A slideshow is a series of motion picture with a defined music that is augmented by several visual effects.

Apart from being exciting to create, they can make viewing photos much more enjoyable.

You can use iMovie to create free and amazing photo slideshows. To find out how, follow the steps listed below:

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• Make Photo Slideshows with ease Using iMovie Alternative
• iMovie Slideshow Tutorial

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1. Make Photo Slideshows with ease Using iMovie Alternative – Movavi Slideshow Maker

You can make some great slideshows with tons of visual effects, animated texts and transitions using the Movavi Slideshow Maker.

There are a variety of pre-made slideshow templates to pick from. Also, Movavi contains a library of background music, visual effects, transitions and other effects that can make you create a great slideshow.

After creating your slideshows, you can export them in a variety of formats such as .mp4, .mov, .avi etc.

To make amazing slideshows with Movavi, follow the steps below to download and install the program.

Step 1: Install the Software

Install the Movavi Slideshow Maker by opening the executable file and following the proceeding instructions.

Step 2: Choose a Working Mode

There are two modes in Movavi:

You can make a photo movie in just four simple steps in Easy mode, while in the Full feature mode you can customize the entire process from start to finish.

For this tutorial, we will choose the Easy Mode.

Step 3: Upload Photos

Head to the Files tab and select the +Files option and select the images that you want on your slideshow. You can also add entire folders at once by clicking on the +Folders option.

After importing the images, you can rearrange their position by dragging them or remove certain images by clicking on the close button on each of them.

Step 4: Adding Music

To add music, open the Music tab and click on +Music to select music. You can also choose any of the preinstalled audio files.

Step 5: Join Slides with Transitions

Head to the Transition tab. Choose a transition style or select No transitions.

Step 6: Preview Your Slideshows

Head to the Preview tab. Select Fit to music length to make your video fit the duration of the music. Mark the Fit to frame option to remove any black bars on your videos or photos.

Step 7: Export

In the export, choose your preferred format from the list of options at the top of the window. Once you have defined your export details, select Start.

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2. How to Make a Photo Slideshow Using iMovie

Here, we will walk through how to create slideshows using iMovie, right from getting the images from iPhoto to adding transitions, effects and music for that exciting thrill at the end.

Whether you want to put together your travel experience or show off your photography skills, making slideshows with iMovie is a great way to engage yourself in your leisure time.

Step 1: Prepare Pictures in iPhoto

Before you start making slideshows on iMovie, first edit and crop your pictures in iPhoto

Even if you can get it done in iMovie, it’s much easier to just edit and crop your photos in iPhoto.

Then create an album and arrange all your photos in the order that you want them to appear in. Again, you can do this in iMovie, but it is much easier to first do them in iPhoto.

Step 2: Create a New Project in iMovie

To create a new project, click on the Create New icon in iMovie

Here, there will be two options presented by iMovie, one of them will allow you to create short and exciting Hollywood-like trailers with some preinstalled templates.

If you want to create a slideshow comprising of videos, music and photos, then select Movie.  This option offers much more flexibility and has added features, which is why we will use it for this tutorial.

iMovie also has a series of movie templates, but we would not be using any of them in this tutorial. This is so that I can show you several edition options that you can use to make your own theme.

Step 3: Adjust Default Preferences

Just before you begin to edit your slideshow, head to Preferences and set things so that the pictures are imported just the way you want.

• Change Photo Positions from Ken Burns to Crop to Fill.
• Set the Duration to 3s for each photo.
• Change Transitions to 2s

Step 4: Import Photos

On iMovie, you can find your iPhoto library on the left side panel.

Open the iPhoto library and select the album you created previously, double-click to view it.

Once you confirm that your photos are in the right order, select all (Command + A) and drag and drop them on your timeline.

You can still rearrange the photos on your timeline by also selecting and dragging them. You can switch the order even after they have been placed on your timeline by dragging and selecting each of them.

Step 5: Add Transitions

Select all (Command + A) to select all the photos on your timeline, then go to Edit > Add Cross Dissolve to add transitions.

This is going to add a Cross Dissolve transition with a duration of 0.2 seconds.

Step 6: Add Title

Head to title and then add a title by dragging a standard title to the start of the timeline.

Enter your own text by selecting the text on the preview window.

Repeat the same step to add texts to any part of the slideshow.

Step 7: Add Music

To add music to your slideshow, head to Audio where you can select a series of songs or sound effects from iTunes.

Select and drag an audio file to add it to your timeline.

Step 8: Export the Slideshow

As soon as you are done editing, head to File > Sharing > File, and title your project from the pop-up window that will appear and then define your export preferences. Once you finish, export by clicking on the Save button.