Released on: October 28, 2007, 2:50 pm

Press Release Author: Steve Hards / SteveHardSoft

Industry: Education

Press Release Summary: Steve Hards, of SteveHardSoft, noticed that an essential
visual effect which presenters should use is missing from

all versions of PowerPoint. To make up for this lack, he developed and has just
launched an add-in named Opazity. System

requirements: Windows 98 Second Edition or later (including Vista) and PowerPoint
2000 or later (including PowerPoint 2007).

Opazity helps presenters catch, hold and maintain an audience\'s attention by
blurring, and therefore hinting at, something to

be revealed. Opazity costs US $47.00 but to celebrate the launch is $37.00 until
November 8. A demonstration of effects created

by Opazity can be viewed on: http://www.opazity.com. Review copies are available to
journalists.

Press Release Body: Steve Hards, of SteveHardSoft, noticed that an essential visual
effect which presenters should use is missing from all versions

of PowerPoint. To make up for this lack, he developed and has just launched an
add-in named Opazity. System requirements are:

Windows 98 Second Edition or later (including Vista) and PowerPoint 2000 or later
(including PowerPoint 2007).

Opazity helps presenters focus an audience\'s attention by blurring, and therefore
hinting at, something to be revealed. This

effect is important because it is becoming harder and harder these days to catch,
hold and maintain a presentation audience\'s

attention.

Opazity works by creating PowerPoint shapes with fuzzy images of the underlying
parts of the slide. This is the first time this

effect can be created without leaving PowerPoint.

Uses for Opazity

An obvious use for Opazity is by teachers, church leaders, or anyone who wants to
make a fun quiz: audience members compete to

see who can answer the question before the blurred image is removed and the clear
image is revealed.

What is more, the Opazity effect can be used by anyone who wants to introduce more
subtlety into their presentation visuals. It

has been known since the beginning of photography that throwing the background
slightly out of focus brings attention to the

foreground. Until Opazity, this effect was missing from PowerPoint, which is all
\'hard edge\'.

Steve developed Opazity because he used to set up this effect for his presentations
but it was a tedious process to copy an

image, export it from PowerPoint to Photoshop, apply the blur and import it back
again. More often than not he had to repeat it

several times to get the exact effect he wanted, so one slide could take hours. Now,
with Opazity, it takes seconds.

Apart from the time saved, Opazity encourages experimentation because it is so easy
to use. Steve has already discovered

several uses he had not originally thought of, such as creating sophisticated
transitions between slides and making a feathered

shadow for text.

How Opazity works

Once Opazity is added into PowerPoint, the presenter first develops his or her slide
and then, where the opaque glass effect is

required, overlays the area with a standard or hand-drawn PowerPoint shape. With a
few clicks in the Opazity dialog box, the

shape is converted into a transparent but blurred image of whatever is underneath.
The presenter then applies a PowerPoint

animation, such as an exit-fade, to the shape to reveal - at the appropriate moment
- the image below. Steve has helpful demo

videos on his website for people who have yet to learn the simple techniques for
applying PowerPoint animations to shapes.

Demonstration slides

A short demonstration of effects created by Opazity in can be viewed on:
http://www.opazity.com.

Availability

Opazity is on sale from Steve\'s website: http://www.opazity.com. It costs US $47. To
celebrate the launch, the price will be

discounted to US $37 until November 8.

Web Site: http://www.opazity.com

Contact Details: Steve Hards
Email: steve.hards@stevehardsoft.com
London Phone: +44 20 7870 1053
Mail: Calle Matia 17-4C, 20008 San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain