Presentations and the Contents pane

You can view and manage the pages and elements associated with a presentation using the Contents pane. You can display the Contents pane in two ways: by page thumbnail preview or as a tree view list of the pages, elements, and map layers. The Page Order tab List By Page Order is the default view that lists a thumbnail view of the pages with commands next to each page thumbnail to control visibility, lock, and transition. It also contains the Insert Page button Insert New Page to promote ease of access to the page types you can add to a presentation. The Element Order tab List By Element Order outlines a list of all the elements on each page. It also lists all the layers contained in a map page.

At the bottom of the Contents pane, use the navigation arrows to move through each page of the presentation. You can navigate to the next or previous page. You can also go to the first or last page in the presentation.

Page order

Pages are displayed as a thumbnail preview list under this tab of the Contents pane. When you select a page from the Contents pane, it is highlighted to indicate it is the active page. The selected page is also the page displayed in the presentation view used for review or editing. Only one page can be displayed in the view at a time.

From this tab, you can do the following:

  • View page number—Each page is numbered to the left of the thumbnail preview for the page in sequence following a top-down approach. Page numbering starts at 1. Page numbering is not shown on the page when presenting in full-screen mode.
  • Control page visibility—You can hide or unhide a page from the presentation by using the check box next to the page. Press Ctrl while clicking to check or uncheck all boxes simultaneously. Alternatively, right-click a page and select Hide or Unhide.
  • Lock a page—Lock a page to prevent accidental edits such as moving, interactively zooming, or resizing the view. A locked page prevents page property updates and new edits such as adding elements. Switch between lock or unlocked by clicking the Lock button Yellow lock next to the page.
  • Set the transition type—A page can have a transition effect when presenting between pages. Click the Transition button and accept the default, None, or choose a Swipe direction or Fade effect.
  • Access page properties—Double-click a page to open the Page Properties pane. To access shared properties for multiple pages, press Ctrl while clicking to select the specific pages and use the context menu to click Properties.
  • Insert a new page—Click the Insert Page button Insert New Page to browse all page types you can add, or right-click any page and click Insert and add the new page directly below it.
  • Duplicate a page—Right-click the page to duplicate and select Duplicate Duplicate.
  • Delete a page—Right-click the page to delete and select Delete Delete or press the Delete key.
  • Refresh a page thumbnail— Right-click the page to refresh the thumbnail by resetting the zoom scale to the page's full extent.
  • Rearrange pages—Drag to rearrange a page and use the indicator bar to confirm where it will be placed.

Element order

Pages are displayed in a tree view listing to view the elements organized on each page. The elements are listed with their associated element icon to indicate the element type. You can control visibility for an element or lock the element on the page. However, if the page is locked, all elements on the page are automatically locked. A map page lists the map and layers contained on that page.

Right-click one or more selected elements or the page node to access a menu of additional commands. For example, you can insert a new page, set a page transition type, arrange or group elements, and use clipboard commands to copy and paste or delete an item in the presentation.

From this tab, you can do the following:

  • View pages and elements as a list—Pages can be expanded to show the list of elements or map layers they contain. They are labeled by element type and representative icon.
  • Control element visibility—Use the check boxes next to the element name to set which elements are visible on the page.
  • Lock an element—Prevent an element from being selected or edited interactively in the page, but you can still make changes to the element in the Element pane. Switch between locked or unlocked by clicking the Lock button Yellow lock next to the element.
  • Access element properties—Open the Element pane by double-clicking an element or right-click and click Properties.
  • Open the map view for the map page—Bring the map view into focus as the active view if it is open in the project; otherwise, the map view will open. You can optionally open a new map view using the current extent used for the map page.
  • Open map properties—Open the Map Properties dialog box.


In this topic
  1. Page order
  2. Element order