Use of Lout: presentation graphics

[Mikko Huhtala]

Some time ago there was discussion on this list about the various uses
Lout has been put to. I'd like to add one application that may or may not
be obvious: presentation graphics. 

The slides setup file can be modified to produce screen-sized slides for
projection, for instance by setting the paper size to 800p x 600p and
backgrounds other than white can be done with the @PageEnclose symbol. PDF
files generated this way can be displayed on a projection device using
Acrobat Reader in full screen mode. The slide show can be browsed back and
forth very easily by single-key commands or mouse clicks.

Presentations are not quite as quick to do as with PowerPoint, but at
least you are not tempted to put in too many distracting animations or
sound effects, not to mention the soothing absence of bouncing paperclips
and other Microsoft innovations. Acrobat Reader is free, ubiquituous and
has been ported to everything (relevant).

The problem with the whole thing is the current condition of the PDF
backend, since the conversion from PostScript with ghostscript does not
work too well with non-standard 'paper' sizes.  Diag and fig packages
would obviously be quite useful for slides, too. I have found no
PostScript previewer that had a full screen mode and looked quite as good
on screen as Acrobat Reader. 


Mikko