how do I edit music for a slideshow?

You can't edit songs with iTunes, it's not an editor. All you can do is limit the playback in iTunes - get it to fade early and so on.

These decisions apply in iTunes only, and have no impact in other apps.

If you want to edit tracks for an iTunes slideshow you need to actually edit the files with a sound editor - GarageBand might do it, Audacity is a free one.

Or you can use a different app for your slideshow. Many dedicated apps will allow you to manipulate the soundtrack as well as the visuals. If you want to cut with any precision you'll need to do this anyway.

Alternatives to iPhoto's slideshow include:

iMovie, on every Mac sold.

Others, in order of price: PhotoPresenter $29

PhotoToMovie $49.95

PulpMotion $129

FotoMagico $29 (Home version) ($149 Pro version, which includes PhotoPresenter)

Final Cut Pro X $299

It's difficult to compare these apps. They have differences in capability - some are driven off templates. some aren't. Some have a wider variety of transitions. Others will have excellent audio controls. It's worth checking them out to see what meets your needs. However, there is no doubt that Final Cut Pro X is the most capable app of them all. You get what you pay for.

I just want to add that I have only edited songs in iMovie but that it is really easy to do. Once you have the stills in your slideshow, click on the music note icon (on the right beneath the mini preview screen). Select and drag the song to where you want it to play. The song will create a green band above your photos running the duration of the song. If you want to edit the song, click on the tiny white icon at the beginning of the green band. Select 'clip trimmer' and then the music will appear below in blue. Drag the yellow slider bar to where you want the song to start and drag the end yellow bar to where you want it to end. You can play the song as you drag so that you can easily hear when to clip.

The only trouble I have is when I want the first song of the slideshow to start one minute in. To accomplish this, I just add a place holder screen and set the duration as one minute (or however much time I need to trim off the front end of the song). Same approach for the last song if I want the song to start one minute in, I will need to add a placeholder at the end (or beginning) so that the entire song imports. I can then trim the unneeded part and still have the song play through to the end.

In rereading this, I know that it sounds confusing, but it isn't once you sit down and try it once. I tried garage band once and didn't find it as easy as this. I didn't put any time into learning garage band so I don't know if it would be easier to use than the process I have described here. And, there is always the chance that there is a much easier way to do this but I have just slogged through iMovie and tried to figure things out on my own.

I have iLife 11 and can't recall how the prior iMovie worked. Good luck! Noreen

P.S. I think you can import a slideshow from iPhoto to iMovie, or at least you used to be able to. I know that I imported a sliding panels slideshow from iPhoto to use in an iMovie slideshow but that may have been a couple of years ago.