The main tool for successful presentation in front of an audience is a good presentation. With the help of modern software tools, you can demonstrate anything to the public, whether it’s an idea, a report on the work done, a service or a product. Using presentation software, you can effectively organize an online lesson, make any school project of high quality, and much more.
Windows users are already accustomed to working in PowerPoint, the standard application of Microsoft’s office suite, but apart from it, there is still a lot of quality software that can be used to arrange content in a presentable way to present to the audience. To make it easier for you to decide in favor of one or another service, check out our selection of the best applications for creating presentations and school projects on Windows.
Contents
Top 10 Presentation Software in 2022
Undoubtedly, PowerPoint is the most popular and quite effective software for performing certain tasks, but since we want to introduce you to alternative solutions, this tool is not included in our selection. Consider effective presentation programs for Windows, distributed free of charge or on a commercial basis, as well as having modern functionality and suitable for both work and study.
For convenience, we have placed software options in a comparative table.
| Soft | License | Russian language | Functions | OS | Rating |
| PhotoShow Pro | Trial period 10 days | + | A lot of | Windows | ten |
| Screen Studio | Trial period 5 days | + | A lot of | Windows | ten |
| PROMOSHOW | Free/10 days for full version | + | A lot of | Windows | 9 |
| WPS Office Presentation | Free / there is a premium version | + | Few | Windows, Linux | 9 |
| Movavi Slideshow Maker | Free / there is a paid functionality | + | A lot of | Windows, macOS | eight |
| ProShow Producer | Trial period 15 days | + | A lot of | Windows | eight |
| LibreOffice Impress | Is free | + | Few | Windows, Linux, macOS | eight |
| Open Office Impress | Is free | + | Few | Windows, Linux, macOS | 7 |
| Lotus Symphony | Is free | + | A lot of | Windows, Linux, macOS | 7 |
| Prezi | Trial period 30 days/online free | — | Few | Windows, macOS, online | 7 |
PhotoShow Pro
A program for creating spectacular presentations and slide shows from photos, videos and music. In addition to photos, the project can use titles, captions, as well as numerous effects and transitions with the ability to customize each slide individually. The program is suitable for school projects, the presentation of goods and services, or any other tasks. The finished work can be saved (there is HD support) on the device and, if desired, published on the Internet.
Software features:
- use of photo, audio and video in one work;
- individual settings for each slide;
- over 250 special effects and transitions;
- a set of thematic slide templates, including titles and background pictures;
- animated maps (in version 22.0);
- support for most popular formats, the choice of file saving format;
- burning to DVD, converting to HD video;
- preparation for uploading to YouTube and social networks;
- converting projects for viewing on smartphones.
The software is easy to learn, the interface is convenient, the Russian language is supported, so users with any skill level can create slide shows.
Screen Studio
The screen recorder and video editing software is a great solution for users who want to make a presentation with the ability to show the desktop, add tutorial videos, and broadcast from a webcam. With its help, you can create high-quality video tutorials, record let’s plays (with FPS), mount content for YouTube and social networks.
The software offers the following benefits:
- creating video tutorials, editing videos;
- screen recording (fragment, entire desktop, program window);
- capturing streaming video from web resources;
- webcam recording;
- editing video recordings, downloading audio, recording voice comments;
- catalog of stickers, pictures, styles for text;
- video effects, transitions;
- save your work in any popular video format, optimize for different devices, create DVD or ISO images;
- preparation for publication on YouTube and social networks.
The program is not demanding on resources and will work even on a weak computer. Its only drawback is a small trial period of only 5 days.
PROMOSHOW
The application is a powerful professional editor for creating high-quality promotional videos used to promote businesses in various areas. The program will allow you to make presentations of any goods and services, and you can download it for free on the official website or a reliable resource. The PromoSHOW toolkit includes well-designed templates for various industries, a built-in graphics editor, an audio collection, video editing tools and other necessary tools, with its help you can easily and quickly create effective advertising for your business.
Capabilities:
- use of video, audio, text, images and 3D animation;
- templates for different areas of commercial activity;
- ready-made animated slides (title, universal, etc.);
- editing slide animations, setting up multiple layers;
- 3D effects for individual objects or the entire slide;
- a collection of musical compositions and atmospheric sounds;
- saving clips in popular formats (over 30 supported);
- automatic upload to YouTube;
- tracking performance statistics of published work;
- burn DVD with animated menu.
The period of free use of the extended version is 10 days, after which the use of software with limited functionality is available or a purchase is expected.
WPS Office Presentation (Kingsoft Presentation)
The WPS Office presentation program is a good alternative to PowerPoint with the ability to edit and view projects created in the application from Microsoft. The software has flexible settings and is suitable for creating training courses, reports, reports, displaying goods or services, all kinds of slide shows and other purposes.
The software has the following features:
- creation of projects with animation, interactive objects;
- insert video, audio, add text, captions, titles;
- built-in collection of ready-made templates;
- detailed project setup and editing of its elements separately;
- transitions, setting the speed, the duration of the slide show;
- creating screenshots, embedding a broadcast from a webcam;
- adding voice comments when connecting a microphone;
- work with PPT files, compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides;
- PPT to PDF conversion and vice versa;
- choosing a save option;
- collective work on projects when connecting an account.
Since the software is a WPS software module, the installation of the entire package will be required. This option is not suitable for weak devices. The Office Presentation interface is simple and convenient, it is similar to PowerPoint, so there should not be any difficulties in working with the software. If you want to use premium features, you can subscribe.
Movavi Slideshow Maker
With the free Slideshow Maker program, you can easily create slideshows, regardless of your skills with such tools. Two operating modes are available: step by step wizard and advanced for more advanced users. The first one is ideal for beginners, by choosing it, you can create a presentation from photos with overlay transitions, text and music in a matter of minutes. Manual mode will open all the possibilities of the program.
Slideshow Maker offers:
- manual and advanced modes;
- adding sound accompaniment;
- support for all popular audio and graphics formats;
- 150 effects 100 transitions;
- animated objects, stickers, frames and other overlays;
- setting the duration and size of each slide;
- export to a video file of any format;
- adaptation of commercials for different screen sizes;
- uploading the finished work to the network.
There are also over 30 theme presets available for the app, which you can download to quickly create a presentation on a specific topic.
ProShow Producer
Software for creating spectacular presentations at the professional level. The rich functionality of ProShow Producer with the new version in Russian will allow you to turn photos into colorful slide shows in a matter of minutes. Despite the level of software and the variety of built-in tools, both inexperienced users and professionals will be able to work with it.
With the program you will get the following features:
- more than 20 integrated thematic templates;
- over 250 effects and transitions;
- 3D collages, photo animation;
- the use of layers is not limited, setting each layer separately;
- animated titles;
- built-in collection of music and sound effects;
- automatic synchronization of slides and music;
- add watermarks on all slides with one click;
- setting data protection from copying and viewing;
- HD video recording;
- support for popular file formats;
- recording on DVD, publication in social networks.
The program is shareware, so registration is required after 15 days of using the promo version.
LibreOffice Impress
Microsoft Office’s slideshow and presentation preparation tool, similar to PowerPoint, is included in the LibreOffice free and open-source office software package. Through Impress, you can create, edit or view projects, including those saved in PowerPoint format. Files created in the application are also available to users of other applications that support the format.
Impress features include:
- several modes of editing and viewing;
- adding texts, lists, tables, images, multimedia files, interactive objects, links and buttons;
- 2D and 3D clipart, special effects;
- a set of drawing tools;
- styles, text, background, animation;
- spell checker, thesauri;
- creation of drawings and diagrams;
- templates for quick project preparation;
- working with PowerPoint files;
- saving the project in OpenDocument or PPT and PPTX format (PowerPoint presentations), exporting to SWF (Flash presentations).
Among the disadvantages: you will need to install the entire LibreOffice package, which also includes text, spreadsheet and vector editors. Additional templates will have to be installed manually from the repository.
Open Office Impress
Another program in the office suite (OpenOffice) for interacting with texts, tables and presenting information. The Impress tool allows you to create projects and work with ready-made presentations, and thanks to the simple interface of the software, even a user without work skills can do the task.
The software offers the following options:
- editing and viewing ODP files;
- create PDF from presentations;
- effects, transitions, animation;
- creating vector images, importing audio;
- several processing modes;
- drawing over slides;
- use of styles;
- adding text, spell checking, font effects;
- multimedia elements, charts, tables;
- the use of thematic blanks;
- use of hot keys;
- saving work in several formats, including PPT and PPTX.
There are few built-in templates, but you can also download them on the official website; to use numerous images in presentations, it is advisable to install the Open Clip Art Library.
Lotus Symphony
IBM Lotus Symphony is a set of programs for office tasks, which, in addition to text and spreadsheet editors, also includes an application for working with presentations. A distinctive feature of the software is an integrated browser, thanks to which you can open website pages directly in the program interface. Another feature is the unlimited opening of documents of different formats in one window, which provides convenient navigation.
The following options are provided:
- use of media files of different types;
- built-in collection of slide templates;
- use of text, diagrams, multimedia and graphic elements;
- interaction with PowerPoint files;
- animation, effects;
- viewing modes;
- displaying open documents in one window;
- built-in web browser;
- support for popular file formats;
- save to ODF, export to PDF;
- spell check;
- teamwork on projects.
As in the case of the software discussed above, you can extend the functionality of Lotus Symphony by installing the necessary plugins.
Prezi
The software is available in two variations: you can either download the presentation application to your computer (paid subscription after the trial period) or use the web version for free. The first option offers more functionality, but depending on the goals, online service tools are often enough.
The Prezi application allows you to create interactive non-linear presentations. So, the project structure is convenient in that you can quickly navigate through the entire material without flipping through the slides. Components of a presentation can be linked in a variety of ways, allowing you to quickly move from one topic to another and showcase various media elements (videos, photos, graphics, etc.) from any section of the project.
With the application you will get the following features:
- creating a presentation manually or using built-in templates;
- embedding images, video, audio, documents;
- interactive navigation;
- animation (for text, pictures, etc. elements);
- changing the background, colors;
- drawings, thematic icons, stickers, geometric objects, diagrams;
- adding comments and notes;
- insert PDF, PowerPoint documents, YouTube videos;
- joint work on projects;
- launching a live show;
- creating a link to view;
- saving as a video file, in PDF format, uploading to the service’s cloud storage;
- synchronization between devices;
- statistics tracking.
Despite the lack of a Russian version, using the software is easy thanks to a simple and user-friendly interface. To use Russian-language text, when adding a text block, you need to select fonts that support Cyrillic. Another point is the need to register on the official website of the program.
Which program is better to choose
The capabilities of each program are different, so when looking for the most successful solution for you, first of all, you should take into account the level of software and the availability of functions that are supposed to be used without fail. For example, there is a need for team work on a project or you need to save work in video format, so we look at which applications offer such tools.
Choosing the right software, we are guided by the following criteria:
- the level of the software, the correspondence of the capabilities of the tool to your goals;
- availability of templates, effects and transitions;
- support for common import/export formats;
- adjust animation and duration of slides;
- convenience of the interface, support for the Russian language.
Taking into account the tasks and skills of the user, we use professional software or a rather amateur version. Then, using the available tools, you can achieve the desired results.