Creating a slideshow

You can use the sample ZIP file accompanying this article to create a slideshow in Fireworks CS3.

1. Unzip the slideshow_images.zip file and open all of the images in Fireworks CS3.
2. Create an empty folder to contain the finished sideshow. (The Slideshow command will create an index.html file in the folder, so do not use a folder that already contains a file named index.html.)

3. Select Commands > Create Slideshow to open the Create Slideshow panel. Notice that the AlbumBook Properties panel is open by default in the accordion panel on the right (see Figure1).

   

   Figure 1: Create Slideshow panel

4. Set all of the properties for your AlbumBook in the Create Slideshow panel, or make changes to an existing slideshow.

Figure 1 shows the Dreamworld – Green (Flash) player, which you will use in this tutorial. Several other players may be chosen from the pop-up menu. Notice that the "info" button lights up when you switch player types. This lets you know whether a player supports all or just some of the features. For example, Dreamworld supports all, but choose Player Black and you will see that the info button next to the pop-up menu lights up. Click it and it launches brief notes about the player.

AlbumBook properties

The images provided in the slideshow_images.zip file were taken with a small digital camera on an ocean fishing trip, so we'll call this AlbumBook Fishing and the description will be My Fishing Trips (see Figure 2).

Check the Auto-start Slideshow option to make the slideshow automatically start when a viewer opens the index.html page. You can also click the Allow Clicking Images option if you want viewers to be able to click an image to download it.

Figure 2. Examining the AlbumBook properties

Album properties

Open the Album Properties panel in the accordion panel. Before you set the album properties, you will need to add an album. Select the plus (+) button (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Adding an album by clicking the plus (+) button

You will be presented with a choice to use all of the images which are currently open in Fireworks (see Figure 4). Click OK. If you have not already opened all the images, you can do so at this time.

Figure 4. Processing the files for a new album

The title and folder name are initially created from the name of the folder containing the open images. However, you can change these later. When you click the folder name, you will see the list of images displayed (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Displaying the image names

Note: If you would like to modify or optimize images before you create a slideshow, open the Image Editing panel in Fireworks CS3 and make the necessary tweaks.

For the album properties, type Orange Beach for the Title and orangebeach1 for the folder name. For a description, use Deep Sea fishing with Orange Beach Charter. You will notice that this also changes the names on the left side of the panel (see Figure 6). Choose one of the images to use as a thumbnail.

Figure 6. Setting the album properties

Captions

Open the Captions panel in the accordion panel. For this album you will use one caption for all of the images (see Figure 7). If you want unique captions for each picture, just click and type in a caption next to the filename for each image.

Figure 7. Adding captions

Filters

Open the Filters panel in the accordion panel. Several filters, such as convert to Sepia Tone, are available to further enhance your slideshow. For this slideshow we will not apply special filters, so just leave the default "--Choose filter--" selected (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Choosing a filter

Slideshow properties

Open the Slideshow Properties panel in the accordion panel. Several choices are available. You can set a time interval and apply it to all the albums in the AlbumBook. There are also several types of transitions available, and you can choose to scramble the display sequence. For this slideshow, leave the default settings selected (see Figure 9).

Figure 9. Setting the slideshow properties

Export options

Open the Export Options panel in the accordion panel. Leave the default settings selected. For the Export path, browse and choose the folder that contains the slideshow files that you downloaded at the beginning of the tutorial. Click the Create button (see Figure 10).

Figure 10. Setting the export options

You will be presented with an option to launch the slideshow in a browser. When the processing has reached 100%, click the box to launch the slideshow in the browser and click the Close button (see Figure 11).

Figure 11. Launching in a browser

You will now see a preview of your finished slideshow (see Figure 12).

Figure 12. Viewing the completed slideshow

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