How to create a photo or video slideshow



How to create a photo or video slideshow


Play all audios:


Quik, formerly known as Replay and now owned by camera maker GoPro, is a free and intuitive video editor, available for both Apple and Android devices. Quik creates the slideshow for you:


Just import photos and video clips from your library and the app does its thing. Within a couple of seconds, the software will stitch together a sharable film for you, complete with


transitions and effects and synchronized to music (100 free songs are included). A couple of other recommendations for iOS and Android are FilmoraGo and PicPlayPost. Both are free to use,


but you will have a watermark on your final video unless you pay $4.99 a month, which just gets the mark removed, or $6.99 a month for “pro” versions, which feature more advanced editing


tools. Filmora is also available for PCs and Macs, but that costs $89.99 a year or $149.99 for a lifetime license. SHARING SLIDESHOWS ON SOCIAL Uploading your sentimental slideshow to


YouTube or posting it on a social media platform like Facebook can make it easily accessible for friends and family. But be mindful of your privacy (and that of your subjects) and careful


about who you share with. On YouTube, I strongly recommend setting visibility to “private" for any slideshow you post. This lets you control who can receive the link and watch the


video. Similarly, with social sites, remember to keep your circle small. For example, on Facebook, customize your privacy settings to limit who can see (and share) your posts. Be especially


vigilant with images of kids or grandkids, and with video memorials: Obituary scammers often look to social media to gather details about a deceased person to use for identity theft. _—Marc


Saltzman_ STEPS TO CREATING THE SLIDESHOW Unless the app does all the work for you, the process for creating a slideshow is generally similar across most programs. 1. START A NEW PROJECT and


import your photos or video clips. 2. DRAG AND DROP to arrange them in the desired order across a visible timeline. 3. EDIT YOUR MEDIA. If you need to, say, crop or rotate photos or trim


video clips, tap them in the timeline to launch editing tools. 4. ADD SPECIAL EFFECTS OR FILTERS, if you like. For example, you could turn photos into vintage-looking black-and-white or


sepia-tone images, or go for a “Ken Burns effect” (a slow camera pan across a static image). 5. SELECT HOW LONG EACH PHOTO WILL BE DISPLAYED in the slideshow and how each will transition to


the next, for example a dissolve or swipe to the right. 6. CHOOSE MUSIC to play during the slideshow. If the app doesn't do it already, select to fade in and fade out the song (or


songs) at the desired points. 7. ADD ON-SCREEN TITLES OR CAPTIONS, if desired. You might want viewers to know the names of people in images, for example, or where and when they were


captured. Some apps also let you add narration, using the microphone in your device. 8. SAVE YOUR FINISHED SLIDESHOW AND FOLLOW THE APP’S INSTRUCTIONS to “export” (convert) it to a common


video format like .mp4 or .mov. That makes it sharable and playable on most devices. That's it! You now have a visual keepsake to enjoy anytime and with anyone you want — at a social


event, memorial service or video chat with friends. You can share it in a family Zoom gathering or even show it on your TV, by plugging a thumb drive with a copy of the show into your


television's USB port or wirelessly “casting” from your phone or tablet to a smart TV. You can also send your shows to the people to whom they would mean the most. Slideshow files may


be too large to email or text: Widely used services like Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook limit email attachments to 20 or 25 megabytes; a two-minute slideshow with music could be considerably


bigger. But you can upload your show to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive and share the link, or post it for loved ones to watch online (carefully — see sidebar). The main thing


is, you've found a creative, entertaining way to preserve precious memories and pass them on to future generations.