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Getting Started with XPress
Hello and today we’re going explain what’s in our XPress software. XPress is an Annotation software primarily used by educators to help engage students in a learning environment.
XPress comes with all of Recordex’s SimplicityTouch Interactive Flat Panels, but can also be used on, Windows OS, Mac OS, and Chrome OS. It’s also the same across all of these operating systems. So once you learn XPress, it won’t look any different if you change operating systems.
In fact we really recommend you use XPress on your Windows or Mac computer to unlock it’s full potential. That is what we’ll use here moving forward. But don’t worry if you’re using something else, you’ll still be able to learn most features throughout this module.
Now when you open XPress for the first time, it may ask if you would like to view the Getting Started Tutorial. We highly recommend that you watch this tutorial because it will teach you exactly how to use the software in about 7 minutes. For now, we’ll do a quick explanation of how to navigate XPress.
1. One important feature to know, is that XPress has an infinite canvas space. That means no matter how much you write or fill in, you can always find a blank space to use. Just move the canvas like you would scrolling through the touch screen on your phone and you’ll see how much space you have.
2. Maybe the first thing you might have noticed is two toolbars. The annotation toolbar, labeled A, has lots of tools available to populate or fill the infinite canvas. This included a Pen, Hi-lighter, a Symbols gallery (that includes shapes, math symbols, music symbols, and some neat gadgets), insert image/document tool, camera, videos, and more.
The toolbar labeled P is the presentation toolbar. These tools will help you present and share your canvas in interesting and unique ways. Like the spotlight, mask, and presentation mode.
All of these tools are really easy to use so go ahead and explore them on your own! We will go over a couple specific ones later in the lesson like the insert image/document and the click through tool in this module. If you’d like to learn about all of the tools, visit the complete lesson on XPress in the Recordex learning portal.
But we’ll give you one more of an explanation of what you can find when you click on Symbols. Another toolbar will appear with the option to select from shapes, charts and gadgets. Under each you’ll find unique premade object to add to XPress, like a stopwatch, KWL chart, and fraction tiles. These gadgets work by clicking the item, then clicking on the canvas to drop the item in. For items that can vary in size, you will need to click and drag. This will change how big or small the item will appear. Don’t worry you can always adjust it later!
Once you have a cavnas full of objects, you should know where the Menu is located. Found at the top right or top left, you’ll see a few different icons. If not, click the three lines and it will appear. Going down the side, there’s New Document, Open Document (which allows you to open a saved XPress file or even a PDF file), Save Document, and Save As. There’s also the pages section. This is where you can create and rearrange different pages. Think of these like slides with infinite canvas spaces. Finally you’ll also find settings to change the background, screen recording and options. More options to change, share and adjust XPress to your liking.
And that’s a brief into to XPress. We know there’s just so much to cover, so again if you’d like to learn more all of the tools, visit the complete lesson on XPress in the Recordex learning portal. The best way to get familiar though is to try it out for yourself. If you ever need help, you can always visit https://recordexusa.com/learning/ or email us at ce@recordexusa.com!