Beamer is a document class for creating slide presentations in LaTeX. Use \documentclass{beamer} instead of article.

\documentclass{beamer}
\title{Presentation Title}
\author{Author}
\date{2026-08-19}
 
\begin{document}
 
\frame{\titlepage}
 
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Slide Title}
\begin{itemize}
  \item First point
  \item Second point
\end{itemize}
\end{frame}
 
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Another Slide}
Content here.
\end{frame}
 
\end{document}

Each \begin{frame}...\end{frame} creates one slide. \frametitle sets the slide title. The first frame \frame{\titlepage} generates a title slide from \title, \author, \date.

Two-column layout:

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Side by Side}
\begin{columns}[T]  % T = top align
  \begin{column}{0.48\textwidth}
    Left column content.
  \end{column}
  \begin{column}{0.48\textwidth}
    Right column content.
  \end{column}
\end{columns}
\end{frame}

Overlays (progressive reveal of content) use \pause, \only, or \visible:

\begin{frame}
First bullet
\pause
Second bullet
\pause
Third bullet
\end{frame}

Each \pause creates a separate slide showing content up to that point. This lets you reveal points one at a time.

Alternatively, \only<1-2>{Content} shows content on slides 1 and 2 only. \visible<3->{Content} shows from slide 3 onward.

Themes control the visual appearance. Set in the preamble:

\usetheme{Madrid}
\usecolortheme{seahorse}

Popular themes: Madrid, Berlin, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh, Rochester. Color themes: default, seahorse, rose, beaver, lily.

Navigation and notes:

\usepackage{pgfpages}
\setbeameroption{show notes on second screen=left}

This displays speaker notes on a second monitor while presenting (useful with two screens).

Custom styling:

\setbeamercolor{structure}{fg=blue}
\setbeamerfont{frametitle}{size=\Large, series=\bfseries}

\setbeamercolor changes colors; \setbeamerfont changes fonts.

Compile and present:

pdflatex presentation.tex

Open the PDF in fullscreen mode for presenting (most PDF viewers have this). Or use the .pdf with presentation software that supports it.

Beamer is powerful for technical presentations. Start with a theme you like, write slides, and compile. The default themes are professional; no need to customize fonts unless you have specific requirements.