In this article, we introduce you to Powtoon. This software is one way to enhance the quality of your teaching and reaching the minds of your audience. With Powtoon, you can say goodbye to boring slides for presentations, training, and similar things.
Powtoon at a Glance
This software program comes as an animation program that helps the user to create content. But not just any content. The content made using this program is diverse, but holds the distinction of being distinct and quite engaging.
With the program, you are exposed to a plethora of animation styles ranging from whiteboards to cartoons. As a cloud-based program, you don’t have to carry a particular device around with you to access the program. Armed with an internet-enabled computer with Flash installed, you can use this from anywhere.
The Powtoon comes with several useful features apart from what we have indicated so far. You have access to a decently-sized library, plenty of handy features, and a simplistic panel. Overall, if the aim is to make marketing content or something for students, then this is right for you. While it comes with a payment plan, you can enjoy the trial period to determine whether it is the right fit for you.
Why You Should Trust Us
Well, we, like you, do not jump straight into buying an app or signing up for stuff. We carry out thorough research before recommending any product. That is why we take each of these products, test them out so that you don’t suffer the consequences of a bad purchase. Our reviews are unbiased and we aren’t paid for these products.
What is Powtoon?
Well, as we have pointed out earlier, this is a cloud-based software or program that is made with the sole aim of helping you create content. You can use the program to make presentations and use different styles to pass your message across.
Powtoon is often chosen by educators and those in the marketing sector because of its ability and versatility.
With that in mind, let’s now see what makes Powtoon so special and why we certainly recommend the software.
Features of Powtoon
Before heading out to buy the software, it would be beneficial if you read about the features and how easy we found them to use.
- Templates
If you have been using animator programs and similar programs like Powtoon, then you will not be surprised that the Powtoon software comes with templates. Templates are excellent because they make your work much easier. Now, how do the templates in Powtoon compare? Well, let’s find out.
In terms of templates, there is no beating the importance of Powtoon. In fact, it can be said without fear of being wrong that templates are the cornerstone of this program. This has good and bad connotations. But first, the good.
The templates found in the program come in three categories- which indicate the purpose of this software. There are Work templates, Education templates, and Personal templates. Each of these is appropriately named and gives an inkling of what you might expect from them.
Apart from the diversity, the templates that come with the program are available in different dimensions and aspect ratios. This will affect the use to which you put the final work. Therefore, you can have a horizontal presentation, or you can have it in a vertical alignment. The ratio and similar things are all down to your preference and what will get the most attention of the audience.
During our testing, we considered each of the aforementioned templates. All of them are excellent for the purpose they are made for. One of the things that we love about this section is that there are tags that make it easy for you to find your way. As you see the tags, you’ll understand the best times to use certain templates.
Now to the downside of the templates. Well, we observed that these are not permanent and have low reuse value, so to speak. Furthermore, they cannot be used in every situation. Other than that, though, the templates are awesome.
If you are looking to make the most of this platform, though, you will certainly need to master more than just using the templates.
If you have been using the platform for some time and are not afraid to explore, you will likely become proficient enough not to require the templates in creating content.
- Media
Another feature that is expected in a content creation tool is media. Well, our test of Powtoon shows that there are several useful media. It is available in different forms. Importantly, the media are so easy to add to the template (if you are still using that).
When you are creating, you will have the blank template and a marked area where you can slot in the media that you want. It allows you to insert and adjust the media. You can resize it, crop it, and do other stuff. With the program, you are exposed to a plethora of animation styles ranging from whiteboards to cartoons. As a cloud-based program, you don’t have to carry a particular device around with you to access the program.
Powtoon comes with a rich library (more on that later), and you can also add your own media. The nice thing about uploading your media is that the platform is versatile and compatible with several formats of media. Thus, from JPEGs to GIFs, you can always add to the template.
Some more experienced people jettison the use of templates in creation. If that is the case with you, you will have to resort to the blank surface. From there, you can insert the media that you want without much hassle.
One thing that we enjoy about the media here is that it is always updated. The platform has done an excellent job of ensuring that the media available will stand out and continue to be recent.
- Text
When creating a presentation, you will likely use a combination of text and images to pass the message to the audience. Well, Powtoon also comes with this nice feature. You can create text. One unique thing here is the ability to create a textbox on your Powtoon template.
The ability to create text is handy. You can add this very easily via the textboxes we have earlier talked about. This will just need clicking once and it’s good to go. As soon as this is created, you can input whatever text you want, and if it already has text, Powtoon allows you to edit it.
Do not forget that this platform allows for making whiteboard videos. Therefore, you can do that and create text.
There are plenty of fonts available here, however, as a creative, you might not find the font that you want. You can correct this by uploading your own font. It is only for those that are subscribed to the Agency plan of Powtoon.
- Audio
The Powtoon is a platform for audio-visual content. Therefore, apart from making videos, you also can use audio. The first one comes in the ability to create voiceovers. The other is the ability to slot in background sounds. These two modes of audio are easy to find and implement in your content.
Adding the voiceover is easy on Powtoon as you can decide which section of the video you want the sound to appear. You can decide that it will be in the slide at hand, or somewhere else. Interestingly, the software does not allow you to use more than 20 seconds for recording the audio per slide.
After you have created the voiceover, the playback feature lets you make the required adjustments to the slide sound. You can chop and edit to your desire.
As we pointed out, there are two audio modes. We have considered the voiceover part and now we look at the addition of the background sound. Well, the Powtoon is available with plenty of music in the media library. You can preview the sounds to know whether it matches the mood of the current slide. You have to use this for the whole slide and cannot be used for individual slides.
As with the voiceover feature, this soundtrack addition can be edited. Unless you are on a plan, the tracks might not be accessible. Thankfully, Powtoon gives you a way out by allowing you to upload the sound you want. Just as with other media, the platform is compatible with several formats. You can choose different sound formats.
- Timeline
For the paid version or higher point, you will have up to three layouts. These layouts play a significant role with regards to what you can accomplish with the platform and what you can fiddle with.
At the onset of a template, you have the Quick Edit layout. However, if you are not using a template, you will be presented with the Full Studio layout.
Either layout is actually fine and is intuitive to use. It comes with different functions. During your product creation, you will observe that you only have the ability to edit by scene.
You can add a transition as you deem fit.
There is also the timeline function. This will act as an editor for the texts, media, and other stuff in a slide.
- Exporting
After all, there is really no point in creating your presentation if you cannot export to other platforms. It is cool that Powtoon comes with plenty of options to choose from and all of them can be accessed without much issue.
You can upload the creation to the social media of your choosing. You also can have the video supported and hosted by the Powtoon network. If you decide to host your video on the platform, you will have the ability to embed it on social media pages.
If you do not want to upload it to another site or platform, you can always download the video. This can be as a PDF file or a video if you are running a paid account.
The ability to export is limited by the plan you are subscribed to.
Pros:
- The interface of Powtoon is designed to be easy to navigate
- It offers a plethora of templates
- Useful media in a rich library and comes as a cloud-based option.
- You enjoy loads of community resources and overall support
Cons:
- Powtoon is costly
- Most of the content and features need to be paid for
Alternatives
This is not the only animation creator on the market. There are alternatives to Powtoon, and you can consider these in the light of this platform.
- PowerPoint
This is perhaps the first that comes to mind, especially if your focus is on animations. It is a very popular option that has been frequently updated to give the iteration that we have today.
It is considerably versatile and with an annual fee, you get access to many other programs.
- Google Slides
This is free and comes with similar features as PowerPoint.
Other alternatives are
- Raw Shorts
- Doodle Maker
- Explaindio
- Doodly
- Toonly
- VideoScribe
Conclusion
This software program comes as an animation program that helps the user to create content. But not just any content. The content made using this program is diverse, but holds the distinction of being distinct and quite engaging. With the program, you are exposed to a plethora of animation styles ranging from whiteboards to cartoons. As a cloud-based program, you don’t have to carry a particular device around with you to access the program. Armed with an internet-enabled computer with Flash installed, you can use this from anywhere.
The Powtoon platform comes with several useful features apart from what we have indicated so far. You have access to a decently-sized library, plenty of handy features, and a simplistic panel. Powtoon is often chosen by educators and those in the marketing sector because of its ability and versatility.
If the goal is to have a program that you can use easily, then you will find this to be an excellent option. It is simple and will help you to create animations easily with very little skills required. You can sign up for Powtoon Here
