William M.
Level 1 (149 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: how to see the whole photo in slideshow?

I’m using iPhoto 9.6.1 to create a slideshow.  Ultimately, I will be saving the slideshow on a DVD for showing on an HDTV with a 16:9 aspect ratio, so I’m cropping most of the photos in iPhoto into that aspect ratio.  There are some photos that just don’t allow for that long and narrow perspective, so I’m struggling with how to include those photos in the slide show.  I thought that simply checking the box in slideshow settings to Scale Photos to Fill Screen would take taller photos and scale them to fit from top to bottom of the screen while adding some blank space on the sides, but instead, just a portion of the center of the photo is visible.  I also tried using Photoshop to change the image size and the canvas size to create new images with “stripes” down the sides to create the 16:9 aspect ratio.  These photos play in the slideshow perfectly in iPhoto, but when I export the slideshow as a MPEG-4 video file, every photo that was modified in Photoshop plays in the video file as a black screen.  There’s something about those images that don’t export correctly.

 

How can I use odd-sized photos in an iPhoto slideshow that’s destined to be exported as a video file?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 3.4GHz Core i7 27 in. (mid 2011)

Posted on Sep 2, 2015 8:36 PM

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William M.

Q: how to see the whole photo in slideshow?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Sep 2, 2015 10:43 PM in response to William M.
    Level 10 (139,532 points)
    iLife
    Sep 2, 2015 10:43 PM in response to William M.

    Slideshows in iPhoto are designed to be quick and handy but they're not very flexible.

     

    Alternatives to iPhoto's slideshow include:

     

    iMovie is on every Mac sold.

     

    Others, in order of price:

     

    PhotoToMovie  $49.95

    PulpMotion  $129

    FotoMagico $99

    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.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Sep 3, 2015 9:12 AM in response to William M.
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 3, 2015 9:12 AM in response to William M.
    These photos play in the slideshow perfectly in iPhoto, but when I export the slideshow as a MPEG-4 video file, every photo that was modified in Photoshop plays in the video file as a black screen

    How were the photos edited in Photoshop?  What format were they saved as?  I may be preaching to the choir here but here's how to use PS from within iPhoto:

     

    Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.

     

    1 - select Photoshop or Photoshop Elememts as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.

     

    iPPSeditor.PNG

     

    2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop.  When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.

     

    3 - however, if you get the navigation window

    iPPSsave.PNG

     

    that indicates that  PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file.  You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.

     

    This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..

     

    With Photoshop Elements  the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:

    PSE9fileprefs.PNG

     

    I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always.  In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:

    PSE9genprefs.PNG

     

    Screenshots are from PSE 10

     

    Note 1:  to switch between iPhoto and PS or PSE as the editor of choice Control (right)-click on the thumbnail and select either Edit in iPhoto or Edit in External Editor from the contextual menu. If you use iPhoto to edit more than PSE re-select iPhoto in the iPhoto General preference pane. Then iPhoto will be the default editor and you can use the contextual menu to select PSE for your editor when desired.

     

    Note 2:  editing a RAW file with either PSE or PS creates a new file which must be saved outside of iPhoto, i.e. the Desktop, and imported as a new photo into the iPhoto Library.

     

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