PhotoStory 3 Microsoft PhotoStory 3 allows you to create a digital slideshow of your photos with music and narration. It s a free download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx. First, collect your digital photos prior to starting this project. You may want to storyboard (plan) your PhotoStory also. Open PhotoStory. Select Begin a New Story, then click Next. Click on Import Pictures. like to use. Navigate to the pictures you would You may import pictures one by one or in groups. To select all, press the Shift key on the keyboard while you select the first and last picture of the group. To select some pictures, press the Control (Ctrl) key and click on each picture you wish to import. Selecting them one by one allows you to import them in order. If you import them as a group, you may quickly rearrange them by selecting the picture, dragging and dropping it in the correct spot. You may also delete a picture by selecting the picture and pressing the delete key on the keyboard. There are also arrows at the end of the filmstrip which you may use to move pictures forward or backward. The X will delete the selected picture. To remove black borders or to crop pictures, click on the Remove black borders link.
Use the cropping tool in the Before box to crop your picture. You can edit and enhance your pictures in several ways using the toolbar underneath the enlarged photo. Correct color levels. Correct red eye. Correct contrast. Rotate the picture clockwise or counterclockwise. Manually crop the picture. (Under Edit) Add effects such as Black and White that change the appearance of the picture.(under Edit) Note that none of the changes that you make affect the original picture that is stored on your computer, a network folder, or the Internet. After your pictures are set the way you would like them, click on Next. Add text to your pictures (up to 1024 characters). Customize your font by clicking on the Select Font button. You may also select the orientation of your text by left, centered, or right alignment and top, middle, or bottom of picture. Note: You may also apply effects to your picture using the dropdown menu under the large picture. (This is the same as on the Edit on the prior window.)there are also prior and next arrows to navigate between the pictures.
Click on Next to add Narration. Click on the red Record button, making sure you re on the correct picture. Speak into the microphone and click on the square to stop recording. Preview to listen before saving or re-recording. Click on Customize Motion underneath the large picture to add a Ken Burns effect or select a transition, depending on the tab you select. The Motion and Duration tab allows you to set a Ken Burns effect. Select Specify start and end position of motion to get started. Use the rectangle select tool in the Start and End Position picture boxes to set your panning and zooming. Below you can adjust the timing. The Transition tab will allow you to select the transition from this picture to the next. Both tabs have a Preview button to view your choices. The Next button takes you to the Music. You can either insert a clip of music (wma, mp3, or wav format) or you can create music using the prerecorded clips within the PhotoStory program.
Make sure you have selected the picture where you wish the music selection to begin. Next, click on Select Music. Locate the music you want to add, and then click Open. The music file can be in Windows Media Audio (WMA), MP3, or WAV format. Repeat steps until you have selected all the music that you want to play with your story, making sure you have selected the picture clip prior to selecting your music. You can have one music file playing for the entire movie or multiple music files for one movie. To add Photo Story prerecorded music to your story, select a picture, and then click Create Music. In the Create Music dialog box, in the Genre list, click a genre.
In the Style list, click a style. In the Bands box, click a band. In Moods list, click a mood. In the Tempo box, move the slider to adjust the tempo. In the Intensity box, click one of the following options: Low, Normal, High Click Play to hear how the Photo Story prerecorded music sounds. Repeat steps until you have selected all the music that you want to play with your story. Click Preview to play your story. Your entire story plays, starting at the selected picture, complete with the narration, title pages, and any background music you added. If you need to adjust the volume of a piece of background music in your story, select the anchor image, and then move the Volume slider on the Add background music page. For example, if you narrated your pictures, you may want to move the slider toward Low to decrease the music volume so your voice can be heard clearly over the background music. Click on Next to save your PhotoStory to play back on your computer or to send as an email. Choose the format, determine where you d like to save it, and then click on Next. This will create a standalone project, but will not be editable. To save it in a PhotoStory format, click on Save Project. (Make sure you save in PhotoStory format if you think you may want to go back and edit some more.)