What program is needed for a slide show. Presentation software
Slideshows are created using a variety of programs - both paid and free. They can be purchased in stores or downloaded online. In addition, there are special online services. Most of them are English speaking. As for editors, we will next consider the capabilities of some of the most popular ones.
Slideshow in PowerPoint Editor
PowerPoint slideshow software is considered one of the best applications of its kind available today. An intuitive interface and a lot of possibilities provided to the user make it extremely popular. Slideshows using it are created in several steps.
First, of course, you need to select suitable photos and, for convenience, place them in a separate folder. Next, open the program and go to the “Insert” tab. Then go to the “Photo Album” section and select the “Create Photo Album” option. In the menu that appears, find the “File or disk” command. After that, select the necessary photos on your computer and click alternately on “Insert” and “Create”.
At the next stage, click on “View” and select the “Slide Sorter” option. Here the editor provides the user with the ability to swap frames. Next, you should select a mode. It's best to click on "Normal". You can then change the name of the clip. To make it effective, you should go to the “Transitions” tab. If desired, you can set both different transitions between photos, and the same one. In the latter case, click on “Apply to all”.
Save a file in PowerPoint
So, we figured out how to make a slide show on your computer using PowerPoint. Now let's see how we can save it. The best way to do this is to select the Windows Media Video file type. In this case, the subsequently created slide show can be viewed in any media player.
PowerPoint provides the user with another interesting opportunity. If desired, you can change the design, size and style of photos. In addition, the developers have built ready-made templates into the editor. To use one of them, you need to go to the main menu, and then “Create” - “Ready templates”. The selected template can be adjusted at your discretion.
Slideshow in PhotoShow program
PhotoShow Editor is another fairly popular application designed for creating slideshows from photos. The program also provides the user with a lot of interesting features. Before you start creating a clip, you need to select suitable photos, just as in the first case. In addition, you will need some kind of music file. Photos are placed in a separate folder. In this case, it is advisable to arrange them in the order in which they will subsequently be shown on the screen and number them.
Now let's look at how to make a slide show on your computer using the PhotoShow editor. To get started, double-click on the sun shortcut and select “New Project”. Next on the left you need to find the folder with saved photos and click on it. After that, all the images will appear on the right. The next step is to transfer the necessary photos to the panel located below. Here the image appears after clicking on it at the top. You can also click on the folder icon below the photos. In this case, they will all be moved to the bottom panel at the same time.
Now you can go to the “Transitions” tab. You can choose any of them if you wish. After clicking on any transition, it will be mounted between the first and second photos. The “Apply to all” button will appear.
After selecting the transitions, you can begin to arrange the musical design of the future slide show. To do this, click on the “Project Settings” button located below. Next - “Music” - “Add music file”. In the window that opens, select the composition prepared in advance - “Open”. After downloading the file, click on the “Synchronize” button.
Then you can start customizing the screen. To do this, you need to click on the “Project Settings” button again. Here, among other things, you can change the display intervals of the photos themselves, as well as the transitions between them. Save the finished slideshow and go to the “Screen” tab. Here you can select the screen size. It is best to set the proportions that the photographs themselves have. Then the images will be shown without black bars at the top and bottom. This way you can create a wedding, children's slide show, etc.
Video slide show in PhotoShow program
In order to make a beautiful video, you need to set the image aspect ratio to 16:9. Click on “Create” - “Create video slide show”, and then select high quality HD. Set the screen aspect ratio to 16:9 for the video and click on “Convert”. We save the resulting video to any folder, after giving the project a name.
Other programs
The applications discussed above are paid. You can only use trial versions without purchasing a key. There are other similar editors for creating slideshows. Quite popular are, for example, Movie Maker, Smilebox, Foto2avi, etc. The free slideshow program Bolide® Slideshow Creator is also considered very good. The principle of working with it is very similar to the principle of working with PhotoShow and PowerPoint. The required photos are pre-selected. Next, the transitions between them are established, and then the show is synced with the music file. If desired, in almost every editor you can select accompanying text for photographs.
Online slideshow
Most online services provide their visitors with the opportunity to create a sled show completely free of charge. Some of them require pre-registration. Some services are paid. In this case, before creating a clip, you will need to deposit a certain, usually not too large, amount.
Thus, the question of how to make a slide show on a computer is not particularly difficult. It is enough to download one of the currently available programs designed for this purpose and spend a few minutes studying it.
Creating a slideshow is a real art, in which you need imagination and, of course, convenient tools. And although similar programs are found on the Internet at every step, a user who is just starting his journey in creating presentations sometimes finds it very difficult to navigate among them. Especially for such cases, we have compiled the TOP 10 applications for creating presentations. Check it out and choose the perfect program.
No. 1. PhotoSHOW PRO
A powerful program for creating slideshows from photos and music. In the editor, users will find 250+ effects and transitions, a music collection, and tools for fine-tuning each slide. The finished project can be saved in any popular video format, burned to DVD, optimized for the Internet, phones or even TVs.
Watch a video review of the program:
No. 2. ProShow Producer
A modern program designed to create slideshows from photographs. The program catalogs present dozens of animation options and other templates for creating a high-quality project. On the downside: to work comfortably with this editor, you will need at least basic knowledge of English and a powerful computer.
No. 3. Microsoft PowerPoint
This is a classic program for creating presentations from photos, music, videos, text, tables and other elements. Projects are very easy to manage, so you can always quickly make any changes. Ready-made presentations are available for viewing only on Windows and Mac OS.
No. 4. WPS Presentations
This is a free alternative to the usual Microsoft PowerPoint. Creating presentations in the program is quite easy: just select a slide layout from the catalog and fill it out. On the downside, the application is much slower than PowerPoint and is not fully translated into Russian, so spell checking leaves much to be desired.
No. 5. Prezi
Prezi- service for creating presentations online. Prezi supports a “collaboration” mode, thanks to which several people can work on creating a presentation at once. To work, you will need a good Internet connection and an equally fast PC. Since this is an English-language service, the choice of fonts is quite limited: you will have to work with standard ones.
No. 6. VideoScribe
A program for creating doodle videos, i.e. animated videos with a “hand drawing”. The program's collection includes hundreds of pictures, as well as about a dozen musical compositions, and finished projects can be saved in video format or as a PDF file. Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting that the software does not work without authorization via the Internet and freezes on weak PCs.
No. 7. Google Presentations
Google Presentations- an online platform for creating presentations. You can add images, videos, text, tables to slides. Several people can participate in the creation of a project. The downsides are that there are few transitions and ready-made topics, there is no way to voice a presentation, and if you have a poor Internet connection, the creation of the project will also take a long time.
No. 8. Adobe Presenter
An application for preparing educational presentations. Based on PowerPoint, but finished projects can be saved in HTML5 and Flash formats. The program contains built-in videos and audio materials, and it is also possible to create verification tests. The downside is that the Russian language is not supported, it weighs a lot (~5 GB), and presentations cannot be viewed offline.
No. 9. LibreOffice Impress
A program for creating presentations, which is very similar in internal structure to PowerPoint. The main difference is that Impress has much fewer ready-made templates built into it and the application itself is less optimized. Among the disadvantages is the lack of a function for exporting projects in video formats and a limited collection of animation options.
No. 10. SmartDraw
This is a design program designed for drawing various objects for presentations: diagrams, graphs and other similar elements. Integration with Microsoft Office applications is provided, so blanks can be quickly combined into a presentation. The disadvantages, as in most of the examples above, include the lack of support for the Russian language.
For greater clarity, we have combined all the pros and cons into a table:
| CHARACTERISTIC | Russian language | Ready themes | Slide Animation | Saving in video format | Internet connection required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PhotoSHOW PRO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Prezi | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Google Presentations | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| No | No | No | No | No |
Let's summarize. If you are looking for a program for creating business presentations, then pay attention to Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Presenter, WPS Presentations. If several people must participate in the creation of a project, then your choice is Google Presentations and Prezi. And if you want to prepare a colorful and effective film from photographs and music, then use PhotoSHOW PRO. Let's get to know this program a little closer!
We reviewed all the popular applications in our latitudes, with the exception of outdated Microsoft Power Point tools. But if you know other programs that can outshine the winners of this rating, welcome to the comments! The authors of the site will definitely take into account everyone’s opinions and make adjustments. But for now let’s give a final assessment of the products reviewed.
It will help you quickly and easily make a slide show from photos, add music, a video file, mix it all, edit it, add cool effects and export it to absolutely any format.
It has similar characteristics, slightly inferior in terms of editor functions, but ahead in the number of effects. Integrated cool custom slide transitions in an amount of more than 170 pieces. The program is definitely worth the money spent.
Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder Deluxe, like previous products, refers to semi-professional software. But the English-language menu makes the program unsuitable for beginners, although many competitors will envy its quality.
ProShow Producer – a solution for the pros and that says it all. Tens and hundreds, if not thousands of fine settings, a built-in FS level editor, and work with 3D animation are just a small part of the package’s capabilities. True, without special courses it is not easy to understand it.
ProShow Gold – a simplified version of Producer for the “people”. It is cheaper, but less popular due to functional limitations and interface complexity. Still, the Pro product turned out better.
MAGIX Photostory Deluxe– the closest analogue of ProShow Producer. It features improved control and increased operating speed through the use of hot keys. As part of the promotion, it costs 3 times cheaper than the Producer!
Bolide Slideshow Creator – simple, easy and free program. This is a “home” option in case you are short on funds and cannot afford to spend about 1000-1500 rubles on purchasing an application from Movavi or AMS Software.
CyberLink MediaShow Ultra – a good combined solution for maintaining photo and video archives. Among other things, it can fold films and slides. It does this well, but the package is worth considering only if its other functions are also in demand.
Quick Slideshow Creator works fast, but doesn't even save video. The utility is only suitable for transferring slides to a projector as part of a university presentation.
IceCream Slideshow Maker ... Remember the joke that the Lada Kalina has one plus, and it is located on the battery terminal? So, IceCream Slideshow Maker has a pretty nice interface. Otherwise, the utility did not live up to expectations.
You may also have noticed that we have not mentioned the free program for creating a slide show from photos with music on your computer, Dvd Slideshow Gui. Unfortunately, compared to other applications in the review, its functionality is significantly outdated, so a mention would be meaningless.
Each of us almost certainly has accumulated more than one thousand photographs from a variety of places and events. This includes a vacation, a trip to the museum, and many family holidays. And I would like to remember almost each of these events for a long time. Unfortunately, photos may get mixed up or completely lost. You can avoid such an unpleasant situation with a simple slide show. Here you have order, selected photos, and additional tools to improve the narrative.
So, below we will look at several programs for creating slideshows. All of them, of course, have different abilities and features, but in general there are practically no global differences, so we cannot advise any specific program.
The main advantage of this program is a huge range of transitions, screensavers and design themes. What's even better is that they're all sorted into thematic groups, making them easy to find. Also among the advantages of the program is a convenient and intuitive ribbon on which all the slides, transitions and audio tracks are located. In addition, it is worth noting such a unique feature as stylizing a slide show: for example, like a billboard.
There are quite a few disadvantages, but they cannot be called insignificant. Firstly, PhotoSHOW is a program for creating slideshows only from photos. Unfortunately, you won't be able to embed a video here. Secondly, in the trial version you can insert only 15 images, which is very little.
The main advantage of this program is that it is free. And this, frankly speaking, is the only free program in our review. Unfortunately, this fact leaves a certain imprint. This is a small set of effects and a simple interface. Although the latter is still worth praising, it is almost impossible to get confused here. An interesting feature is the Pan&Zoom function, which allows you to enlarge a certain area of the photo. Of course, competitors also have something similar, but only here you can manually set the direction of movement, the start and end areas, as well as the duration of the effect.
A program for creating slide shows from a very large and advanced company in terms of software for working with media files. The first thing that catches your eye is the excellent design and just a ton of settings. In addition to the already familiar settings for slides, duration, etc., there is, for example, a built-in image editor! But this is far from the only advantage of the program. There is also a large number of beautiful and stylish templates designed for adding text to a slide. Finally, it's worth noting the ability to insert videos into slideshows, which will be very useful in some cases. However, the disadvantages are just as significant: there is only a 7-day trial version, during which a watermark will be applied to the final video. This is how easy it is to almost completely eliminate all the advantages of a product.
A program for creating slides with a complex name and a very simple interface. In fact, there’s not much to tell: there are slides, there are many effects, there are additions of audio - in general, it’s almost a typical average one. The only thing worth praising is the work with text, and the presence of clip-art, which is unlikely to be used seriously by anyone.
And here is a multifunctional combine harvester among civilian passenger cars - this program can do a lot, a lot. Firstly, it is a good conductor for photo and video files. There are several types of sorting, tags and faces, which greatly simplifies the search. There is also a built-in image viewer, which left only positive emotions. Secondly, this program can be used for photo processing. Of course, it is far from the level of mastodons in this area, but for simple operations it will do. Thirdly, what we are here for is a slide show. Of course, it is impossible to say that this section has extensive functionality, but the most necessary things are still there.
This program cannot definitely be called good or bad. On the one hand, it has all the necessary functions and even a little more. It is worth noting, for example, the well-organized work with text and sound. On the other hand, many parameters require more variety. Take for example the “scenery” section. Looking at it, it seems that the developers added the function only for testing and will still fill it with content, because it’s somehow impossible to take only 3 clip art seriously. In general, Magix Photostory is quite good even in the trial version and can easily claim the role of “the main slide show”.
This brainchild of Microsoft, perhaps, looks like a professor among teenagers in this comparison. A huge number and, more importantly, excellent quality of functions take this program to a completely different level. This is no longer just a program for creating slide shows, it is a full-fledged tool with which you can convey absolutely any information to the viewer. Moreover, all this is in a beautiful wrapper. If you have direct hands and skills, of course... In general, the program could be called ideal... but only if you are willing to pay a lot of money for a quality product and learn to use it for more than one day.
An excellent program designed specifically for slide shows, but at the same time not inferior in many respects even to such a giant as PowerPoint. There are a huge number of well-developed functions, a large database of styles and animations, and many parameters. With this program you can create really high-quality slide shows. There's just one catch - it's very difficult to understand the program. The lack of the Russian language also plays a significant role in this.
Conclusion
So, we looked at several programs for creating slide shows. Each of them has some unique abilities that incline us to its choice. Let me just say that the last two programs are worth trying only if you are creating a truly complex presentation. For a simple family album, simpler programs are suitable.
I remember the times when there were very few free video editors (paid ones were very expensive), and those that were available had very poor functionality. That's why most people created slideshows. No, it’s probably not the lack of multifunctional video editors that’s to blame, but the presence of the cameras themselves.
Now everything has changed and in the pockets (or bags) more than 60% of the population of our planet have phones with cameras that can not only take photographs, but also record video in very good quality.
But no matter how much progress is made, programs for creating slide shows still remain in demand. Therefore, I decided to provide you with a description of the 3 best programs that will most effectively cope with this task.
ProShow Producer
ProShow Producer is a program that will allow you to create slideshows at a professional level (if such an expression exists, of course). It has a very convenient and intuitive interface and supports a huge number of file formats.
There are so many different effects and transitions that ProShow Producer has in no other similar program. Sets of fonts for adding captions to photos, animating slides and changing their backgrounds. You can also accompany your slideshow with music tracks.
You don't need any special skills or knowledge to work in ProShow Producer. The process of creating a slideshow seems intuitive, so you'll definitely figure it out. If we compare this program and Power Point, then in my opinion ProShow Producer is a little more convenient and has more functionality than the product from Microsoft.
The program's system requirements are not great: only about 100 MB of free hard disk space, 1 GB of RAM and a 1 GHz processor. The free version of the program is limited to 15 days, after which you will need to register the program.
DVD Photo Slideshow Pro
In terms of functionality, DVD Photo Slideshow Pro and ProShow Producer are almost identical. The only thing is that ProShow Producer has more different effects and transitions, which can make your presentation more attractive.
The main feature of DVD Photo Slideshow Pro is not just creating a slide show, but also burning it to disk directly in the program. But this function is now practically not used, so developers in new versions of the program began to place more emphasis on the Internet.
The trial period for DVD Photo Slideshow Pro is 30 days, which is significantly better than the 15 days for ProShow Producer. I didn’t notice any particular differences in the ease of creating slide shows compared to Power Point.
The only thing I liked about the DVD Photo Slideshow Pro program was the ability to save the finished slide show in HD and Blu-Ray formats. Especially if you work with high-quality (highly enlarged) photographs.
Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD
This program is worth highlighting for the speed of creating slide shows. In just a few seconds, by “stuffing” photos and applying templates, you will ultimately get a high-quality product, which can then be posted on You Tube or saved in MPEG2, MPEG4 or Windows Media Video format (this is not the entire list of possible formats for saving ready-made slides). show).
But apart from the speed of creation, it is impossible to note any other advantages of the program. A standard set of functionality, similar to the two previous programs.
It is also especially worth paying attention to the fact that Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD is free for only 10 days. Although if you need to create just one slide show, then this is quite enough. System requirements are moderate: 512 MB of RAM, 80 MB of free hard disk space and a 1.2 GHz processor.
To summarize all of the above, the best among these three programs is ProShow Producer. But still, it is impossible to specifically single out any of them, since they are almost identical in functionality. Next, the choice is yours. Good luck with creating your slideshows.