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I'm due to give a talk at a local photographic club in March and plan to show most of my images on their digital projector supplemented with prints.

Does anyone know of a 'slide show' application that will work on my Mac laptop? I know quite a lot of Windows users use ProShow Gold but can't seem to find a Mac alternative.

I have PowerPoint but the projection quality is rubbish... any suggestions?

Paul

Well, there are loads - if a straight slideshow is all you want. The latest versions of the built-in Preview application has a slideshow option and then there's GraphicConverter (usually comes with the OS), or Adobe Bridge which is usually bundled with Photoshop. Not forgetting iPhoto or Aperture or Lightroom....

However, if the quality of projection isn't up to much, it's most likely that the projector isn't really up to showing the subtle tones of photographs. Most of them are designed for business use (i.e. dull PowerPoint presentations) and can only show a limited pallette of colours. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about that.

Thanks for the reply Julian

joolsb wrote:The latest versions of the built-in Preview application has a slideshow option and then there's GraphicConverter (usually comes with the OS), or Adobe Bridge which is usually bundled with Photoshop. Not forgetting iPhoto or Aperture or Lightroom....

Aren't they just image viewers? I was also looking for something that did simple title slides and perhaps an option for a simple fade transition between images.

joolsb wrote:However, if the quality of projection isn't up to much, it's most likely that the projector isn't really up to showing the subtle tones of photographs. Most of them are designed for business use (i.e. dull PowerPoint presentations) and can only show a limited pallette of colours. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about that.

It's quite a big photographic club and I believe they have an excellent projector.

In that case, what about Apple's Keynote? It's part of the iWork suite.

I use Keynote too - I've had no problems with it and it seems to keep up admirably with the projector when showing colours.

I too would recommend Keynote. If you have an iPhone, you can get a free remote control application that allows you to see any notes you might want to make, as well as a preview of the next slide. You'd be amazed how cool it looks, wandering around the front of the auditorium, controlling the slide show and talking, instead of being chained to wherever the laptop has to be to connect to the projector.

As a side note; when we were in France in October, the photo club we regularly visit, now has a neat setup. They use a Mac Mini connected to the projector, with a Macbook controlling it via Screen Sharing over a wireless link. Possibly overkill for some places but it worked very smoothly.

Thanks for the advice everyone, looks like I'll have to buy a copy of iWork.

Joanna, funnily enough I spotted the iPhone app while browsing for details on Keynote... not having an iPhone might pose a slight problem tho'

Paul

Paul Mitchell wrote:Thanks for the advice everyone, looks like I'll have to buy a copy of iWork.

If you have more than one computer in the "household", get the Family Pack version; it's good for five licences.

Paul Mitchell wrote:Joanna, funnily enough I spotted the iPhone app while browsing for details on Keynote... not having an iPhone might pose a slight problem tho'

That's easily solved

You could have a look at PhotoToExe from WNSoft. I have used it in the past (PC only version) to create a slide show with a soundtrack. It is, I think the standard s/w used in camera club world too. Look here - http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/index.html

PhotoToExe looks good but it seems you'll still need a PC to actually create the slideshow, although slideshows made with the software are apparently Mac-compatible.