Add a title or text to the slideshow

You can apply a title to the beginning of your slideshow. You can also display your title over a solid background by inserting a blank slide.

Note: The title controls in the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor and the title options in the Slideshow Action pop-up menu are available only with the Classic and Ken Burns slideshow themes. If iPhoto ’11 is installed, a new Text control appears, allowing you to add text to any slideshow theme.

You can also add text that will appear on every slide of the slideshow and add text to individual slides.

Apply a title to the beginning of the slideshow

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

  2. Click the Slideshow Settings button in the lower-right corner of the Slideshow Editor, and click the Default Settings button.

  3. In the Default Settings pane, select the “Show title” checkbox.

    The slideshow album’s name appears in a text box over the first slide in the slideshow.

  4. If you wish, double-click the title and enter new title text.

  5. If you want to choose a specific font and font size for the slideshow title, click the Fonts button (with an A) and select a font and font size from the Fonts window.

  6. If you want to change the font color for the slideshow title, do one of the following:

    • Click the “Show title” color well, and select a color from the Colors window.

    • Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, and select a color from the pop-up color palette.

    Figure. "Show title" controls in the Default Settings pane of the Slideshow Editor.

Insert a blank slide for the title

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

  2. In the Browser, move the playhead to the beginning of the slideshow.

  3. Choose Insert Blank Slide With Text from the Slideshow Action pop-up menu .

    A blank slide appears at the beginning of the slideshow with the title.

  4. In the Slideshow Editor, double-click the text in the slide and enter a title for the slideshow.

Add text to all the slides

You can display basic information about each photo in your slideshow, such as each version’s name or caption.

By default, the slide text is displayed on the lower-left side of the photo. However, you can choose where you want the slide text to appear onscreen. The slide text appears in the same position on each slide.

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

  2. Click the Slideshow Settings button in the lower-right corner of the Slideshow Editor, and click the Default Settings button.

  3. In the Default Settings pane, choose the type of information to display with each photo from the Text pop-up menu.

    Figure. Text controls in the Default Settings pane of the Slideshow Editor.
  4. To change the font and font size for the slide text, click the Text Fonts button and select a font and font size from the Fonts window.

  5. To change the color of the slide text, do one of the following:

    • Click the Text color well, and select a color from the Colors window.

    • Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, and select a color from the pop-up color palette.

  6. To change the position of the slide text, drag it to a new position on the screen.

    Yellow alignment guides appear to help you center the text horizontally and vertically or align the text in the upper third or lower third of the photo.

    Figure. Image showing slide text being dragged to a new position and yellow alignment guides appearing to help align the text.

Add text to an individual photo in the slideshow

You can add text to individual photos in your slideshow using the Text controls. The text for the individual slides overrides any text applied to the entire slideshow using the Default Settings controls. Text that can be edited appears over the selected photo or group of photos in the slideshow. You can also automatically add text based on metadata such as the version name or caption.

Note: The Text controls are not available in all themes.

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

  2. In the Browser, select a photo or group of photos.

  3. Click the Slideshow Settings button in the lower-right corner of the Slideshow Editor, and click the Selected Slides button.

  4. In the Selected Slides pane, select the Text checkbox, and do one of the following:

    • To add custom text: Choose Custom from the Text pop-up menu.

      Text that can be edited appears over the selected photo in the slideshow. Enter the text for the photo here.

    • To add text based on the photo’s metadata: Choose a type of metadata from the Text pop-up menu.

      Figure. Text controls in the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor.
  5. To change the color of the text, do one of the following:

    • Click the Text color well, and select a color from the Colors window.

    • Click the disclosure button to the right of the color well, and select a color from the pop-up color palette.

  6. To change the font and font size for the slide text, click the Text Fonts button and select a font and font size from the Fonts window.

  7. To choose where the text appears on the screen, drag the text to a new position.