Highlight for Mac

As a basic presentation tool, Highlight for Mac enables users to draw on their screen using a mouse or trackpad, and does it fairly well, with only minor frustrations along the way.

Highlight for Mac costs just under a buck and is available through the Mac App store. Once purchased, it downloads and installs quite easily. There were no hints or quick tutorials on first launch, nor is there a Help file or even a Preferences panel accessible from the menu bar. However, there is a direct link to an online manual available on the app's official Web site. The manual consists of listing the 10 keys or key combinations that impact the behavior of this application, like changing the shapes you can draw and how to delete what you've done. We wondered why this couldn't have been included as a Help file from within the app, but it was a fairly minor quibble. The manual also lists the key combination that opens up the Preferences panel, more information that would have been easy to include in-app. Once we got past these initial bums, and it was a matter of minutes, we were using the app with ease. One major feature this application lacks, though, is the ability to draw over apps in full-screen mode, which seems a natural fit for a presentation.

Highlight for Mac leaves room for minor improvement, but these should be easily fixed in future releases. The app is useful for teachers and Mac users who give computer-based presentations.