How to Create a Flash Slideshow (on your own computer)

You should only attempt this tutorial if:

Still here? Good. This techique is ridiculously easy and stunningly effective.

  1. Visit Airtight Interactive and download and install the free Simpleviewer application.

  2. If you are using a Windows computer, download the free Picasa photo manager.

  3. If you are on a Mac, see if you have iPhoto installed. If not, you can buy it. Otherwise, hop on a Windows-based machine and use Picasa.

  4. From this point on we'll be dealing with the Picasa method. If you want to go the iPhoto route, follow these instructions

  5. Picasa Method: Visit Airtight Interactive's Picasa overview.

    Pay careful attention to Step #2 "Install SimpleViewer Picasa Template." You need to be sure you're installing the Picasa templates in the correct Picasa directory. If you don't, the templates will not be available to you later on.

  6. For the time being, I recommend Step #4 ("Edit gallery options") and Step #5 ("Set your gallery background color"). Both require familiarity editing HTML and XML documents. Editing documents like these isn't hard, but it can be frustrating if you haven't done it before.

  7. Once you have installed the Picasa templates, open Picasa and select the first photo you want to include your album (click on the photo once to select it -- a blue border will appear around the thumbnail).

  8. With the photo highlighted, go down to the Picasa toolbar and click the Add To button. In the menu that pops up, select "New Album."

  9. Name the album whatever you want (maybe "Emerson Slide Show" or something else easy to remember). You can fill in the Place Taken and Description fields if you want -- they aren't optional. Click "OK" when you're done.

  10. You have now created a new album. The album should be visible toward the top of the Picasa screen; the picture you selected should be in the album (see below).

  11. Go through your photo library and select additional pictures you'd like to add to the album (follow the same method as above: select the photo and click the "Add To" button, then select your album title from the subsequent drop down menu).

  12. When you are through selecting photos, select your album title in the left-hand menu.

  13. Right-click on the album title. In the menu that appears, select the "Export as HTML Page" option.

  14. A dialog box appears with the following options:
    • Export pictures at this size: This determines the full size of the large photos you'll have in your slideshow/gallery. You can choose whatever you like here, but I've found that 640 pixels works quite well.

    • Enter the title you want to appear at the top of the Web page: This option affects the title used to categorize your page in bookmark files and search engines. You should be as specific as possible with it (e.g. "Emerson JR200 Web Slideshow").

    • Select a folder in which to save the Web page and pictures: Totally up to you, but make sure you select an area you can find again (such as your computer's desktop).

  15. Click "Next."

  16. Picasa will present you with a screen that looks like this:

    Make sure you select the Simpleviewer option.

  17. Click "Finish."

  18. Picasa will export you album as an HTML page. Your Web browser will launch and display your new gallery. It should look something like this:

  19. Important: At this point Picasa has created the HTML file, but this file is not on the Web. You need to find the folder Picasa created and transfer all the files to a Web server (such as Course or your Pages account).

    You can find your Picasa folder by using the address bar in your Web browser. For example:

  20. Once you have transferred your files to a Web server (be sure to transfer the entire folder Picasa created), you can then access your new gallery on the Web. Here's an example of a gallery I created and put on the Web.

  21. That's it!