 |  | create a slide show |  | | By Jack Lyon | | (8/19/02) |
No one questions the cool factor of a digital camera. Snapping shots to your hearts content without spending a penny on film is downright liberating. But there is a downside: what do you do with all those pictures? Printing all those photos can cost a small fortune in paper and ink. If you really want to show off your prized pixels, sit your friends down in front of your computer monitor and dazzle them with a slide show. Power Slides is a great pick for making professional-looking slide shows. It combines drop-dead simplicity with some fairly sophisticated features.
Find and load your photos
Once the software is installed and running, click the Files tab at the top of the softwares interface. Here youll find the classic Windows file tree, which you navigate to find the photos on your hard drive that you want to use. The included picture preview window makes it easy to find the right ones. If you know you want to use a certain type of image, such as a JPEG or a GIF, you can tweak the settings so that only those files will be shown to you. Choose All Supported Images from the pull-down menu in the lower-left side of the screen, then adjust the Show Images Formats list below it.
To pick an image, double-click its filename, and it will be added to your "Image files for slide show" list found in the lower-right corner. Buttons to the left of this list let you add or remove single images or entire folders of images, as well as tweak the order the images will be shown.
Apply transitions
Once you have the images you want, its time to add a little spice. Click the Effect tab at the top of the screen to choose from the laundry list of available photo transitions. There are about 80 in all, including dozens of dissolves, uncovers, zooms, and wipes. The Effect Preview window at the bottom of the screen lets you see what each effect does. You can also tweak the speed and size of each transition and set whether you want transitions randomized or in a particular order. While the preview window is helpful, youll likely want to do several test slide shows to see which transitions you like best.
Set slide show properties
Next, click the Properties tab found at the top of the screen to fine-tune your slide show. You have control over background colors and photo sizes, as well as how fast the slides advance, whether you want the show to loop (a good idea for smaller slide shows), and whether picture information is included. Again, a few test runs will let you pick the perfect settings for your masterpiece.
Play and pack it up
Once you have everything set to your liking, its show time! Just click the Slideshow tab to review your settings, then unveil your creation by clicking the Start Slideshow button found at the bottom of the screen.
If you like what you see, save the slide show so it can be played anytime. The software saves all your settings in a simple text file. It doesnt make copies of the actual photos youre using, which saves a lot of drive space. Keep in mind, however, if you move your pictures to another part of your hard drive, the slide show wont work anymore and youll have to start from scratch. To save a new slide show or open a previously saved one, click the Slideshow tab, and click either the Save or Load button, as appropriate.
Jack Lyon, former director of CNET Hardware, splits his time contributing to CNET and building brand-savvy online games as cofounder of AstroManic Studios.
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