Presentation Tools – Help & FAQ

1. What this page actually does

The Presentation Tools page lets you build a slideshow from the archive photos (and text‑only slides), then run it full‑screen like a talk. Your audience only sees the slides; your private notes can sit in a separate window on your own screen.

• Your presentation: the list of slides in order – image slides and text slides mixed together.
• Photo list: everything you can choose from – same filters as the Nowstalgia gallery.
• Preview & position: a little model of your slide where you drag images and notes into place.
• Play controls: Start presentation and Start and open my notes for show‑time.

2. Adding slides to your deck

2.1 Image slides from the archive

1. Use the filters (Format, Series, Location, Search) to find the photos you want.
2. On each card, press Add to presentation to add that photo as a slide.
3. The slide appears in Your presentation with its ref and whether it’s a Negative or Postcard.
4. Press Remove from presentation on a card, or Remove in the list, to take it back out.

2.2 Text‑only slides

1. Click + Add text slide.
2. Pick a background – one of the presets (Navy, Heritage, etc.) or your own image URL.
3. Add a title and optional body text, with sizes and colours that suit the room.
4. Optionally add speaker notes (these only ever appear in your notes window, not on the main screen).
5. Press Add slide. It joins the list alongside your image slides.

2.3 Re‑ordering and tidying

• Use the small ▲ / ▼ buttons on each slide row to move it up or down.
• Press Remove on a row to delete that slide from the deck.
• Use Clear all if you want to wipe the deck and start from scratch.

3. Notes and text steps

3.1 Edit note & preview (image slides)

Each image slide can have one “note” box – the text that appears over the photo. Click Edit note & preview on a slide row to open the editor.

• Your note (on slide): the actual text that appears on the image.
• Private notes: just for you, in the separate notes window during the talk.
• Font size: optional custom size in pixels if the presets don’t feel quite right.
• Note background style: choose between the default dark box, a navy glow, or a paper‑style card.
• Preview: shows how the note will be styled; it updates as you type.

3.2 Text steps (click‑through bullet points)

Text steps let you reveal extra text on top of an image one click at a time – perfect for walking people through a process without dumping everything on screen at once.

1. In the note editor, use + Add step to add each chunk of text.
2. For each step, choose what happens when you press Next (hide it or keep it visible).
3. In Preview & position, you can drag each step box and resize it to fit the image.
4. During the presentation, each press of Next reveals the next step in order.

4. Laying things out in Preview & position

4.1 Single‑image slides

• Select your slide from the Slide to preview dropdown.
• Drag the image to move it – it stays inside the frame and matches the full‑screen view.
• Use the Size dropdown or the little corner handle to make the image larger or smaller.
• If you’ve added a note, you can drag the note box to where you want it on the photo.

4.2 Multi‑image slides

When a slide has more than one image, you’ll see each one in its own little movable box.

• Drag an image box to move that image around the frame.
• Use the Front / Back buttons to decide which image sits on top if they overlap.
• Use the Size dropdown on each image to scale it up or down.
• Each image has its own caption bar with the title, format, and Negative ref.
• Text steps (if you’ve added them) appear as separate draggable boxes on top.

5. Saving and loading presentations (manual only)

Important: there is no automatic saving to our server. If you want to keep a presentation, you must save it to a file on your own computer.

• Save to file: downloads a .json file containing your slides, notes, positions and steps.
• Load from file: loads one of those .json files back in so you can carry on where you left off.
• New presentation: clears the current deck after a quick “are you sure?” message.

The save file does not contain the actual archive images – it just remembers which photos you picked and how you laid them out. It can’t be used as a sneaky download tool for the images themselves.

6. Presenting your slides

6.1 Starting the show

• Click Start presentation to open the full‑screen slideshow.
• Use Start and open my notes to open the slides and a separate notes window together.
• The site will politely ask the browser to go full screen; some browsers make you confirm this.

6.2 Controls during the talk

• Next button or right arrow – go to the next text step, or the next slide.
• Prev button or left arrow – go back a step, or to the previous slide.
• Auto (10s) – let the slides advance themselves every ten seconds (handy for unattended loops).
• The Hosted by Furness Whisper banner at the bottom stays visible on every slide.

7. Image safety and what you’re allowed to do

• The Presentation Tools are for talks and educational use, not for downloading or re‑publishing photos.
• The save files do not contain full‑size images; they just reference items already held in the archive.
• There are deliberately no “Download image” buttons in the builder or the slideshow.
• If you’d like to use an image elsewhere, please follow the normal permission routes described on the main site.

8. Common problems (and quick fixes)

“My preview and full‑screen don’t match.”

The preview uses the same layout rules as the full‑screen view. If things still look off, try: setting both images to the same Size value, and avoiding dragging them right to the very edge.

“I’ve lost my slides after closing the browser.”

Your slideshows are not stored on the server. To keep your work, always use Save to file and keep that file somewhere safe.

“Full screen won’t start.”

Some browsers block full screen until you interact. Try clicking inside the slideshow and then pressing F11 (or your browser’s full‑screen shortcut).

If you’re stuck on something that isn’t covered here, please let us know – this page is meant to grow along with the way you actually use the tools.