The assembling of PG Resources into an actual Presentation occurs in the lower portion of your screen called the Time-Line. Each window within the Time-Line holds a Gallery's Resource and it represents a single screen within your Presentation. Assembling a Presentation is a simple matter of dragging down a Resource's thumbnail from any open Gallery and dropping it into your Time-Line. As you add to your Time-Line from left to right, so do you build your Presentation from start to finish.
To create your first Presentation, follow these steps: (Note that SOHO users must first import their own hard drive based Resources via My Gallery.)
1) Click on the NEW button in the lower right of your screen. You will be prompted to name your new Presentation. (Note that you could also open an existing Presentation via the LOAD button.)
2) Click on the Still-Images Gallery icon (the photograph of a sunrise) at the top of your screen. From within the Gallery's list of contents in the centre of your screen, select one of the Resource descriptions.
3) Click and drag your selected Resource's thumbnail preview down from the right side of the screen and drop it into the first empty window at the far left side within the Time-Line.
4) Two dialog boxes will appear asking you whether you wish to automatically apply transitions or append audio as you build your Presentation. Click No to both of these options. (See Using Transitions & Audio)
5) Repeat steps 2 and 3 above and drag and drop three more Still-Images to the remaining empty windows within the Time-Line.
6) Select another Still-Image and this time drop its thumbnail directly over one of the orange globes which have appear between the windows of your Time-Line. The globe will turn green and this Still-Image will now be inserted at this point in the Time-Line. Your other Resources will move along accordingly.
7) On the right side directly beneath your Time-Line, click on the right arrow of the scroll bar. Your Time-Line will scroll to the right and you will notice that a total of five Still-Images now make up your Presentation. This scroll bar will allow you to move through your Time-Line as your Presentation grows. Also notice that as you move your mouse over a window, the description of that Resource will appear in the window below the Time-Line's scroll bar.
8) Add more Still-Image or other Gallery Resources to your Time-Line. Click on the PLAY button when you are ready to preview your work. Select the playback options you prefer and click on the PLAY PRESENTATION button. Your Presentation will begin playing. Note that a left mouse click will advance your Presentation to the next screen, while your keyboard's Escape key will exit the Presentation. (see Playing A Presentation)
Note that while most of PG's interface is 640 x 480 pixels, a Presentation can playback and be created for an 800 x 600 screen size as long as the system supports 16 bit or 'Hi Color'.
When assembling your Presentation ensure that your computer's screen size is set accordingly and that you import Resources of the appropriate size. For example, an 800 x 600 Still-Image for a background within a Composition.
Note that during playback, PG will automatically scale down an 800 x 600 Presentation to 640 x 480 if that system is set to this smaller screen size. However, certain Resources are a fixed size and cannot be scaled. For example, videos, animations and external shows. This could become an issue within certain layouts. It is a good idea to preview your work at the smaller size and adjust your content accordingly if you intend to support both screen sizes.
Importantly, PG will never scale up a smaller Presentation to accommodate a larger screen size. A 640 x 480 Presentation will remain unchanged and simply be centred within the larger screen. Always create your Presentation in 800 x 600 if you intend your work to be viewed at this larger screen size.
