Create a Video from Photos with Slideshow Software

Create a Video from Photos with PhotoStage Slideshow Maker

Create a Video from Photos

From baby's first steps to graduation tears of joy, family vacations, weddings and honeymoons, we take and save photos of our memories every day. At times it may seem impossible to organize and share such a wealth of memories with your friends and family. Social media is a great way to share everyday photos, however, you may want to create a more polished production for your most cherished memories. To easily organize and share your photos, you can create a video slideshow from photos.

How to Make a Video from Photos

Creating videos from your photos of specific events can be a beautiful and meaningful way to organize your photos. Create annual DVD's to chronicle family ski trips, reunions and summer beach getaways. Make a slideshow to organize all of the fabulous photos from your European vacation in one place. Create the perfect gift to send to grandma and grandpa, or a cherished memento DVD for your children to look back on as they grow up. For newlyweds, a wedding slideshow is a popular way to showcase your favorite photos from your big day. Creating a video from photos is a quick and easy process when using a slideshow software, such as PhotoStage SlideShow Maker.

Download PhotoStage for Windows

You can create a slideshow video from photos in three easy steps:

1. Select your favorite photos
2. Arrange photos in slideshow
3. Add Music, Effects, Animations or Text

Step 1: Select your Favorite Photos

To select the photos that you would like to add to your slideshow, begin by importing the media that you would like to use in PhotoStage. To do this, click on the "Add Media" button in the top menu bar and select the photos that you would like to use from your computer. Alternatively, you can use the "Add Photos", "Add Video" and "Add Audio" buttons to upload media to your slideshow. Photos, videos and music will be added to the "Media" tab.

If you are using lots of photos in your video, you may want to check to make sure that all of the images which were imported into the Media tab have been included in your video. When a photo has been added to the slideshow, a green checkmark will appear over the photo in the Media tab.

Step 2: Arrange Photos in Video

To add photos to your slideshow, drag and drop photos from the Media bin onto the Slideshow at the bottom of the program window where it says "Drag your image and video clips here". You can also drag and drop photos to re-arrange them in your slideshow video.

Adjust Photo Duration

To adjust the duration of a photo in the slideshow, click on the time icon at the bottom of a slide, or double click on the slide. In the slide adjustment window, you can set the photo duration in seconds. You can also change the duration of all of the slides in your slideshow by checking the box to "Apply to all".

Select a Photo Transition

You can easily change the transition animations that appear between the photos in your video slideshow. Transitions can fade from one photo to the next in a variety of exciting ways.

Transitions can help make your video of photos more interesting. To change a transition, click on the icon that appears between your photos in the slideshow, and select your desired transition from the 'Transitions' tab.

Step 3: Add Music, Effects, Animation or Text to Perfect Your Video

Edit Your Photos

PhotoStage slideshow software includes a number of photo editing effects which can quickly crop, adjust, brighten, and rotate the photos that you add to your video slideshow. To edit a photo, click to select the photo in the slideshow, and then click on the "Edit" tab. 

Bring your Photos to Life with Effects and Animations

PhotoStage slideshow creator also includes a variety of effects which can be applied to photos.

Add a touch of nostalgia with a sepia filter, add a border, or transform your photos into oil paintings with these easy to apply effects. 

For more advanced effects, you can add animations to your photos. Animations can be added to photos in your slideshow to create movement, such as a zoom effect. Animations can be applied to photos individually, or you can add multiple animations to a single photo to combine effects. 

Add a Title Slide

You can also add a blank slide to your video slideshow in order to create a title slide. To add a blank slide, click on the "Add Blank" button in the top menu bar. 

Select the color slide that you would like to add, and then drag and drop the blank slide to your desired location in the slideshow.

 Add Text to Photos

To add text to a photo in your slideshow video, select the photo that you would like to edit and click on the "Text" tab. There are several text options to choose from. 

Click to select the text option that you would like to add to your photo, and then adjust the font, alignment, size and text color in the Applied Effects area of the Text tab.

Add Music to Your Slideshow

Music is a quick and easy way to add emotion and ambiance to any video. To create a slideshow with music, you can upload music from your computer, or you can use the music in the NCH Audio Library. To add your own music, click on the "Add Music" button in the Media tab, or click on the "Add Media" button in the top menu bar. 

Audio tracks will be added to the Media tab. To add music to your slideshow, drag and drop the audio file that you would like to use from the Media tab to the slideshow where it says "Drag your sound clips here"

To add music from the NCH Sound Library, open the "Slideshow" menu, and open the NCH Sound Effect Library.

The sound effect library includes many sound effects and music tracks which you can use in your slideshow. 

Add a Narration

To personalize your slideshow video, you may wish to add a voice over narration. To record a narration for your slideshow, click on the "Narration" button in the top menu bar. 

Save and Share Your Video

Video slideshows can be saved in a variety of common video file formats for easy sharing with friends and family. Export your photo slideshow video as a .gif, .mov, .mp4, .flv, or .mkv file. Videos can be shared on social media, sent to family members by email, or burned to a DVD or Blu-Ray disc.

Download PhotoStage for Windows

PhotoStage: The Best Slideshow Software

PhotoStage photo slideshow software is an excellent and easy way to take your photos and create stunning movies of your cherished memories and events. You don't have to take our word for it: TopTenReviews just awarded PhotoStage the Gold award, proclaiming it the best slideshow software. They describe PhotoStage Slideshow Producer as "intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease," going on to say:

"PhotoStage really does an outstanding job of bridging the gap between ease of use and multifaceted functionality. The photo slideshow application delivers a well-supplied feature set that is easy to utilize, and we were able to create an entire slideshow without any difficulty. Furthermore, we loved how clean and sophisticated the user interface is; it seems more akin to a sleek graphic design tool than a basic slideshow maker. Such a seamless melding between ease of use and an advanced appearance and feature set makes the photo slideshow software a viable option for both casual and tech-savvy users."
– TopTenReviews

Read the complete review of PhotoStage slideshow software on the TopTenReviews website. Or download a copy of the software today and get started making photo slideshows right away. As TopTenReviews pointed out, the "easy drag-and-drop functionality make the software simple to use and it delivers high-definition output quality," so you won't regret having this application on hand for turning your digital photos into stunning movie slideshows to share with family and friends.

Video Tutorial: Simple Slideshow Software in Action

See how easy it is to bring your digital photos to life and share your favorite memories with family and friends with PhotoStage slideshow creation software. Our recently finished PhotoStage video tutorial walks you through the process so you can see how easy it is to combine images, video clips, music and narration into a truly memorable slideshow movie.

Download PhotoStage slideshow software today to start making your own custom multimedia presentation to share with friends and family and preserve your memories.

Holiday Photo Creativity

It’s the holiday season again, which means it’s time for family, food and photos. What should one do with the boundless amounts of photographs taken at this time of year? You should share them – and this year instead of making a resolution to send out a custom scrapbook to each family member (a goal most of us can never keep), I’m going to create a custom slideshow to send to the whole family.

It’s quick and simple with PhotoStage Slideshow Software. You can easily combine pictures with video clips and add sound or narration for a more festive slideshow. What better way to show off baby’s first Christmas than to give a play-by-play with sequence shots or add your favorite holiday tunes and videos? If you’re anything like me, you print your photos and stack them in a dusty box in some remote location, where no will actually see them – this year I’m going to make a captivating visual experience with them instead.

PhotoStage comes equipped with an array of transition effects so you can make every slideshow a unique event to be shared. You can edit your photos from right within the program, giving you complete control of the outcome.

My favorite part is being able to share my slideshows on my iPhone so I can look at them on-the-go! Making video slideshows really is worlds better than leaving holiday photos in a dusty box to never be seen again.

User Spotlight: First Time Success Making A Music Video

Bart Bryars recently purchased PhotoStage Slideshow Software and put together his first video. The opening number for their musical, Joey, is a take on everything New York City.

"It turned out so good and has had such a positive response, I thought I'd send it to you so you could see what's possible for a first time novice like me, who has no training whatsoever in video arts or production. We don't even have a camcorder. The action parts were shot on a regular Sony digital camera that happens to have a basic recording feature.

Thank you so much for your product. Very simple and easy to use."

– Bart Bryars

As we've mentioned in the past we strive to make all of our software easy to use. So it is great to not only hear that we are doing a good job, but to see the results as well. We really enjoyed watching the musical number they put together with the help of PhotoStage Slideshow Creator and wanted to share it with all of you fine readers:

We hope you enjoy their video too. Maybe it will inspire you to put together your own musical video montage after seeing what couple of beginners were able to do.

Showcase and Share Your Memories, Photos, Video Clips and More

Vividly recreate and preserve your memories with a multimedia slideshow you’ll be proud to share with friends and family with PhotoStage slideshow creator software.

There’s no better tool than PhotoStage for showcasing your favorite photographs, images and video clips. PhotoStage brings your pictures, images and video to life and lets you share your favorite memories with family and friends in an interesting and portable way. Creating a slideshow from your digital photos has never been easier.

Evolution of the Photo Album

How making a slideshow can enhance the way we preserve memories

When I was younger, I loved pulling out the photo albums my mom kept in the living room. There, in the cellophane-wrapped pages, printed on Polaroids and semi-gloss photo paper, was the evidence of our lives. I recognized the old house the pictures were taken in, and could see the resemblance of my parents’ faces in their younger form. I remembered old toys and costumes, and sometimes saw old friends. Everyone was always smiling, and it was the perfect reminder that I had grown from love. These photos made appearances at my graduations and my wedding, sometimes eliciting a round of laughter, and always reminding us of the paths leading us to that day.

As we learn to integrate our lives with a digital existence, the sensation of flipping through the sticky pages of a photo album will become a rare occurrence. But that doesn’t mean that the visceral experience will disappear; there will still be the unpredictable nature of seeing photos anew, in which memories arise and emotions are conjured up. I have realized that the pictures I take almost never make it to the pages of a photo album. They have different lives than the photos my parents took. They remain in chronological order on my camera, or stored on discs, hard drives, and SD cards. I almost never print them out.

But that doesn’t mean my photos are stowed away, rarely to be seen. If anything, there are more opportunities to share photos than ever. Between portable devices, mobile phones, online photo sites, and social media, photos have a new life. The slideshow, once a good excuse to take a nap while your uncle narrated slides of his latest motor home trip, is now a creative and highly engaging experience and is the ultimate way to share memories. Creating a slideshow today means taking advantage of technology to engage with our photos, and to reflect on our lives in ways we never have before.

With graduations coming up, and as we head into the height of the wedding season, now may be the perfect time to reminisce or put together a meaningful slideshow full of family memories. Here are a few tips for putting together your slideshow, and for amazing your friends and family:

1. Get a slideshow program. Putting together a slideshow should be intuitive, especially when dealing with hundreds of photos. Photostage slideshow creator is easy to use, it handles multiple media formats, and you'll end up with a quality slideshow worthy of any special event.
2. Gather your media. That’s right, I said media. Don’t limit yourself to digital pictures--scan in those old prints you have too. Then, look for video clips, but keep them short. Don’t worry if your videos aren’t in digital format, those can be converted if you use Golden Videos VHS to PC converter to convert home movies to digital format, and edit them down with VideoPad video editor. Don’t forget the music either. Choose music with special meaning; either songs that make you smile, or bring a tear to your eye.
3. Organize your media. Once your photos, video clips, and audio are on the slideshow timeline, move them around so you can see how they relate to each other. Group similar pictures or find themes that match the music, and use blank slides filled with text to help break up the different sections. Or, try telling a compelling story either by recording narration or inserting captions along the way.
4. Embellish. Adding transitions between the slides makes watching the slideshow easy on the eyes. Combine transitions with image effects to add visual interest to your slides. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Anything you apply can be undone, and your original media is safe and sound in its original form.
5. Save for the correct medium. How will you be displaying your slideshow? Will you be posting it online, or projecting it to a room full of graduates? Be careful that you don’t save for YouTube if you plan on watching the slideshow on a wide screen TV. The resulting images won’t have the quality you desire.
6. Share! No matter the complexity of the slideshow, the effort you put in will show through. Enjoy!