14 DAY TRIAL // The advancement of technology changed plenty of the old habits, and one of them is the way we preserve and present photographs. Collections of images are more likely to be found in digital form nowadays rather than on paper.
Photo albums have also turned digital, and one of the best ways to put our favorite pictures on display is to create a slideshow with them.
Through Slideshow Studio HD, Ashampoo offers one of the most complete solutions that can help stich up multiple images that render automatically with a specific frequency, with music running in the background.
The application has reached version 3, which extends the functionality of the previous builds by adding new high-quality themes and the possibility to record our own sounds. Furthermore, the fresh revision can apply individual sound effects for each of the slides for a more elaborate experience.
The price recommended by the developer is set to $29.99/€29.99, a tad higher than what was asked for the previous release of the program.
However, there is always the possibility to try the application before making the purchase and there is plenty of time offered, as Ashampoo products can be tested freely for as long as 40 days, provided that the registration requirement is met.
Installing the product is an easy task that demands little attention from the user and there is a small number of screens to go through. On most computers, the entire operation should be over in roughly one minute.
Each time the application starts, it presents the possibility to begin a new project or to open an existing one. For users who are more familiar with the product, this may seem a rather unnecessary step because all saved projects are automatically associated with Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD.
The interface has not changed too much compared to the previous release, but there are some extra elements available within easy reach. Apart from themes, logos, and subtitles the current revision also features a section for music effects and one for accessing audio recordings done by the user.
The list of additional elements (themes, logos, and subtitles) that can be glued to the images has grown. The timeline offers easy control over them, as dragging by their ends renders them visible over multiple pictures.
Placing the extra items in this manner is a great way to check how all elements fit and appear in the resulting slideshow, although in the case of logos there is no hint about what object they represent.
Color codes are helpful in determining the nature of the object and the preview area shows exactly how they would appear in the final file, but assigning them names that are visible on the entire timeline marking would make their identification a much easier job.
The context menu for the items allows the modification of the display time duration, flipping or rotating it, or inserting new elements such as text, shapes, or even a new image. With images, the options are limited to inserting of new elements.
When importing the photos for the slideshow, they are automatically separated with a random choice of transitions (about 20 of them). These can be customized in terms of the effect displayed and the default duration for both the transition and the display of the image, either individually or for the whole batch.
Configuring these elements is a simple task, as it merely requires dragging by a slider to increase or decrease display time. Since Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD also supports background music, in order to make the entire project as seamless as possible, there is the possibility to automatically adjust the times so that the slideshow plays until the end of the music. Users who haven’t tried Ashampoo’s Slideshow Studio HD before should be able to work with the program with the utmost ease. There are plenty of options to customize the rolling of the images in order to provide more details to the viewers than just a photo.
With the final tweak in place, the resulting slideshow can be readied for rendering in high definition (720p or 1080p) by burning it on a disc (DVD or Blu-ray) or simply saving it as a video file.
There is also the alternative of preparing and uploading it automatically to YouTube or Facebook. HD format is supported in both cases and there are no encoding options available.
Regardless of the output choice, before starting the operation some details about the quality of the file and upload duration are offered. The quality can be adjusted easily through a slide bar, which shows the estimated size of the file as well.
The Good
Support for KenBurns effect contributes to the overall professional feel of the resulting slideshow, while the many elements that can be added ensure a larger pool of details being relayed to the viewers.
There is support for high-definition encoding as well as for uploading the file to online repositories or burning it to a disc (DVD or Blu-ray).
The Bad
The Truth
NOTE: We have 10 licenses to give away for Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD 3. In order to grab one you are expected to come up with a smart post in English in the comment section below.
The opportunity expires on Friday, February 21, at 16:30 UTC (08:30 PT), so make sure you post your lines by then and please provide a valid contact email address; we urge you to be original because pasting from different online sources gets you kicked from the campaign.
