How to Make a Slide Show With iPhoto

Apple’s iPhoto is a bare-minimum photo manipulation program with one really good advantage: It makes slideshows with effects and music easily and efficiently.Those slideshows, which take a fraction of the time a more complex program like iMovie takes, are both quick to assemble and easy to preview and change. When finished, they can be exported directly to QuickTime, which is self-playable. QT files also can be used in more sophisticated programs like iMovie, iDVD and Final Cut Pro.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Apple Macintosh computer
• iPhoto (part of iLife suite) software
• Photos
• Music in MP3 format

1. Open iPhoto. If you already have photos in it, go to "File," "New Album" and name the new collection of images. You can grab all the photos you want from the "Photos Library" and drag them to the New Album. If you don’t already have photos in iPhoto, you can drag them from a memory card or hard drive directly into "My Movie" or into the Library.

2. 
   Create a slideshow file in iPhoto

   Go to "My Movie" and start putting the photos in the order you want them to appear in the slideshow. You can click-hold-drag photos to any place in the album. If they are flipped or on their sides, use the Rotate function in the bottom toolbar to adjust them.

3. 
   All photos in the slideshow must be selected to add effects.

   Select all photos in "My Movie" (drag around them or Command-A). Click "Slideshow" in the bottom toolbar. This creates an instant slideshow and will place it under "Slideshows" in the left toolbar.

4. 
   The Advanced settings window gives greater control over a slideshow

   Add effects using "Effects" in the bottom toolbar. You can add the "Ken Burns Effect," too, which is based on the documentary filmmaker’s technique of slowly going into or pulling out of a photo. You can use a Transitions button to set how the slides will play from one to the next. For more direct control, use the Settings button. You can set how the slides will transition between each other, the transition speed and other details here.

5. 

   Click on "Music" in the bottom toolbar. You can bring in your own music or pre-arranged musical bits to accompany the slideshow here. Use the "Preview button" to see and hear how the slideshow will look when finished.

6. 
   The finished Slideshow can be exported in various qualities.

   Go to the "File" menu and select "Export." The popup will allow you to choose Small, Medium or Large for the slideshow file. Large will look best, but Small will be the quickest. Export the slideshow. Open it with QuickTime and watch the finished version. You now can put the QT slideshow on a disc, take it into iMovie to add to it or import it into iDVD to create a disc that will be playable on any standard DVD player.

Tips & Warnings

• Test the slideshow several times before exporting to QuickTime to make sure all the transitions and music are smooth.
• Use the tools in iPhoto or another photo program to make the photos to your liking.