- How To Create A Slideshow On Mac
- What Is The Best Photo Slideshow Software Free
- Best Free Photo Slideshow Software For Mac Os
- Best Mac Photo Slideshow Software
- Slideshow Application For Mac
In this post, we collect the new list of top 12 free slideshow creator software, and gather the review. Hope you can decide the best one and create your own slideshow easily. 5 free slideshow maker software for Windows and Mac; Part 2. 5 free online slideshow creators; Part 3. 2 slideshow creator apps for iPhone and Android. Proshow Gold – slideshow maker with in-built themes and music. Like Photostage, Proshow Gold is a limited-trial free slideshow software that you will need to pay for to use the features in the long term. Still, it does everything you want a consistent slideshow maker to do, including efficient use of media.
We all love to showcase our beautiful moments to the world in different ways and make it unique. Spending a vacation somewhere in Europe to farewell moments in school. We all have our beautiful moments which has been there with us for a long time and will remain the way it is for the times to come.
We all love to keep our moments organized in a beautiful manner to ensure that there is no such confusion that takes place while we are sorting the photos and taking a peek into them to relive those memories which have shaped our lives.
Now, we can present our moments or rather create a slideshow of all the beautiful moments that has shaped our lives in a rather beautiful way and experience those moments and bring in that nostalgia while you watch the beautifully curated story which tells us a beautiful story of sorts and makes you emotional as you experience those movements in the slideshow.
Digital albums have become the talk of the town now. It is being used on a regular basis to showcase those intricate personal movements in a unique and enticing way that refreshes our senses. Digital albums are not only for personal use, but there are also many companies who are creating digital albums in the professional sphere to be able to provide the clients with a unique and effective approach.
What is a slideshow maker software and is there a need to use them?
In recent times with the proliferation of digital media and the growth in the development of digital technology. Innovations by developers have brought in slideshow software for use which gives the users unlimited customization features while offering the users a simple and clean interface as it goes on towards creating that perfect digital album which would perfectly store those moments in a perfectly unique way that would bring in that nostalgia.
Well, we can easily scroll through our photos to see the moments that we want instead of creating a digital movie which would also require quite a bit of time and effort, which is not possible for many to put in just for the sake of creating a digital movie.
There is a mistake here that I would like to point out, most of the slideshow maker software is free to use and hardly takes any effort to create a digital movie out of your special movements. Over time, it has become really easy to organize these moments while ensuring that the effects that you want to add to it are in place.
Most of the software can be easily used by anyone; even a beginner can create a digital movie or a presentation out of the moments which would be like a showcase of all those beautiful moments. Indeed, it is one of the most beautiful experiences to carve out a digital movie which reminds you of all your past memories which just flew past in a hurry. It allows users to have one of a kind experience and also experience that rush of blood while seeing the digital movie.
It is not only for personal use that digital movies can be used, we have a number of professional software that is available for use and can be used to make professional presentations for the clients and also it allows a number of customizations to be made as there is an element of uniqueness attached to it.
While there are a number of options to choose from to create that perfect digital movie. Now, we would look into some of the best free slideshow makers for Windows and Mac.
First, let us look into the best free slideshow maker that is available to be used for free on various versions of Windows:
1. Wondershare Filmora 9
Filmora9 is one of the most versatile software that is available for free download in the market and comes with an array of professional features to choose from to use and experiment while bringing out the best from your digital movie.
The array of features it has to offer to its users and the simplicity which makes the core of this software, it can be used by professionals as well as beginners. It is one of the best free slideshow makers for Windows 10.
2. DVD Slideshow Builder
Another software is coming from the house of Wondershare. It is a powerful software and is a feature-rich software that comes with a number of options and tons of effects to work and tweak around with while bringing out the perfect output.
It is one of the few software that allows the 3D transition to be added to the slides, which brings in an all-new touch and feel to the software. Though it comes as professional software, is really simple to use and is one of the best free slideshow makers that one would come across.
3. Freemake Video Converter
Freemake Video Converter is the perfect destination for those who would want to work with multiple pictures at once and those who love a simple interface that can be used by anyone with ease.
It allows you to work with a number of file formats and allows you to arrange your best moments in an efficient and quick manner. It comes with a feature to merge pictures together. The ease with which one can work on this software makes it one of the best free slideshow maker available for the users.
4. Windows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker is a homegrown software coming from Microsoft. It comes pre-installed on some of the recent Windows devices. It allows you to work with your favorite pictures and also allows the users to work with various effects on the slides of our choice.
The software also allows you to work with videos directly recorded with the webcam. It allows you to work around with the slides and only add the effects to the selected portions of the slide. The software with its stability and sturdiness makes it best free slideshow maker which can be used on Windows.
5. Slidely
Slidely is software that perfectly works online and offers the users a curated experience while working with the slides and adding various effects which have been modified to suit the needs of social media and other available networks.
Slidely is your perfect community based free slideshow maker where you can work around with a member of your community while ensuring that there is a continuity in your slides. It comes with a number of sharing options and allows the users to have an engaging experience.
6. Photosnack
Photosnack is a leading software to work with and have one of a kind experience as you go on creating that perfect digital movie of your choice while ensuring that simplicity remains. Couple with an elegant design, it is your perfect destination to venture out to.
It is completely free software, and you can even work with the software on your mobile phones and come up with some of the most stunning results. The elegant touch and the simplicity that it comes with makes it one of the best free slideshow maker to work with.
Now, we would move our attention as we look towards some of the best free slideshow maker for Mac users:
7. iSkysoft Slideshow Maker
One of the most widely used software on all Mac devices. It gives users the flexibility to work with an array of different effects and also animate only parts of a given slide. It is a detailed software and might actually require a bit of navigation before actually getting a hold of the same.
It is fully compatible with various versions of Mac and also comes with a professional touch added to the same which gives you access to a number of advanced editing features. The array of features it has to offer makes it one of the best free slideshow maker that is available to the users.
8. iSkysoft DVD Creator
The software is quite easy to work with and allows you a number of features and effects to work with. The simple interface which has a touch of brilliance spread all over it tells us about the professional aspect of the software.
It also has some great options to tweak around with that makes the creating a slideshow professional than ever before. It also comes with advanced sharing options to share it on almost any network. The advanced features it comes with couples with a simple interface makes it one of the best free slideshow maker that can be used.
9. iMovie
The software comes pre-installed on most of the mac systems for use, but can also be downloaded for free to be used on your Mac. It comes with a number of inbuilt themes and tons of customizations to choose from and work with it.
The software though offers some of the largest features to customize and carve out a digital movie which would take you back to those moments. The customization features and a simple interface which allows beginners to work on it make it one of the best free slideshow maker to work with.
10. FotoMagico 5
This software is the perfect solution to almost all problems that a user might come across while making a digital album. It is one of the easiest software to work with and also be able to explore around quite a bit.
It allows you to come up with a high-resolution output and also allows the users to work around with a number of file formats. It also comes with some new and updated features which help the users to enhance the overall output of the same.
11. Muvee Real Express
Muvee is one of the leading platforms that offers you some of the best features that allows you to work around and come up with interesting results with the photos on your device. It has actually made the task of converting your photos into a live slideshow a cakewalk.
The software also comes with a number of slideshow styles which helps to add a new dimension to our slideshow and give a unique touch to the same. With the ease and the array of slide styles it has to offer, it makes its way to be one of the best free slideshow maker.
12. 4K Slideshow maker
The name of the software speaks for the quality standards that it has to offer to the users while ensuring that the software gives you a stable experience and there are no problems that might bug in a while working with the same.
It is convenient and easy to use software and has a number of indigenous features associated with the same. It lets the users work around the software while working with a number of effects to come up with a gorgeous output.
Wrapping it up!!
We all love our beautiful moments, and we love to store them for the years to come in the future. Organizing as a task has been made easier by the technology that can be used for the same purpose.
Digital movies being carved out of our memories has seen a rise in recent times. It used to be a painstaking process before if we were to create a digital movie. Now, with the proliferation of digital technology, creating a digital movie has indeed become a child’s play.
There exists a myriad of apps that allow you to create a slideshow out of the beautiful moments for free. Here, we have shortlisted some of the best free slideshow maker that is available to both Windows and Mac users.
Summary: This blog introduces best free slideshow makers with music and effects in the first part. For more control over the effects, themes and templates, there are another 6 pieces of freemium slideshow making software to play with.
Are you aware of how many photos are taken and then forgotten in the storage card? Photos of cute babies, 4-leg friends, birthday parties, weddings, and more. Using a photo slideshow maker can breathe life into those still photos.
In fact, any fully-baked video editor (NLE) can be used as a slideshow maker, the only drawback is the amount of time and effort required if you are new to non-linear editing software. That's why the market of dedicated and easy-to-use slideshow makers blossom.
A slideshow maker might have some or all of these options:
- Add transitions
- Add filters and adjust colors
- Add background music
- Add text and captions
- Add video layovers such as stickers and PiP
- Record your voice to add commentaries
The difference lies in the degree of customizability each program allows, and that makes sense because those programs aim at different markets (for users at different skill levels).
Free slideshow maker offers essential functions enough for a simple video, and you can use Instasize Photo Editor to enhance your photos before making photo slideshow. If you don't mind spending a penny, there are freemium programs that offer more templates and controls to get design-y. We cover both types in this blog for different editing needs.
Best Free Slideshow Makers for Windows and Mac
1. VideoProc Vlogger
If you want to create a slideshow with background music and animation effects, VideoProc Vlogger is the go-to choice. This slideshow maker comes with a motion editor to create pan and room effects, and a beat detection tool to make cut-to-the-beat photo slideshow.
You can add unlimited numbers photo to the timeline, make the transition go along the beat of the music, which is visually enchanting.
Even a beginner can quickly get the hang of this application, and start to create slideshow with a professional looking, and the preview is smooth and high speed, in realtime.
Pros:
- Use motion presets or customize keyframes for slide animations
- Auto detect beat to mark out timing for photo transition
- Trendy filters, effects, and transition presets to use
- Add animations to text, customize text style, font, color, etc.
- Support mainstream and rare photo and video formats
Cons:
- No color wheels or curves for grading
Download VideoProc Vlogger to create slideshow without watermaker or any other limitation, it is free:
2. Windows 10 Video Editor
The default video editor for windows 10 is one of the best free slideshow makers for beginners. It is pre-installed, and comes with basic transition and motion effects enough for a quick making of photos slideshow with music. The best thing is, you can directly pick photos and videos already stored in the photos library, or import media from iPhone and Android mobiles. With each photo or video inserted to the storyboard, you can trim it or adjust duration, add captions, transitions and music.
Pros:
How To Create A Slideshow On Mac
- Pre-installed app, easy to use
- Lightweight for low-performance computer
Cons:
- Barebones for power users looking for highly customizable solutions
3. iMovie
If you are looking for the best free slideshow makers for Mac, iMovie ranks top on the list. Developed by Apple, this video editing application works nicely for slideshow making. You don't have to train yourself to get design-y, the themes and text styles in iMovie keep up with Apple's aesthetics. You can add enormous numbers of photos and video clips into the timeline, as long as the finished video falls within 60 minutes.
Pros:
- Various stylish themes for quick slideshow making
- Countless YouTube tutorials to guide you through slideshow making
- Option to add and edit background music for the slideshow
Cons:
- Changing the aspect ratio of the video is less straight-forward
4. ffDiaporama
The interface of ffDiaporama does admittedly look a little dated at a first glance. But it is free and open source software, hard to beat that! You can turn photos into a video with music.
This program has basic transition built-in, including commonly seen slide, zoom, fade, etc. Transitions can be applied between each photo, with the option to change speed.
Pros:
- Option to quickly rearrange photos by dragging them
- Support editing background music in the slides
Cons:
- Only provides some basic functions
- No templates or storyboard to use
5. 4K Slideshow Maker
If you want an automatic photo slideshow wizard, 4K Slideshow Maker does the magic. It automatically creates a video from photos you imported, and apply random but nice transitions and effects to the photos. Popular effects such as ken burns will be added, giving you a view of panning and zooming to breathe life into still photos. It also allows you to adjust the duration of photos and transitions.
Pros:
- Ready-to-use profiles to export video as the best format for iPhone, YouTube, Facebook, 4K
- Directly import photos from Instagram to create IG photo show
- Option to use face detection tech to keep people in the frame
Cons:
- All the things you prefer to manually done is not possible in this program
- No option to trim and cut background music and videos
- Cannot add text or stickers to the video
6. Bolide Slideshow Creator
Bolide Slideshow Creator is a lightweight free slideshow maker, with a merely 9MB installation package. The interface is archaic, with a design aesthetic from the Windows 7 era. All the basic needs can be fulfilled: add multiple photos to the storyboard, insert transitions between photos, add one piece of background music, and apply animated titles. It works nicely if you only want to showcase photos with simple transitions. There is no photo college tool to stylize photos in each frame.
Pros:
- Lightweight and easy-to-use, suitable for low-spec machines
- It supports up to 18 languages
- Option to randomly arrange photos you added into the storyboard
- 1-click make all photos landscape or portrait by cropping, zoom in, or letter box
Cons:
- Doesn't support 4K or higher resolutions
- Cannot add and merge multiple pieces of music to one video
- The output format is limited to AVI, MP4, WMV, MKV and FLV
Best Slideshow Makers with Music, Effects and Templates
7. Photopia Creator
Photopia Creator is a professional slideshow maker with templates, stock music, caption pre-sets, and a myriad of advanced functions. You can add an image masking layer, adjustment layer and keyframes to create a stunning video. For non-techie users, there is are plethora of slide styles (templates) to use, with options to make custom adjustments. For instance, you can color grade or resize a photo to fit in the template.
Pros:
- Option to adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation of the photo within the software
- 950+ built-in effects and 250 tracks of royalty-free music library to use
- Option to group several slides together for better organization
Cons:
- Subscription-based software with a 21-day free trial
- Less suitable for occasional users
8. IceCream Slideshow Maker
IceCream Slideshow Maker is a no-brainer choice for beginners to quickly create animated slides with still photos. With a straightforward interface and clear guidance, you can simply import photos and apply transitions in between.
It is similar to how you add animation in PowerPoint slideshow, except that IceCream SlideShow Maker will turn it into a video in the end. You can add transition like cross-fade, fade to black, fade to white, pixelate, flip over, wipe, stretch, zoom etc. If you want a photo to stay on the screen for a while, you can change its duration.
IceCream also allows you to add text layover on your photos, you can select font, color and position of the captions. There are some handy effects for text too. It offers basic functions to add audio, and sync audio with the photos.
Pros:
- No learning curve for beginners
- 20+ transition effects to apply in 1-click
- Real-time preview of the end product
Cons:
- Only supports 20 photos per slideshow in the free version
9. PhotoStage Slideshow Software
PhotoStage has an interface that resembles regular video editing software, with effects, animations, text and transitions tabs clearly displayed in the working space. It allows you to combine photos and videos into a new video, and apply one of the 47 transitions to smooth out image switch.
PhotoStage has a sound effects browser baked in, you can select them by categories, including whoosh, sport, scifi, nature, etc.
Pros:
- Record and add narration to the slides directly within the program
- Smooth real-time preview of slideshow video with effects and music
Cons:
- Templates for text look out-dated
- Less intuitive to deal with photos of different frame sizes
10. CyberLink MediaShow
MediaShow offers a powerful solution to organize photos and create slideshow from them. It also allows you to add video clips into the slides.
Unlike other programs that focus on slideshow creation, MediaShow is more of a combination of Lightroom and video editor. You can tag and grade photos, use AI face-recognition tech to better organize photos. With photos and videos ready, you can make a slideshow with background music. There is a dazzling array of designs, text effects and transitions to apply.
Pros:
- Create slideshow with photos from Instagram and Dropbox
- Support adding videos and 3D photos
- User-ready themes to apply for slideshow videos
Cons:
- Overblown if you only want a photo slideshow maker
11. Magix Photostory Easy
Magix Photostory Easy has a very neat interface. Once you imported photos into the timeline, you shall see a plus icon between each photo, and that's the place to add a transition.
There are some high-quality intro and outro templates to make the process easier, and it offers you decorative elements as video layovers. In addition to this, Photostory is also packed with image optimizer to enhance your photo slides.
Pros:
- Beginner friendly and easy to navigate
- Export settings including burn to DVD and publish online
- Option to record your voice for the slides
Cons:
What Is The Best Photo Slideshow Software Free
- Fewer customization choices if you want to add a personal touch to the slideshow video
12. SmartShow 3D
SmartShow 3D is a dedicated slideshow maker to spice up your photos and videos. As its name suggests, you can add 3D animation effects for photos and captions. It also provides you with a wide range of tools, 150+ transitions and animation effects and 30+ video output formats.
Though it is less expansive as a typical video editor, it offers you slides templates designed by professionals to use instantly, with themes like wedding, vacation and Christmas. You can add music and voiceover to the slides too.
Pros:
- Stylish 3D effects to display multiple photos in one scene
- Make animated photo collage styled slides
Cons:
- Less option to use your own stickers
Best Free Photo Slideshow Software For Mac Os
13. PTE AV Studio
PTE AV Studio 10 is a successor of PicturesToExe 9. If you are looking for something complete with effects control, this program might be the best slideshow makers for you. You can fine-tune effects and motions of the picture slides, to the extent of using professional NLEs.
As for templates and transitions, there are nicely designed presets, such as Brush strokes, 3D album flipping effects, and photo collage to display your pictures and videos. The audio control is powerful too, you can drag curves to control the volume of background music, commentary voice over and sound effects.
Pros:
- Highly customizable with easy-to-understand parameter settings
- Export 4K video to display high quality photos
- Option to create Executable (.exe) shows for PC
Best Mac Photo Slideshow Software
Cons:
- Require some learning curve for a non-techie person
Slideshow Application For Mac
Best Photo Slideshow Makers Online
14. Canva Slideshow Maker
Canva Slideshow Maker offers a streamlined experience to create a slideshow online. It certainly benefits from a huge array of stylish graphic designs and other visual assets on this platform. You can import videos and still photos to replace examples in the presets. The best thing is, you can click on individual graphic in the template, and change its color schemes.
15. Kapwing Slideshow Maker
Kapwing Slideshow Maker is an easy to use online tool to convert photos into videos for free. The minimalist design is consistent throughout the platform and caters to people with the same taste. You can choose a desired aspect ratio including 1:1, 9:16, 16:9, 4:5, 5:4, and custom size. Using the placeholder, you can also place Emojis over your photo slideshow.
16. Google Photos
Google Photos has built-in slideshow and Collage makers. Combining these tools properly, you can churn out fantastic photo slideshows on the fly. You can select desired photos and let Google create the slideshow for you automatically. The only drawback is, it cannot create slides for photos from different albums. You need to go inside one album, and click the three-dot icon to call out the Slideshow option. You can create an album specifically to make slideshows.
Key Takeaways
It is true that most of the dedicated slideshow makers have a limited free trial, while free slideshow makers fail to provide more templates and styles (except iMovie).
If you are serious about making photo slideshow with music and effects, and you are not satisfied with the limitation imposed by simple programs, there are more than 10 pieces of free non-linear video editing software to choose from, including Shotcut, VSDC, HitFilm Express, Lightwork, DaVinci Resolve, Kdenlive, etc.
Unlike dedicated slideshow maker, everything is highly customizable. It would be bliss for customization and curse for non-techie beginners. You can make your own templates, creating PNG files with Photoshop, and import it into the program. Or you can purchase professionally designed templates, with motion graphics and title styles ready to use.
Wishing you all the best with the slideshow project.