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Inserting content

The Insert menu and the toolbar add new objects to the slide. Each inserted object appears at once and is written into the slide's code as one marked line, for example:

self.add(Text("Text", font_size=36).move_to((0, 0, 0)))  # manimble

The object is added to the build on screen, so it appears at that step of the slide. Once inserted, it is an ordinary object: move it, resize it, format it and delete it like any other.

Text

Choose Insert ▸ Text (⇧⌘T) or click Text in the toolbar. A text box opens on the slide, ready for typing. Inserted text uses the deck theme's font and colour. See Text and formatting.

Formulas

Choose Insert ▸ Formula… (⇧⌘E). See Formulas.

Shapes

Choose a shape from Insert ▸ Shape or the toolbar's Shape menu: rectangle, rounded rectangle, circle, ellipse, triangle, line, arrow or double arrow. The shape appears in the middle of the slide in the theme's colour. Select it to change its colour in the inspector.

Draw shapes and lines

To place a shape exactly, draw it:

  1. Choose a tool from Insert ▸ Draw (drag on the slide), or from the Shape menu: line, arrow, double arrow, rectangle or ellipse.
  2. Drag on the slide. Hold ⇧ to snap a line's angle, or to draw a square or circle.

The shape is inserted with the endpoints or box you drew. Line and arrow ends attach to the objects you start or end on; see Lines and arrows. Press Esc to put the tool away without drawing.

Pen

The pen draws freehand strokes, for annotations or quick sketches.

  1. Choose Insert ▸ Draw ▸ Pen (freehand) (⇧⌘P), or the pen in the toolbar's Shape menu.
  2. Draw on the slide. Each stroke is smoothed and inserted as one curve. The pen stays active for the next stroke.
  3. Press Esc to stop drawing.

Choose the colour with Insert ▸ Draw ▸ Pen Color; Manimble remembers it. A pen stroke is a real object of the slide: select it to move, resize, recolour or delete it.

Tables

Choose Insert ▸ Word Table… or Insert ▸ Math Table…, or click Table in the toolbar (a click inserts a word table; its menu offers both).

  • A word table holds plain text in each cell.
  • A math table typesets each cell as LaTeX math, for numbers and formulas.

To edit the cells, double-click a cell to type into it on the slide, or edit the Cells grid in the inspector. ⇥ moves to the next cell and ↩ applies. + Row, − Row, + Col and − Col add or remove the last row or column. Click Apply Table to write the changes.

Pictures, plots and icons

  • Insert ▸ Image… (⇧⌘I) adds a picture from a file. You can also copy a picture file in the Finder and paste it onto the slide.
  • Insert ▸ Python Plot… adds a picture drawn by Python code, which you can run again whenever the code or data changes.
  • Insert ▸ Extract Elements from Image… splits a selected picture into separate objects.
  • Insert ▸ BioCartoon Icons… searches a library of scientific illustrations.

These are described in Pictures and Python plots.

Slide numbers

Choose Insert ▸ Slide Numbers… to put a number on every slide of the show.

  • Choose the position: bottom right, bottom centre or bottom left.
  • Choose the first number, whether the title slide shows its number, and whether to show the total (3 / 10).

Each number is an ordinary Text object at the top of the slide's code, marked # manimble page number, so you can move it or change its size. When you move or restyle one slide's number, Manimble offers to make every slide's number match. Numbers are updated in the same undo step whenever slides are added, duplicated, deleted or reordered. Open the dialog again to change the options or remove the numbers.

Paste from other apps

Edit ▸ Paste (⌘V) accepts content copied from other apps:

You copy Manimble pastes
A selection in Google Slides or a web page The pictures it contains, or its text with bold, italic and colour kept
Formatted text from an app that copies it as HTML, such as a browser, Google Docs or Word Text with its bold, italic and colour
A picture, a screenshot, or a PDF A picture, saved into the deck folder
A picture file in the Finder That picture
Any other text Plain text

Each paste lands slightly offset from the last, so repeated pastes don't hide each other. Pictures copied from a web page are downloaded and saved into the deck.

To copy objects between slides or decks, see Copy, cut and paste.