14 DAY TRIAL // Regardless of whether your vacation was at the Himalayans or the Mediterranean Sea, as the moment to return home draws near, you know there is a pretty large stash of photos on your camera's memory card. Transferring them to your computer for safe keeping is indeed necessary, but in case your mates are coming around for a drinking party, a good idea is to load these pics in a nice environment, proving you are a true computer proficient even if you haven't followed any related courses.
MySlideShow is a trial software used for creating, playing and CD distributing slide shows accompanied by effects and audio files. You don't need to be an expert to handle this application as it was created for an entire range of users. The compilation can be saved as an EXE file ready to run at any time of day or night, with no help of additional applications, or as a SRC file to replace your current screen saver.
The program has a convenient interface for the Windows Explorer adepts. To create a slideshow all you need to do is browse for the directory where the pictures are stored, add them to the Slide List and click Run. Proved to be an easy to use software, MySlideShow allows you to view the pics as thumbnails for a better sequence management. As soon as you finished adding sound files and transition effects, you are ready to burn the project on a CD as an single executable or as a set of files (source image and audio files will be placed into different folders).
Divided into 5 windows (folders, projects, preview, file list, slide list), the software's interface does not bring anything astonishing to the table, as it is very much like the file explorer we are familiarized with. On the other hand, it's easy to manage as all the frameworks are removable except one (Slide list).
If you are an Internet addict you are probably used with the Favorites/Bookmarks notion. If not, don't worry 'cause is nothing more than what their name says. Adding folders to the program's Favorite section is an easy task, since all that needs doing is browsing once for the image folder and click the Add Selected button from the panel. If you are not quite finished with your compilation and you have to abort, saving the compilation in a project on a storage media is possible so you won't lose the changes you have made.
The Preview window is useful if you have any doubts about a specific photo. On double click, a full screen preview is available and the pic can be stretched, tiled, or fit to screen size. Showing its information is an available option as well as rotating it 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.
In the Slide list, the options are a bit more varied than in the previous windows. You can set the photos to change during slideshow using the keyboard or adjust the time between them automatically. The background can be a solid color, gradient fill in horizontal or vertical style or an image selected from your computer. As for extras, borders, margins and padding can be added and the color of the shadow, percentage, distance, blur and inflating effects are user defined.
There is also customization for the text of the caption, like font (type, style, size, color, shape, shadow). You can position it horizontally or vertically and select its alignments and margins. Preview is available, so you are able to continually increase the quality of the application. The transition between slides have different effects you can select, and its duration is correctable (in seconds).
Have a look among the settings for the general project to see what meliorations are possible. In its 2 tabs (General and Advanced), you will find that the volume controls, the navigation bar and the pop-up menu are customizable. Choose the mouse buttons functionality and check all the others miscellaneous options (Show timer, Close after finish, etc).
To make your compilation more friendly, you can add sound files in different formats (MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, MID, M3U) to run in a random order while you are watching the slideshow, and define the silence period between them. Choose a caption, move an image to the left or right until you end up having the desired order, and click the play button. It wasn't that hard after all, was it?
Have all of your images resized for a certain standard (or define your own size), check the Embed TrueType font option and output folder path and you are ready for a compilation in an EXE or SCR file format. You can make an album (file with an ALX extension) with all the slideshows you have created so far. More settings (header and footer, screen layout, etc) for defining them are to be found here and you are invited to have a look.
The slideshows can be burned on a blank CD via "Create Autorun CD" feature. Even more, if you are using a recordable disk, erasing it using the program is just one step away. As miscellaneous options, you are allowed to shuffle the images and to remove the duplicates from the compilation. You can also print the thumbnails and import the EXIF (EXchangeable Image Format data used to store camera settings into the picture file) information for each file individually or as a batch.
The Good
MYSlideShow is an easy to use application that allows you to create slideshows from the photos that are saved on your drives over the years. The program has loads of options regarding customization and the output can be saved in executable or screen saver files, the former ready to be burned on a blank CD or a RWCD. The Help file is well developed and ready to come to your assistance.
The Bad
The interface is not appealing at all and therefore is a minus for the program as a whole. More varied sorts of transitional effects will be more than welcomed, instead of 3 or 4 lookalikes from the same range. The executable output is more vulnerable to computer viruses than other formats and an archive alternative should be available.
The Truth
MYSlideShow is an alternative trial tool for the develpment of slideshows. It is useful and can be employed for 30 days until purchased. You are able to synchronize audio files with your photos and save the compilation as an executable file or set it as a screensaver for your monitor.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
