Presenting from the Canvas

A finished diagram shows everything at once, which is great for reference but harder to narrate. livediagram gives you a few ways to focus an audience as you walk through your work, whether you are on a call, a projector, or sharing your screen.

Zen mode

When you want the full canvas with nothing else competing for attention, Zen mode hides every part of the interface, the header, tab bar, palette, and panels, leaving only the canvas and zoom controls. It is purely a view setting: it changes nothing about the diagram and is not shared with other people, so each viewer focuses independently. Toggle it with Z (or the button on the zoom controls), and exit with Escape.

The laser pointer

For pointing things out live, switch to the Laser tool (K). Moving the pointer leaves a glowing trail in your participant colour that fades after about a second, and on a shared session other people see your laser in real time, so you can sweep across the diagram and direct the room's attention.

The spotlight

To focus on one element at a time, switch to the Spotlight tool. It dims the rest of the canvas and lights up whatever sits under your cursor, so the room's eye lands exactly where yours does. Like the laser, it is shared live in a session, so move the cursor from shape to shape to walk through a diagram one piece at a time without anyone losing their place.

A slide deck

When the walkthrough has a running order, build one. The Slide Deck tool lets you make slides out of the elements you select — a slide can draw from any tab, and the same element can appear on as many as you like — write presenter notes against each one, then present the lot full screen, one slide at a time. It broadcasts nothing: you show it by sharing your screen, the same as everything else in the meeting.

Two things worth knowing before a talk. Slides you are not going to use can be hidden rather than deleted, so last week's detail and the section you cut for time stay in the deck without turning up in the run. And a settings cog while you present carries the transition, an auto-advance interval and a loop — set those two and a deck runs itself on a screen in the room with nobody driving.