The Technology Life

Less menus, more options. Easier text editing, upgraded Transformation Zebra and YouTube integration: the new editor has half the menus of its predecessor, while it has more features and a welcome video as a bonus.

See the complete feature list and changes after the jump. For detailed feature introduction, see the updated Prezi Manual or watch a prezi of all the changes complete with keyboard shortcuts!

Edit Mode:

1. Text and Place modes have been merged into a single bubble called Write.
2. Double click anywhere on the canvas to create new texts or edit existing ones.
3. Click any object once to select it and use the Transformation Zebra tool.
4. Text and paragraph styles are now shown and can be switched when a textbox is created/edited.
5. Import YouTube videos by double-clicking to open a textbox, then paste in the YouTube video’s link.

Show Mode:

1. Use Show mode to navigate and present your prezi.
2. In Show mode all the menus, including the main menu, are set to autohide, and appear when you move your mouse near them.
3. Use the UP and DOWN arrow, your scrollwheel, or the Zoom buttons for zooming while presenting, but not SPACEBAR, since it is the mode switcher key now. Press SPACEBAR while Editing to quit a submenu, press again to switch to Show mode, and again to switch back. You can do this forever, or even just hold down SPACEBAR, to enter Show mode temporarily as long as you release the key. Takes longer to describe than to do it: just go ahead and try it now.
4. Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to step forward and backward while presenting.
5. Full screen now can be reached from the Show menu as well as from the bottom-right Navigation tools.

Transformation Zebra:

There is a new button, a + sign, on Prezi’s emblematic editing tool indicating a new sub-menu: Bring Forward (previously Up), Send Backward (previously Down), Duplicate, Delete and Select more (add new objects to a group selection).

Path:

1. Pressing Path will enable you to add an object to your path right away.
2. Press Delete All to delete the whole path.
3. New feature: Capture View, indicated by a camera icon, creates a bracket frame from the current view, and adds it to the end of the path.

Name changes:

1. Style is now Colors & Fonts.
2. Line menu is now called Shapes. You can find Shapes under the Insert menu.
3. Media menu is now called Insert. You can upload a file to your prezi under Insert menu.

Hotkey changes:

1. Pressing SPACEBAR serves as a toggle between Show and Edit mode. If you are in a sub-menu, pressing SPACEBAR takes you back to the main Bubble menu.
2. Pressing and holding SPACEBAR will take you temporarily to Show mode. While there, you can navigate or click with the mouse, or use the LEFT/RIGHT arrows to move back and forth in the path the path. When you release SPACEBAR, you get back to Edit mode.
3. ESC serves to remove fullscreen, if applicable.
4. In Show mode the LEFT and RIGHT keys will move you on the path backward and forward respectively. UP and DOWN keys will zoom in and out. Zooming out with the DOWN arrow works as Smart Zoom: it brings you up to the next largest enclosing or crossing frame object.
5. There are new shortcuts for some of the menu functions. The Frames menu can be reached by pressing ‘F’. Pressing ‘S’ takes you to Shapes menu. Loading a file is possible by pressing ‘L’ and Path menu can be reached by pressing ‘P’.
6. You can use CTRL+D for duplicating an object, and you can use CTRL+Z, CTRL+Y and CTRL+S for Undo, Redo, Save respectively.

Other:

1. Easy to reach Zoom Buttons help you at the right edge of the canvas.
2. Undo/Redo, Save and Exit are now in the upper right corner, together with Help.
3. There is a friendly welcome video when you open the new editor for the first time: it helps you get up and running in 3 minutes.

Feel free to play around with the new editor while retaining access to the old editor. You can choose which one to work with till February 8 — to avoid the stress of learning new features and names just before an upcoming presentation. On Feb 8, the old editor will permanently retire, and will have a nice poster in the Prezi Hall of Fame. Beware: once a YouTube video has been inserted, you can only open and edit your prezi with the new editor. We’re excited to get your feedback!

This very unique approach to a support tool for communication hooks your audience. If you are like me and prefer using slides as suppprt and not the message, check out Prezi. Leveraging the communication impact of multiple media along with a very unique way to represent text information increase the needed attention locking impact from a good communication support tool.