[fortepianissimo]

Hope this thread can answer lots of questions for those who are still considering buying the app. I'll start from these:

1. Import Excel tables/charts?
2. Have math equations inserted?
3. Make a compact and independent, runnable presentation pack (how big is the QT file exported?)

[Nebagakid]

3. Make a compact and independent, runnable presentation pack (how big is the QT file exported?) [/B]

I can answer you the third, although I do not OWN Keynote, I KNOW QT. With QuickTime you can have something as small as 100K that is an hour long, if you compress it enough, or as big as 100 GIGs if you do not compress it... The size of a QT file depends on which codec is used, and with what settings.

[m.brown]

Originally posted by fortepianissimo:
Hope this thread can answer lots of questions for those who are still considering buying the app. I'll start from these:

1. Import Excel tables/charts?
2. Have math equations inserted?
3. Make a compact and independent, runnable presentation pack (how big is the QT file exported?)

1) No, the Keynote user guide suggests that you save your excel sheet as PDF and then import it.

2) Not really sure

3) Yes - there are a number of export options: one as powerpoint, one as PDF and one as QuickTime. The QuickTime option has a number of presets:

No compression
Compression for CD-ROM distribution
Compression for e-mail (web)
Custom

[rsh]

I exported the sample "Presentation Tips" (about 30 slides with graphics and all kinds of transitions) at the highest quality. The resulting file was 28.1MB and very nice looking.

[rsh]

Originally posted by m.brown:
1) No, the Keynote user guide suggests that you save your excel sheet as PDF and then import it.

As I read it, the user guide recommends you use PDF if you have already designed a complex and attractive table in Excel.

You can copy and paste cell data from Excel into a table in Keynote. (You need to set up the table in advance to include the appropriate number of rows and columns.) You can also copy cells in Excel that represent chart data and paste them into the "Chart Data" area of the chart inspector in Keynote. Then Keynote will generate your chart for you.

So it's about half way there. It would be nice for some people to have the live data in Keynote that is available in Powerpoint, but for most it won't be a make or break feature. Because of the XML base of Keynote, I think we can expect this kind of connectivity in the future.

Another way around this issue that I'm surprised was not addressed: Keynote is not Applescript-able. Excel is. If Keynote had robust Applescript support, you could pretty easily whip up some script-fu that would open up a world of options.

I recommend everyone send feedback to put Applescript into Keynote!