Digital Darkroom

If you want to include music in your show, double click on the Soundtrack area or select Show>Show Options and click the Soundtrack button. ProShow Gold supports MP3 and WAV files, and you can have multiple soundtracks in a show. If the length of your soundtrack and the length of the slide show don't match, it's a simple step to synchronize the whole thing--click the Sync Show Length To Soundtrack and you're good to go.

The final step is to put your masterpiece on CD or DVD. ProShow Gold offers a range of choices here. In addition to the CD and DVD options, you can create a web show, screen saver, executable for computers, or shared on Photodex's website. I've placed the sample show used here on my website for anyone interested--www.joncanfield.com/ outputoptions/webshow. (#5.)

#5. Burning your show to DVD or one of the other output options is the final step.

Other Options
If you're a Photoshop or Photoshop Elements user, you might be surprised to know there is a very capable slide show feature included. The PDF Presentation option under File>Automate will create a slide show with transitions and music that can be viewed on any computer with Adobe Acrobat. (#6.)

#6. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements allow you to create a PDF slide show that plays on any computer.

Roxio includes a DVD Builder application with their Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator Suite. (#7.)

#7. Most of the CD and DVD creation software include a slide show builder.

Tips For Better Shows
Most of us have experienced the never ending vacation slide show. Here are five tips to keep your shows interesting.
· Try to keep the total time to 20 minutes or less. Much longer than this and people get restless.
· Five seconds is long enough. Unless you have a real story to tell about a photo, 5 seconds is enough time to spend on one image.
· Don't mix horizontal and vertical images. Your show will flow smoother if you can avoid mixing images. If you can't avoid it, try to keep it to a minimum.
· Pick music that enhances the photos. Music should complement the images, not compete with them. I tend to favor classical or new age style music with landscape shows.
· Tell a story. A slide show that tells a story about something has much more impact than one that is a hodge-podge collection of images.
If you haven't tried creating your own slide shows yet, give it a shot and be your own TV star!

Jon Canfield is the co-author of "Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer's Guide To Printing, Showing, and Selling Images," published by Sybex. You can see Jon's work on his website, www.joncanfield.com.