What kind of programs do you recommend to create graphics for these players on?
And is there any free software out there that you recommend?

Hello GeoffStein,

Here, we use Adobe Photoshop for our graphic needs; however, almost any graphics program will do to create images for use in our software. The end file type is what really matters the most when it comes to images, and the most common and supported are: .gif, .jpeg, .png, .tga, .bmp, and, .tif or .tiff. Out of these formats, generally a .png would be the preferred file type.

As far as finding the right program for you, there are many out there. If Photoshop isn't for you, a solid and much cheaper alternative is Photoshop Elements. There are also many powerful free programs at your disposal, such as:

Gimp:
http://www.gimp.org/

IrfranView:
http://www.irfanview.com/

Ultimate Paint:
http://www.ultimatepaint.com/

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info!

We're a new customer and believe we're going to embrace a more decentralized approach to content creation by enabling each department to create their own screens/pages. They will then submit and I will publish/schedule. We will provide a centralized repository of templates, backgrounds, logos, etc. as well allowing contributors access to the design area of your Suite. My question revolves around other design tools. Most of the folks will not be familiar with these more high powered graphics tools but all will have considerable experience with MS PowerPoint.

Any guidance you can provide concerning using that as a potential creation medium? We are using the 42" NEC V series monitor we purchased from you as our display devices. I'd love to set a list of Best Practices forward as people begin creating content, if they decide MS PP is their tool of choice. We would like the best quality possible but at the same time don't want to make it a burden or costly to create content.

Hello rdflesher,

Many of our customers choose to use PowerPoint as their creation medium because it is the software that they're familiar with. The easiest process to use content from PowerPoint is simply to save each slide as a PNG image - which can then be made into a Noventri Suite page simply by adding the image. This can be done through the Save As menu in PowerPoint by selecting "PNG" as your file type.

PowerPoint will limit the resolution of your project to being no higher than your current monitor resolution; so while the resolution of the 42" Digital Signage Monitor is 1920x1080, you will only be able to create PowerPoint presentations as large as your computer monitors. If you are working on monitors that will go that high, then great - go ahead and create your PowerPoint files at that size. Otherwise - you'll need to create the PowerPoint presentations at a smaller resolution with the same aspect ratio as the Digital Signage Monitor. The setting to change your resolution can be found under the "Slide Show" section of PowerPoint (in PowerPoint 2003 and newer).

If your monitor is 1280x1024, you'll want to set your PowerPoint files up to be 1280x720. This will ensure that the content looks sharp on a 42" monitor. If you and your staff have different monitor resolutions, feel free to post and let me know so that I can tell which size would be best to create the projects at.

A good rule of thumb is to match the size of your Noventri Suite region inside of PowerPoint whenever possible - graphics that match sizes exactly between the two programs will look best.

To honor our customer's requests regarding PowerPoint, we are actually planning on adding a PowerPoint import feature in our next major Noventri Suite release (scheduled for May of this year). You'll be able to skip the step of saving out an image and directly bring in your PowerPoint file - and we're working on doing away with monitor size restrictions by changing the size of your PowerPoint automatically before import.

We'll also be adding an HTML web page Region in case you need to show a web site page on your digital signage (saving you from recreating it).

Let me know if I can provide you with any more information - and thanks for the post!

-Trent

Hi Trent,
I'm about to roll out displays on our production floor with the SF-100e players recently ordered. I saw this post about PowerPoint and was curious if there was a release date in mind so I could decide how to begin designing my slides or if I could just dump the PowerPoint into the Noventri unit/server.

I would be more than happy to be a beta tester for this function or new version if one is available or if you guys are at that stage in the game. I already have a large portion of the slides designed and this would help cut down on the design time.

Any info appreciated.
Thanks - Dustin

Hello Dustin,

I will have someone get in touch with you to discuss our Beta Testing Program as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,

Hello All,

Just to update anyone seeing this post - PowerPoint Import is now available in version 2.4 of Noventri Suite. Download it now and start importing your PowerPoints directly into the software!

Get it here!

Thanks,