How to Create a Beamer Presentation from a PDF

Beamer basics in 2 minutes

A Beamer presentation is a LaTeX document with the beamer class. Each slide is a frame, the look is controlled by a theme (\usetheme) and a color theme (\usecolortheme), and everything else (equations, lists, figures) is written just like in any other LaTeX document:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usetheme{Madrid}
\usecolortheme{seahorse}

\title{The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus}
\author{Your Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \titlepage
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Statement}
  \begin{theorem}
    If $f$ is continuous on $[a,b]$ and $F(x) = \int_a^x f(t)\,dt$,
    then $F'(x) = f(x)$.
  \end{theorem}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Key ideas}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item Differentiation and integration are inverse operations.
    \item<2-> It lets us compute definite integrals with antiderivatives.
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Compile it and you get a title slide and two content slides. The <2-> on the last item makes it appear on the second click, which is handy for revealing ideas one at a time.

Which Beamer theme to choose

Beamer ships with dozens of themes. These are among the most used in academic presentations:

Combine them with a color theme: crane (orange), seagull (gray), seahorse (soft blue-violet) or dove (very light, almost black and white).

How to generate the presentation from your PDF with MathWrite

MathWrite turns your document into a Beamer presentation using only its content: it doesn't invent material, it organizes what you have into slides that don't overflow.

1. 1

   Convert your PDF to LaTeX

   Upload the PDF and choose Turbo if it was generated with LaTeX, or Professional if it's scanned or handwritten (full guide). If you already have the .tex code, you can skip this step.

2. 2

   Open Slides

   In the Slides section, pick the conversion from My LaTeX Generations or paste your LaTeX code.

3. 3

   Choose theme, color and length

   Pick one of 6 themes (Madrid, Goettingen, Warsaw, Singapore, Berlin or Berkeley), a color scheme and the length: brief (5–10 slides), normal (10–30) or extended (30+).

4. 4

   Generate and review

   In a few moments you'll have the Beamer code and the compiled PDF, with a title slide, an outline, the content slides and a conclusion.

5. 5

   Download it or open it in Overleaf

   Download the PDF to present it, or open the project in Overleaf to polish the details.

Tips for a good math presentation

• One idea per slide: if a slide needs more than six or seven lines, split it.
• Show the key equations, not every step of the proof. Keep the details for the questions.
• Use \pause or overlays (<2->) to reveal a derivation step by step.
• Use 16:9 for modern projectors: \documentclass[aspectratio=169]{beamer}.
• Number only the equations you'll refer back to during the talk.
• Rehearse with the PDF in full screen: what looks fine in the editor can look small on a projector.

Frequently asked questions