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Excerpts from the PowerFinish Product review from Indezine ezine.
Reprinted with permission
By GEETESH BAJAJ
Microsoft PowerPoint MVP
...now, when I've finally started the PowerFinish review, I can't help regretting every minute I delayed...PowerFinish is just fantastic.
Between Templates & Backgrounds
Templates are distinct
in comparison to PowerFinish’s other offering: backgrounds. Whereas backgrounds add a behind-the-stage look to a slide, templates go the whole way - in providing slide and title masters, colour schemes, typeface
recommendations, etc. Readymade templates also make the job of creating a final presentation easier - just use them in a new or existing presentation for an instant makeover!
Backgrounds have their advantages
too: for one, you are not restricted to using them in PowerPoint alone. Other than that, professionals would like to use them to input their own colour schemes and typefaces.
It's great to know that
PowerFinish caters to both the template and background clientele - what's interesting to note is that there is no duplication of designs between the both of them. Maybe, Studio F supposes that's enough justification
for you to buy them both!
The Backgrounds
The backgrounds are blessed with their own name - "The Essential Background Library". It's an interesting name - and you can't help imagining that the
name itself could set very high expectations from users. So, it's a good thing that the backgrounds do live up to their sobriquet.
The Sense Of Design
PowerFinish’s greatest asset is it's sense of
design. Unlike a few other collections, you won't find the same design replicated in five colours - or a slight change in visualization being passed off as a new template.
Delicate and expert alpha channel
compositions are behind most of the templates and backgrounds - and most of the designs are universally acceptable...
Beyond PowerPoint...
Does PowerFinish warrant an existence beyond PowerPoint? The answer definitely boils down to the affirmative...
Outside PowerPoint, you can use PowerFinish designs in authoring packages like Director, Authorware,
ToolBook, Illuminatus, Mediator, Dazzler, etc. You can also use them as backgrounds in applications like Lotus Freelance, Corel Presentations, Astound, Harvard Graphics, Scala iPlay, etc. Indeed, you can also use
them to wallpaper your Windows or Macintosh desktop! Instances of usage in different arenas does not undermine the status of PowerFinish as a PowerPoint tool - rather it definitely increases your ROI (return
on investment) and creative flair.
Finally...
Yes, finally we approach the end of this review - this is the part when a product or service receives either a thumbs up or down. And I do know that among
you readers are a wide variegation of mankind - professional designers, business consultants, educators, students, social workers and the like.
The verdict would be to use PowerFinish - as templates for business users, and as backgrounds for professionals. Of course, you could always get both!
Geetesh Bajaj
plays with PowerPoint - through ideas, designs, colours, multimedia and reviews - not necessarily in that order. He also runs the Indezine site, which is also the home of the PowerPoint Ezine.
Visit his site at www.indezine.com/powerpoint
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