There are two ways of using Powerpoint with lightboards.  The first, “standard projection” involves projecting a powerpoint with a projector on a portion of the lightboard that has frosted glass.  The second “digital projection” involves inserting a powerpoint slide digitally using software on your computer.  Note that “digital projection” requires that you use OBS Studio to record or stream your lectures via Zoom.

Here’s how to set up powerpoint slides for each of these two projection methods

Standard projection

1. Make your text white, on black background. Use thicker fonts.
2. On the projector, reverse (mirror) the image “desktop rear display”

Digital projection

1. Depending on how you intend to use your Powerpoint, you might find it useful to adjust the slide size. For instance, I used a 7.5 x 7.5 square in the demo video. To change the slide dimensions, Go to “Designs”, then “Slide Size” and then “Page Setup” and make the changes that you wish. Do this first before making any other changes.
2. Make your text light (white, yellow), on a green screen background. The R-G-B code for Greenscreen is 0 – 177 – 64.
3. Use images with transparent background.
4. It is often easiest to set up your slide show to project to a window, rather than full screen. Go to SlideShow, select “Set Up Slideshow”, and select under Show Type “Browsed by individual (window)”.
5. Feel free to use this powerpoint template for digital projection