Create a slideshow and choose a theme

Create a slideshow and choose a theme

To create a full-featured slideshow using the Slideshow Editor, you must first create an album that holds the slideshow’s photos. The easiest way to do this is to select photos you want to appear in the slideshow and then create an album. You can also create an empty slideshow album and then add the photos you want.

When you first create a slideshow album, Aperture asks you to choose a theme. Aperture provides a set of professionally designed themes that present your photos with background images, graphic elements, and animation. It’s a good idea to explore the slideshow themes before you get started. Some themes may lend themselves better to the subject matter of your photos than others.

If you create a slideshow and then decide that another theme would work better, you can easily change the theme. You can also change a slideshow’s settings, such as the onscreen duration of each slide and the type of transition between slides. The settings available for a slideshow vary depending on the theme you choose. For more information, see Change slideshow settings.

Note: Additional slideshow themes appear in the Slideshow Themes dialog for use in Aperture when iPhoto ’11 is installed. Aperture slideshow themes automatically scale to fit panoramic photos.

Create a slideshow album from selected photos

When you create a slideshow from selected photos, Aperture places the photos in the order in which they were selected in the Browser, but you can rearrange the order at any time.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • In the Browser, select the photos you want to place in your slideshow.

    • Select an item in the Library inspector.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Choose File > New > Slideshow.

    • Control-click an item in the Library inspector, and choose New > Slideshow from the shortcut menu.

    • Choose Slideshow from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

  3. In the dialog that appears, give the slideshow a name, select a theme, and make sure the “Add selected items to new slideshow” checkbox is selected.

    Figure. Dialog for configuring a new slideshow album.

    You can preview slideshow themes by selecting themes in the left column.

  4. Click Choose Theme.

The new slideshow album containing the selected photos appears in the Library inspector, and the Slideshow Editor appears above the Browser. If you want to rename the slideshow album, double-click the slideshow album’s name in the Library inspector and enter a new name.

Figure. Library inspector showing a new slideshow album.

Create a new, empty slideshow album

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Choose File > New > Slideshow.

    • Control-click an item in the Library inspector, and choose New > Slideshow from the shortcut menu.

    • Choose Slideshow from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

  2. In the dialog that appears, give the slideshow a name and select a theme.

    You can preview slideshow themes by selecting themes in the left column.

  3. Make sure the “Add selected items to new slideshow” checkbox is not selected.

  4. Click Choose Theme.

The new, empty slideshow album appears in the Library inspector, and the Slideshow Editor appears above the Browser. Drag the photos you want from the Browser into the new slideshow album in the Library inspector.

Change the theme for an existing slideshow

  1. In the Slideshow Editor, click the Theme button.

    Figure. Theme button in the Slideshow Editor.

  2. In the dialog that appears, select a theme from the list and click Choose Theme.