David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Instant Slideshow

The slideshow feature offers one of the world's best ways to show off your digital photos. Slideshows are easy to set up, they're free, and they make your photos look fantastic. Your images fill every inch of the monitor—no windows, no menus, no borders. Professional transitions take you from one picture to the next, producing a smooth, cinematic effect. If you want, you can add a musical soundtrack to accompany the presentation.

You begin by selecting the pictures you want—by clicking a container (album, folder, whatever) in the left-side list.

Now all you have to do is look for the Play button (►), which is pointed out by the arrow cursors in the illustrations below:

• iPhoto: Option-click the ► button, which is just below the photos.

• Picasa: Click the ► button, which is just above the photos.

In any case, the slideshow begins immediately. It shows all photos in that album or folder, 3 seconds at a time, with a dissolve effect between.

You can exit the slideshow by pressing the Esc key (upper left of your keyboard).

Music Options

What's a slideshow without music? Boring, that's what. Time to dig into your music-file collection and add a little emotional impact to your photos.

• iPhoto: If you click the ► button without the Option key, you get a dialog box where you can choose the music for the slideshow, adjust its speed, and make other settings. Only when you dismiss the dialog ...