Keynote and PowerPoint. But which do you choose? Should you always stick with one, or use different apps for different presentations?
Each has its own set of benefits and costs, and they’re both great for different uses. Hopefully, we’ll be able to help you make the right choice.
2 Million+ Keynote Templates, PowerPoint Templates + More
Download thousands of Keynote templates, and many other design elements, with a monthly Envato Elements membership. It starts at $16 per month, and gives you unlimited access to a growing library of over 2,000,000 presentation templates, fonts, photos, graphics, and more.
Sep 16, 2016 Microsoft PowerPoint vs Apple Keynote: adding slides As you use Keynote and PowerPoint you’ll add more slides to your presentation. If you want to send your presentation to someone but they don't have PowerPoint for Mac or PowerPoint for Windows, you can export your presentation in a different format, such as a picture format or a PDF file, so the recipient can view the slides.
Keynote
When it comes to making the choice of Keynote vs. PowerPoint for presentation software, understanding where each tool works best is key. Keynote is presentation software designed for Apple devices, so it will only work on computers, tablets, and phones running iOS software.
Keynote allows users to create presentations that look sleek without a lot of design capability. The tools are easy and intuitive. The slide navigator includes options for designing slides with different layouts, animations, fonts and you can even bring in presentations from other software.
Pros of Keynote
Most of the functionality in Keynote vs. PowerPoint is similar, it’s in some of the slide creation details that the software really differs. Pros of Keynote include:
- So user-friendly that someone who hasn’t built slides before can use it.
- Plenty of high-design theme options to choose from.
- Basic setup helps you align and position elements for a sleek overall design.
- Made for different types of multimedia such as images, sounds, video and other file types. (This is a huge feature!)
- Great integration across devices – go from your desktop to phone to tablet and keep working on the same presentation.
- Animation, transition and transparency effects are polished and don’t have that silly look and feel often associated with presentations.
- Software is free on all iOS devices.
- Photo manipulation tools – i.e. cropping – is actually easy in Keynote.
- There are plenty of extra templates that you can download and add if you don’t like one of the included designs.
- The design looks less like a standard slide deck, with a more polished overall aesthetic.
Cons of Keynote
While Keynote is a powerful tool, the biggest problem is that it is only for Mac and iOS devices.
- Not as highly adopted as other programs.
- Does not support some 3D effects and shadows from PowerPoint; so beware if you bring slides over.
- There is a learning curve if you are coming from other software.
Microsoft Powerpoint Free
Choose Keynote If:
If you are a Mac user and want to create presentations that don’t “look like PowerPoints,” then Keynote is for you. It’s relatively easy to use, comes installed with your OS (so there’s no software to buy) and provides a viable option for creating great presentations.
PowerPoint
PowerPoint is probably the most well-known presentation software. When it comes to comparing PowerPoint vs. Keynote, one of the biggest considerations is ease of use. If you’ve been using PowerPoint for a long time and are already comfortable with it, chances are that a switch might not be for you.
While this software was originally designed for PC as part of the Microsoft Office Suite (now called 365), it works on PC or Apple devices. Whereas Keynote works well on mobile devices, many functions of PowerPoint are more limited when creating presentations away from your desktop.
Pros of PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a powerful piece of presentation software and many people don’t even use it to the full potential. (This might actually be a pro or con, depending on your experience with the software.)
- Most people have used PowerPoint of another Microsoft product and understand basic usage.
- There are thousands of themes and templates to choose from, as default options and as add-ons.
- Editing is easy and the interface and slides work using drag and drop.
- Other Microsoft elements from Word and Excel integrate seamlessly so you can add documents or spreadsheets to slides.
- Notes function converts slides to handouts that look and work great.
- Data and chart integration for building quick graphics works exceptionally well.
- Advanced functions provide a lot of control for experience PowerPoint users that can control almost any aspect of the design.
- Smart design suggestions can help you create more visually appealing slides if you aren’t working from a rigid template.
Cons of PowerPoint
Because PowerPoint is so complicated, it can be problematic for some users. Cons include:
- Adding multimedia is flaky and doesn’t always work if you present on a device other than where you built the slideshow.
- Cropping and photo editing can be quite tedious.
- PowerPoint makes it too easy to create a bad design with garish animations and effects that deploy with just a click.
- You have to buy the software.
- There are a lot of features that most users don’t use; they can get in the way.
Choose PowerPoint If:
PowerPoint is generally the best option in a team environment where people collaborating on slide decks are used to PowerPoint. It’s also the go-to option in a non-Mac environment. It’s highly compatible since slides will work on any type of computer and most people have some familiarity with using the software.
PowerPoint is also preferred for users that are bringing complex data or charts into slides, because it integrates with Excel, making this functionality a lot easier.
Conclusion
If you are working on a team that does presentations frequently and are in a Mac and PC environment, it’s probably a good idea to at least get comfortable with both pieces of presentation software. When it comes down to Keynote vs. PowerPoint, you don’t always get an option as to what type of software will be used.
When you do get an option, many Mac users working in slides without massive amounts of data seem to prefer Keynote. For PC users or anyone working with charts and numbers, PowerPoint is the go-to option for creating presentations.
Microsoft office 2010. Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac makes it very simple to collaborate with others in your office. It has got built-in template gallery that enables you to create professional looking documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac has got tools like PowerPoint, Word and Excel along with Outlook. This office suite can be used in the full screen mode which will eliminate the possible distractions and will let you focus on the task. MS Office is probably the most widely used and world renowned office suite.You can also download.Though there are many other open source and free alternative out there in order to help you create text documents, presentations and spreadsheets databases like OpenOffice, NeoOffice, LibreOffice and Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote but MS Office is still one of the most widely used solution on Mac platform.
Keynote Templates
Keynote, part of Apple's iWork suite, is a presentation tool of the pros. With beautiful layout tools and typography, it can give your presentation an edge. This Keynote series covers tips for using the app, giving stand-out presentations, as well as beautiful Keynote templates and themes.
PowerPoint might be the industry standard when it comes to presentations, but it’s far from the only option. Yes, Microsoft’s offering might be the most powerful, but it isn’t the easiest to use. That title might just go to Apple’s Keynote, which makes preparing and giving presentations easy.
Even if you’re a Keynote diehard, you might run into situations when you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file. You can tell these by the .ppt or .pptx format. Fortunately converting them to the Keynote format is a straightforward process.
Related: How to Convert Powerpoint Presentations to Videos
Import a PowerPoint presentation into Keynote
To get started, open up your PowerPoint presentation in Keynote. Apple’s software supports both the newer .pptx format and the older .ppt extension. Unless you’re exceedingly lucky, you’ll probably see a few warnings.
Replacing missing fonts
The most common problem you’ll encounter is missing fonts. Being a Microsoft product, PowerPoint defaults to using Microsoft fonts. Since these aren’t available in Apple’s software, you’ll need to choose some alternatives.
Strangely enough, you might even have to replace a font with a font of the same name. Apparently, the Helvetica used in PowerPoint isn’t the same as Keynote’s version of Helvetica.
If all you’re doing is presenting, you don’t absolutely need to change fonts. If you plan to edit the presentation at all though, you’ll need to choose replacements.
Other possible issues
While missing fonts are the most common issue, they aren’t the only issue you may encounter. Graphs, for example, can be problematic when importing a PowerPoint file into Keynote. In the worst-case scenarios, you may need to completely replace the graph with a new one.
There are other issues you may run into as well, depending on how many of PowerPoint’s features you use. A list of what is and isn’t compatible between PowerPoint and Keynote is available on Apple’s website.
Test your presentation
Once you’ve made any changes necessary, the next step should be to run through your presentation. This way you can check for any other incompatible features or other issues. If you find anything that doesn’t look right, now is the time to fix it.
Save your presentation as a Keynote file
If you’re able to run through the presentation without issue, now it’s time to save the file. Once you save the presentation as a Keynote file, the conversion process is done. Just to make sure that everything went smoothly, you might want to close the file and open it again. It’s better to catch any issues early, instead of in the middle of a presentation.
Other options
Mac Keynote To Microsoft Powerpoint 2016
If you’re running into problems not addressed here, having PowerPoint installed on your Mac can help. This way, you can fix issues in the original version of the presentation before converting to Keynote’s format. It might be less than ideal, but if you have an Office 365 subscription, it can make your life easier. You can still convert to Keynote in the end, but you aren’t stuck if you run into issues.
Powerpoint In Mac
In extreme cases or if you’re out of time, converting to Keynote may not be an option. If you’re stuck with a PowerPoint file but don’t have the software, there is a solution. Just as with Microsoft Word files, you can open a .pptx or .ppt file in the web version of PowerPoint. This may not be your first choice, but it can save your presentation in a pinch.