org-beamer

If the document is the presentation, special settings for beamer export look like this:

#+LaTeX_CLASS: beamer
#+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [presentation]
#+BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL: 1
#+BEAMER_HEADER_EXTRA: \usetheme{default}\usecolortheme{default}
#+COLUMNS: %40ITEM %10BEAMER_env(Env) %10BEAMER_envargs(Env Args) %4BEAMER_col(Col) %8BEAMER_extra(Extra)

If a subtree is set up as a presentation, the special settings can also be in properties, to allow different settings for different presentations in the same file:

** Presentation
   :PROPERTIES:
   :LaTeX_CLASS: beamer
   :LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [presentation]
   :BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL: 1
   :BEAMER_HEADER_EXTRA: \usetheme{default}\usecolortheme{default}
   :COLUMNS: %40ITEM %10BEAMER_env(Env) %10BEAMER_envargs(Env Args) %4BEAMER_col(Col) %8BEAMER_extra(Extra)
   :END:

The meaning of these settings are:

LaTeX_CLASS

The key to the beamer entry in org-export-latex-classes.

LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS

The options to be used with \documentclass{beamer}.

BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL

The outline level that defines frames, or 0 to make frame definition manual. The default is 1 (see the variable org-beamer-frame-level)

BEAMER_HEADER_EXTRA

Text that will be added to the BEAMER document header - useful for example to set beamer theses.

COLUMNS

A format specification for column view that makes it easy to edit the properties influencing BEAMER export.

You can insert a template for these options with

M-x org-beamer-settings-template RET

The command will ask if these are options for a subtree or for the file as a whole.

If you want to have a sectioning structure above the frames as it is used for presentations with table of contents, use the BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL setting to change this. Setting it to 2 will allow sections, 3 will allow subsections as well. Setting it to 0 means that any levels above (the manually selected) frames will automatically be section/subsection. Finally, if you also set the variable org-beamer-use-parts, then level 1 will define parts and sections and subsections will move down one level in the hierarchy.

The BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL setting governs which levels become frames. If that option is set to 0, then frames are only created by setting the BEAMER_env property of an entry to the value frame.

The heading of the entry will become the frame title. If the frame title contains the string \\, the line will be split at that location, and the second half will become the frame subtitle. If you need a line break in the frame title, use \newline or \linebreak.

The outline structure below the frame level becomes a nested itemize structure. You can also use plain lists to create that structure, including ordered lists.

A headline that has the property BEAMER_env set to an environment name will get this subtree exported with the corresponding environment, instead of itemize. Some environments are listed and configured in org-beamer-environments-default. Additional environments may be defined in org-beamer-environments-extra. For example, a value block will trigger the creation of a block environment, while theorem will trigger the creation of a theorem environment.

When it makes sense, the headline text is used in an appropriate argument of the environment. When that does not make sense, the headline will be ignored.

The property BEAMER_envargs can contain the three kinds of additional arguments for the environment, like "[..]" for the optional argument, "[<..>]" for the default overlay specification for the environment content, and "<..>" for the overlay specification for the environment itself. These arguments can be given in arbitrary sequence and may, but don't have to be, separated by space characters.

There are several ways to create columns when exporting an Org document as a beamer presentation.

As is normal for Org-mode, you can embed LaTeX commands into the text, and they will be transferred literally into the exported document.

You can use

#+BEAMER: this line if for beamer export only
#+BEGIN_BEAMER
   so is this line
   and this
#+END_BEAMER

to add special code that should be emitted only during BEAMER export. Code intended for the LaTeX backend will be included as well.

For plain list environments (ordered, unordered, and description lists) you can start each item optionally with an overlay specification <...>. If any item in the list contains a default specification [<...>], this will be moved into the begin statement of the itemize/enumerate/description environment, to provide a default setting for the list items. This does not look good when exporting the same content to a different backend - if you are planning to do this, consider to continue the outline structure inside frames to produce the frame content.

To provide instant knowledge about the beamer environment that will be used for a node, changing the BEAMER_env property will cause a tag :B_environment: to be set, where environment stands for the actual environment. So a node that is becoming a frame (if that is triggered by property and not by level) will have the tag :B_frame: These tags will have a special font-lock face, org-beamer-tag.

The command C-c C-b will offer fast selection interface for the various beamer environments. In addition to setting environments, C-c C-b | will toggle the presence of a BEAMER_col property.

Column view provides a great way to set the environment of a node and other important parameters. Make sure you are using a COLUMN format that is geared toward this special purpose. The command org-beamer-settings-template does define such a format.