Slideshow XL
Slideshow Software - Slideshow Program
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1. Step: Select Pictures
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Source Window
The source window is actually a list of pictures to pick the ones from you want to have for your slideshow.
It's located at the left side of the program window.
Load A Selection Of Pictures
Creating a slideshow requires a selection of source pictures. First, pick the ones you would like have displayed in your slideshow.
Next, click on "Picture Selection" to open a dialog. Now, select the folder where your pictures are and click
"Ok" when you're done.
All the pictures stored in the folder will now be loaded into the source window. This can take up to severaly minutes, depending on the
size and amount of the pictures.
You can repeat this step as often as you want, in case you'd like to include other pictures from other folders as well.
To close the dialog without loading pictures, just click on "Cancel".
Sort The List Of Pictures
Note, that there must be pictures in the source window to use this function. For more information, see
If you have many pictures in your source list, the list may become confusing.
To sort the pictures, click on "sort" and select the sorting method from the appearing submenu.
Target Window
The target window represents the selection of pictures appearing in the slideshow and is located in the center of the program window. Only the pictures listed here will be displayed in the final slideshow.
Additionally, you can adjust settings here relevant to the presentation.
Add/Remove Pictures To The Slideshow
There are several ways to add pictures to your slideshow:
- Drag'n Drop:
Drag a picture from the source window into the target window by clicking on
it and holding the mouse button pressed while moving the mouse over the target window. Now release the mouse button.
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Doubleclick: Click twice on the picture you want to add in the source window .
- Multiple selection:
Hold the "Ctrl" button down and click on each picture you want to add in the Source Window.
Doubleclick the last picture you'd like to add (still holding the "Ctrl" down).
If you applied any of the methods above, the pictures will be added to the target window list.
To remove one or more picture from the list, there are four ways to do so:
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Single removal via the keyboard: Click on the picture you want to remove to mark it and press the "del" key on your keyboard.
The picture will disappear from the list.
- Multiple removal via the keyboard:
Hold the "Ctrl" button pressed and click on each picture you want to remove. Now release the "Ctrl" button and press "Del".
Each marked picture will disappear from the list.
- Single removal via the mouse:
Mark the picture you want to remove be clicking on it, then click the button "remove".
The picture will disappear from the list.
- Multiple removal via the mouse:
Hold the "Ctrl" button pressed and click on each picture you want to remove. Now release the "Ctrl" button and click the button "remove".
Each marked picture will disappear from the list.
Sort Pictures Automatically
We've added a set of various methods to the program to help you sorting the pictures comfortably.
To sort the entire target window list, click on "sort" on top of the target window.
The sorting options are as follows:
- Sort by size / quality
- Sort by date
- Sort by filename
- Sort by path
- Sort by EXIF date
- Sort by text
A click on one of these methods will sort the list. Another click on the same method again results in a reversed sort.
Sort Pictures Manually
You can also sort your pictures manually. Click on a picture in the target window, hold the mouse button, and drag it up- or downwards.
Change Properties Of Single Pictures
Each picture on the list has its own adjustable properties:
- Time
The duration of the picture display until the next one appears.
To set a time for a single picture, click on the number to the left of the word "time" and select
a time limit from the box that appears.
- Text
Text belonging to a picture which can be displayed on request.
To add a text for picture, click on "text" and enter a line into the box.
- Transition / Effect
Transition from one picture to the next.
By default, the effect of each picture is set to "Random". This causes the program to use a random effect as transition.
To apply a specific effect to a picture, click the word next to "Transition" and pick an effect
from the pulldown menu
Change Properties Of All Pictures
Each picture on the list has its own adjustable properties:
- Transition / Effects
Transition from one picture to the next one.
To use an effect for all pictures on the list, click the button "Effects" on top of the list.
Now you can select one of the following items:
- All on random
Activates a random effect for each picture on the list
- Selected on random
Activates a random effect for each marked picture on the list
- Not selected on random
Activates a random effect for each picture on the list which is not marked.
- Slideshow effects off
Deactivates effects for each picture on the list
- Time
The duration of the picture displaying until the next one appears.
To make each picture appear for the same duration, click the button "Time" and select a time
limit from the box that appears. You can set the time limit either for each picture on the list or for marked pictures only.
- Text
Text belonging to a picture which can be displayed on request.
Click the button "Text" on top of the list to set a text for the pictures.
Now you can pick one of the following options:
- All - Use filenames as text
Inserts the filename of each picture into it's text field.
- Selected - Use filenames as text
Inserts the filename of each marked 2picture into it's text field.
- All - Remove text
Clears the text field of each picture
- Selected - Remove text
Clears the text field of each selected picture
Transitions Between Pictures
Transition effects are used to affect the way the pictures change from one to another. They deliver variety and alternation to a slideshow.
There are quite a lot of these effects in Slideshow XL, each can be used on any picture.
Set A General Display Duration
To set a duration for all pictures, click on "Time" at the top of the list.
To make each picture appear for the same duration, click the button "Time" and select a time
limit from the box that appears. You can set the time limit either for each picture on the list or for marked pictures only.
Effects
To open the effect previews and the effect menu, click on "Effects" below.
A bar containing the previews and a menu on the left side appears.
The effects bar displays all available effects and their numbers. You can also see arrow buttons to the left and right which you
can use to shift effects forwards and backwards.
If you move the mouse cursor over one of the previews thumbnails, the preview will play once again.
The effects menu holds the following options:
- Preview
Shows every visible effect again.
- Choose
Applies the selected effect to the picture you marked in the target window.
Text For Picture
This input field is located on the right side of the program window, right below the Picture Settings.
The text you enter here will be added to the current selected picture.
Picture Manipulation
Slideshow XL comes with a picture editor you can use to change the picture accordingly.
You can see your picture in the center of the screen and a menu located to the right of it. This menu contains the following
functions:
- Image Rotation - Mirror
- Rotate Picture 90° CCW
- Rotate Picture 90° CW
- Rotate Picture CW free
Enter the number of degrees that the picture will be rotated clockwise
- Rotate Picture CCW free
Enter the number of degrees that the picture will be rotated counter clockwise
- Rotate Picture 180°
Turns the picture upside down.
- Flip Vertical
- Flip Horizontal
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Picture Manipulation
- Crop picture
Crop a rectangle shaped part of your picture.
- Change Size
Enter a new size for your picture in pixels.
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Effect
- Brightness/Contrast/Color
Adjust the values for brightness, contrast or color intensity.
- Color correction RGB
Adjust the intensity of the color red blue and green.
- Sharpen/Soften Image
Sharpen or soften your image using a slider.
- Add text
Enter a custom text and place it onto your picture.
- more effects
Select one of the filters from the list and adjust it's intensity.
- Undo
Undo the last action.
- Back to slideshow
Closes the editor and return to Slideshow XL.
Print Pictures / Album
A click on this button opens a box containing the following options:
Print Album
If you select this option, a window titled "Print Album" appears.
On the left side of the window the following options are located:
- Title of the album
Enter the title of the album here.
- Text
In this group you can see the options "print footage" and "print text".
- Check the box next to "print footage" if you like to add a footage line with date on each sheet.
- Check the box next to "print text" if you like to print the text you've entered for each picture.
- Shadows and border
Check this option to enable a border and a shadow for each picture.
There's a list containing your pictures at the right of the window. Here you can do the following:
- Select the pictures to print
Mark a picture by checking the box left of it. Only pictures with their boxes checked will be printed later.
You can either mark every picture you want to print manually or mark/unmark all by clicking the buttons "select all" and "unselect all".
At least one picture muste be selected to start printing.
- Move picture up/down
To arrange the printing order of the pictures, you can move them up or down, either by dragging a single picture with the mouse
button held down, or clicking the buttons "Move picture up" and "Move picture down".
You can take a look at the preview and start printing by clicking the button "Preview / Print".
If you want to exit the print menu, click the button "Close"
Print Pictures
If you select this option, a window titled "Print Pictures" appears.
On the left side of the window the following options are located:
- Print mode: All Pictures
If this option is checked, each (marked) picture on the list will be printed.
- Print mode: Overview (Thumbnails)
If this option is checked, each (marked) picture will be printed as thumbnail.
- Picture size
Pick your preferred format.
- Text
In this group you can see the options "print footage" and "print text".
- Check the box next to "print footage" if you like to add a footage line with date on each sheet.
- Check the box next to "print text" if you like to print the text you've entered for each picture.
There's a list containing your pictures at the right of the window. Here you can do the following:
- Select the pictures to print
Select a picture by checking the box left of it. Only checked pictures will be printed later.
You can either select every picture you want to print manually or mark/unmark all by clicking the buttons "select all" and "unselect all".
At least one picture muste be selected to start printing.
- Move picture up/down
To arrange the printing order of the pictures, you can move them up or down, either by dragging a single picture with the mouse
button held down, or clicking the buttons "Move picture up" and "Move picture down".
You can take a look at the preview and start printing by clicking the button "Preview / Print".
If you want to exit the print menu, click the button "Close"
Send eMail
You're also able to create and send an eMail with your pictures in it.
Please note that this requires an active internet connection.
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Enter an eMail address into the box below "eMail Recipient".
- Select one of the size options. You can choose:
"Big Pictures", "Medium Pictures" and
"Small Pictures".
- Now mark the pictures you want to send by checking the boxes next to each one. By default, every picture is marked.1
- When you're done, click on "send E-Mail".
Additional Information
You can find these informations in the lower right corner of the tab "1. Step: Select Pictures"
- Slideshow - Pictures
The amount of pictures in your slideshow.
- Slideshow - Time
The estimated duration of your slideshow in seconds.
- Audio - Title
The number of audio tracks you've added to your slideshow.
- Audio - Time
The total duration of all audio tracks in your slideshow in seconds.
- Size as DVD slideshow
The neede space on your harddrive a slideshow saved as DVD would take.
- Size as CD-ROM slideshow
The needed space on your harddrive a slideshow saved as VCD would take.
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2. Step: Select Audio
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Slideshow XL allows you to play your own songs in the background to make the slideshow an experience for eyes and ears.
You can also, for example, play your favourite CD while the show is on.
As soon as you created a selection of your pictures, click the tab "2. Step: Select Audio".
Common Information About Audio Files
An audio file contains digital sound informations. There's a lot of different audio file formats. Slideshow XL
The standard format for VCD / SVCD / DVD videos is:
- Samplingrate: 44100 Hz
- Resolution: 16 Bit
- Stereo
In case your mp3 or wave file differs from this, you have two options:
1. Open the file in an audio editor and convert it to the format listed above.
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2. Burn the file with a program which is capable of creating Audio-CDs. The format will be converted automatically. Afterwards, open the CD with
the Slideshow XL CD Ripper.
Adding And Removing Audio From Harddrive
Adding Audio
If there are audio files already stored on your harddrive, you can load it into your slideshow by clicking the button "Add Audio From Harddrive"
This opens a dialog where you can search and open your audio files
As soon as you open the files in the dialog, they will appear on the audio list.
Removing Audio
You can remove an audio track from the audio list by clicking the track and then clicking the button "Delete".
Don't worry, the file will remain on your drive, it will only be deleted from the audio list.
Adding Audio From CDs
If you like to add audio tracks from a CD, click on "Add Audio From Audio-CD".
A dialog containing further instructions opens. Follow these instructions or click the button "Back to slideshow" to abort
the process.
Audio Informations
If you click the button "Audio Info", a window containing the following infos will appear:
- Valid MPEG
- File Size
- MPEG Type
- Bit rate
- Sample rate
- Channel mode
- Duration
- First frame at
- Total frames
- CRC protection
- Copyright
- Original
- Emphasis
- Encoder
Listening To An Audio Track
To play an audio track, just mark the title with a click, then click the button "Play" below the list.
To stop the playback, click the button "Stop" next to "Play".
Sort Audio List
As you can see, the audio list is divided into the following elements:
- Title
- Artist
- Album
- Duration
- Genre
- Path
You can sort the entire list by each of these elements by just clicking on the specific element on top of the list.
For example: To sort the list by the tracks artists, click the word "Artist" on top of the list.
Another click on the same word reverses the sort.
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3. Step: Settings
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In this step you can do a lot of additional settings. Click on the tab 3. Step: Settings
The settings are divided into the following groups:
General Settings For This Slideshow
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Title of the slideshow
Enter a title for the current slideshow into the box.
General Settings For All Slideshows
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Loop slideshow
This option causes the slideshow to start over with the beginning until the user presses "Esc".
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Hide controls
This options disables the control elements during the PC-Slideshow
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Use keys to shift picture
(Only visible if "hide controls" is active)
This option enables the cursor keys on the keyboard
- "Pg up" or "cursor right" -> next picture
- "Pg down" or "cursor left" -> previous picture
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Display text below pictures
This option lets the text you've entered for each picture appear. In case this option is unchecked, the text
will not be shown in the slideshow.
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Show filename of the pictures
This option enables the slideshow to display the filenames of your pictures below them.
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Text Color
A click on this button makes a dialog appear where you can choose a color for the text displayed in the slideshow.
The active color is being shown in the box right next to this button.
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Background Color
A click on this button makes a dialog appear where you can choose a color for the slideshow and text background.
The active color is being shown in the box right next to this button.
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Font face
Click on the arrow at the box and pick one of the fonts from the dropdown menu.
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Font size
Click on the arrow at the box and pick one of the items from the dropdown menu.
In addition, you can display your text in bold font by checking the box "Bold"
Only For DVD Slideshow
These settings only apply in case you create a slideshow for TV (CD-ROM/DVD)
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Margin to the bottom of your TV screen
In case you can't read the texts below the pictures on your TV screen, you can move the lines a number of pixels up.
Shutdown/Hibernate/Standby
Depending on what kind of slideshow you create and how many pictures it contains, the creation process may take a while.
You can save energy by letting the computer shut down, hibernate or standby after the creation.
The group "Selection" contains the following options:
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Shutdown
Completely shuts the computer down
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Hibernate
Hibernate is a feature seen in many operating systems where the contents of RAM is written to non-volatile storage,
such as the hard disk before powering off the system. Later the system can be restored to the state it was in when
hibernation was invoked.
- Standby
Lets the computer stand by (depends on your configuration).
To make the PC react on one of these options, the box next to "enabled" muste be checked.
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4. Step: Create And Start Slideshow
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In the final step to creating your own slideshow, choose a target format for it.
Click on the tab "4. Step: Create And Start Slideshow" to open a new menu.
This contains the following options:To start the creation, check one of these options and click on "Next".
To return to the recent steps, click on "Cancel".
Create Slideshow For My PC
This option copies the files needed for the slideshow onto your harddrive and creates a shortcut to it on your desktop.
A selection dialog appears, listing all the slideshows you created. Select one by doubleclicking it.
Create Slideshow For CD-ROM
This option copies a burn-ready slideshow into the folder "My Documents\My Slideshows\CDROM-Slideshow" on your harddrive.
Burn the entire contents of this folder onto a CD-ROM. This allows you to watch it on every other windows pc without installing
the Slideshow XL software.
Create Slideshow For DVD Player
You can either generate a VCD or SVCD. Basically the same, they only differ in their resolution. A VideoCD uses 352 x 288 pixels, a
SuperVideoCD uses 480 x 576 pixels.
Caution: Your burn program must support the VCD/SVCD encoding and your DVD player must be able to play VCDs or SVCDs.
You will find the VCD/SVCD file in the "My Documents/Slideshows/DVD Slideshow" folder.
Create Webpage For My Slideshow
This option generates a gallery as HTML file which you can upload to your webspace.
Create Screensaver With Slideshow
Your slideshow will be automatically compiled as screensaver, so you can use it like every other screensaver under windows.
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