Set the length of time slides play

You can set the display time for all slides in your slideshow, and with some themes, set specific display times for individual slides.

Set the display time for all slides in 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, specify the number of seconds that each slide should appear onscreen using the “Play slide for” value slider.

    Note: Depending on which theme is applied to the slideshow, additional controls may appear for fitting the slideshow to the soundtrack and aligning the slideshow to beats. For more information about adding a soundtrack to a slideshow, see Add music and audio to slideshows.

Set the display time for a specific slide or group of slides

In some themes, you can select individual photos in a slideshow and set a specific display duration.

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

  2. Select a photo or group of photos in the Browser.

  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 “Play slide for” checkbox, and use the value slider to specify the length of time you want the slide or group of slides to appear.

    Note: The slide duration controls are not available in all themes.

    Figure. "Play slide for" checkbox and value slider in the Selected Slides pane of the Slideshow Editor.

Set a slide’s duration on the fly

You can change the durations of slides while the slideshow is playing.

  1. Select a slideshow album in the Library inspector.

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

  3. In the Slideshow Editor, click the Slide Duration button.

    An overlay displays the length of time the slide is set to play.

    Figure. Slide Duration button and controls in the Slideshow Editor.
  4. Press the Space bar to play the slideshow.

    As the playhead moves over the selected slide in the Browser, the duration counter in the overlay counts the number of seconds. The playhead stops when it reaches the end of the slide, but the duration counter continues to count.

  5. To stop the counter and set the current slide’s display duration, press Return.

    The playhead moves to the next slide in the Browser.

  6. Repeat step 4 until the duration of each slide is set.

  7. When you have finished, click Done.