Using a photo slideshow can be a convenient and fun way to show off all of your digital photos. There are numerous software programs that allow you to organize, edit, and publish your photos to a digital slideshow. One such program is Microsoft Photo Story 3, which is free to all Windows XP users. Earlier blogs introduced Photo Story 3 and discussed organizing your photos before creating your slideshow. This blog will begin the walkthrough of using Photo Story 3 to create a simple, but entertaining slideshow.
Selecting a Task
Photo Story 3 uses a simple, non-flashy interface that is pretty easy to navigate. Each time you start the program, you will be presented with a screen similar to that found below. This screen allows you to start creating a new story, edit a pre-existing project, or play a story that you have completed. You don’t have to use Photo Story 3 to play finished projects, and in fact, I recommend that you don’t need to. All finished projects are saved as Windows Media Video (WMV) files that can be played using the Windows Media Player (version 7 or later). So, just use the Windows Media Player included with Windows XP and skip opening up Photo Story 3 for video playback.
Importing Pictures
You’ve decided to begin a new story and are ready to choose your pictures. When you select to begin a new story, you’ll see a screen that allows you import the pictures you want to use (see below). Importing pictures does nothing more than give you a way to select the pictures you are going to use for your slideshow, without altering the original pictures. You don’t have to worry that your original photos will be edited or deleted–they’ll be kept safe. Any changes you make to pictures using Photo Story 3 will not affect your original photos.
When you click on the button “Import Pictures” you’ll be taken to the file browser where you choose the pictures you’re going to use (screenshot below). The place that Photo Story looks first for pictures is your “My Pictures” folder that is located in your “My Documents” folder. You may have to browse to the folder(s) where your pictures are stored.
Once you have found the folders where your pictures are stored, you can either select one picture at a time (not recommended) or select the whole bunch at once (recommended). You can select all of your photos at once by using one of two ways. The first way involves simply clicking your left mouse button and while holding it down, dragging the mouse over the pictures you want and eventually highlighting them all (see below). The second way involves using the Ctrl key on your keyboard in conjunction with your mouse. I have written about this shortcut before, but will refresh you here quickly. Hold down one of the Ctrl keys on your keyboard and click with your mouse on each individual photo you want to include. As you click, each file name will be added to the list. When you are finished adding photos, let go to the Ctrl key. Click OK and your photos will be imported.
One handy feature is that you can import photos from your online MSN group. To do so, just select the “MSN Groups” tab in the File Browser. You will have to login to your account using your .NET Passport (see below). If you don’t have an MSN Groups account and have no clue about I am talking about, then you can move on to the next step–arranging your photos.
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