Using the Presenter Console

The Presenter Console displays the slide show in an external screen (projector or large television), while the presentation controls are shown in the computer screen.

The Presenter Console provides extra control over slide shows by using different views on your computer display and on the display seen by the audience. The view you see on your computer display includes the current slide, the upcoming slide, optionally the slide notes, and a presentation timer.

The Presenter Console works only on an operating system that supports multiple displays and only when two displays are connected (one may be the laptop built-in display).

Presenter console activation

To enable the Presenter Console:

Choose Slide Show - Slide Show Settings.
In the Display - Presenter console dropdown, select either Full screen or Windowed.

Impress General Options Dialog

To activate the Presenter Console:

Connect an auxiliary display to your computer,
Run the slide show. Press F5 or Shift-F5 or choose Slide Show - Start from First Slide or Start from Current Slide.

Presenter console controls

Presenter Console Controls

Previous: move to previous slide.
Next: move to next slide.
Notes: display the Presenter Console Notes mode.
Slide: display the Presenter Console Slide sorter mode.
Restart: restart the slide show’s elapsed time.
Exchange: Switch the displays between the computer and the presentation display.
Close: In the Notes and Slide Sorter mode, return to the Normal mode.

Presenter Console Keyboard Shortcuts

When running a slide show using the Presenter Console, you can use the following keys:

Action	Key or Keys
Next slide, or next effect	Left click, right arrow, down arrow, spacebar, page down, enter, return
Previous slide, or previous effect	Right click, left arrow, up arrow, page up, backspace
Use mouse pointer as pen	'P'
Erase all ink on slide	'E'
First slide	Home
Last slide	End
Previous slide without effects	Alt+Page Up
Next slide without effects	Alt+Page Down
Black/Unblack the screen	'B', '.'
White/Unwhite the screen	'W', ','
End slide show	Esc, '-'
Go to slide number	Number followed by Enter
Grow/Shrink size of notes font	'G', 'S'
Scroll notes up/down	'A', 'Z'
Move caret in notes view backward/forward	'H', 'L'
Show the Presenter Console	Ctrl-'1'
Show the Presentation Notes	Ctrl-'2'
Show the Slides Overview	Ctrl-'3'
Switch Monitors	Command+'4'
Turn off pointer as pen mode	Command+'A'

Presenter Console modes

Normal Mode

The Normal mode shows the current slide on the left and the next slide on the right of the computer display.

Presenter console normal mode

Notes mode

The Notes mode displays the current slide on the left, the slides notes on the right and the next slide below the current slide.

Notes mode

Slide sorter mode

The Slide Sorter mode displays all slides in the computer screen and allows to display the selected slide out of the presentation order.

Slide sorter mode

Impress Remote User Guide