Digital Copies – Digital Syllabus

Sometimes my students just don’t know how lucky they are. The reason for their luck came as a surprise to me because it was one of those functional things that I simply overlooked while actually planning my own course. It makes sense, from a distribution standpoint, that in a class with over four hundred people you would distribute course materials in a digital format. It’s faster, harder to lose, and wastes significantly fewer trees in the process. What’s not to like? Apparently there is a lot not to like and I’m quite certain that I’ve experienced this dilemma with some … Continue reading

Photo Slide Show – He Sat Down to Watch!

A couple weeks ago I finished creating the photo DVD slideshow of my husband’s photos from birth to graduation and I must admit it is awesome. I had spent the day before scanning 120 photographs of my husband. He wanted to pick out the music for the video so I had to wait a day on him to get it to me. I picked four Mercy Me songs which were very appropriate for my husband. The DVD was actually a late Christmas gift for his mother. Of course I was dying to show my husband and son the video as … Continue reading

Microsoft Photo Story – Completing your project

Over the past couple of days we have been discussing the creation of digital photo slideshows using Microsoft Photo Story 3. This blog will finish the series by discussing the final steps of creating your very own slideshow. If you missed any of the other blogs in this series, just click on one of the topics below to go directly to that blog. Photo Story 3 introduction Organizing your pictures Importing pictures Arranging pictures Editing pictures Titles, effects, and narration Motion and transition effects Background music Completing your project Once you have selected your pictures, added any effects, and included … Continue reading

Microsoft Photo Story – Titles, effects, and narration

We’ve been walking through creating digital slideshows using Microsoft Photo Story 3. Today, we’ll discuss adding titles to your pictures, using picture effects, and recording your own personal narration. You can find the first blog in this series here. Adding titles to pictures Adding titles to pictures can be helpful for viewers and is easy to do for you. Use the text box next to each picture to type a title (see screenshot below). You can select different fonts or change the position of the title. I usually only use titles to either indicate where or when the picture was … Continue reading

Microsoft Photo Story – Arranging your pictures

Now that you have organized and selected the pictures you want to use in your digital slideshow, you are ready to arrange and edit your pictures. If you missed the beginning of this series on creating a slideshow of your digital pictures, you can find it here. Arranging your pictures After selecting the pictures you want to use, they will appear in the timeline across the bottom of the program window. You can see in the screenshot below, I have selected five photos for my slideshow. Unless you took the time to order your pictures beforehand, you may want to … Continue reading

Microsoft Photo Story – Importing Photos

Using a photo slideshow can be a convenient and fun way to show off all of your digital photos. There are numerous software programs that allow you to organize, edit, and publish your photos to a digital slideshow. One such program is Microsoft Photo Story 3, which is free to all Windows XP users. Earlier blogs introduced Photo Story 3 and discussed organizing your photos before creating your slideshow. This blog will begin the walkthrough of using Photo Story 3 to create a simple, but entertaining slideshow. Selecting a Task Photo Story 3 uses a simple, non-flashy interface that is … Continue reading

Microsoft Photo Story – Getting Organized

So you’ve downloaded a free copy of Microsoft Photo Story 3, as talked about in an earlier blog, and are ready to begin making your slideshow. Where do you start? The purpose of this blog is to help you get started organizing your photos before you start importing them into Photo Story. Select a topic It is always a good idea to have a topic in mind of the type of slideshow you want to create. Maybe the slideshow will be about your vacation last year to Mt. Rushmore or the latest family birthday party. Selecting a topic will make … Continue reading