How to Make a Slideshow on a Mac: 3 Quick Ways

Ever wanted to transform your photos into a captivating visual story on your Mac? Whether it’s for that big presentation, a personal diary, or simply reliving holiday memories, a slideshow can bring your vision to life.

With your Mac’s intuitive tools, creating a slideshow becomes easy and fun. In this guide, I’ll unveil the quickest ways to make a slideshow on a Mac. Ready to impress and express? Let’s dive right in!

How to Make a Slideshow on a Mac

Mac offers an unparalleled platform for creating slideshows. Below, I’ve shared three quick and easy ways to make a slideshow on a Mac.

1. How to Create a Slideshow in Photos

The Photos app on Mac lets you easily create slideshows. You can select a series of photos, arrange them in a sequence, add music, and choose from various themes to give the slideshow a professional touch. Once created, you can preview the slideshow, export it as a video, or share it directly from the app.

a. Create an Instant Slideshow in Photos

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a slideshow using the Photos app on a Mac:

1. Launch the Photos app by searching for it in Spotlight search.

2. Navigate to the photos you want to include in your slideshow. You can select individual photos by holding down the Command ⌘ key while clicking each photo. To select a range, click the first photo, hold down the Shift ⇧ key, and click the last photo in the range.
3. With your photos selected, click File in the menu bar and choose Play Slideshow.

4. A new pop-up menu will appear. You can choose a Theme and Music for your slideshow. Once you’re done, click the Play Slideshow button.

5. It will start the slideshow in fullscreen.
6. You can navigate the slideshow using your keyboard. Press the left and right arrow keys to switch between slides. Tap the Spacebar to stop the slideshow and the Escape key to close it.

b. Create a Custom Slideshow in Photos

You can use the slideshow project tool within the Photos app to create a custom and more sophisticated slideshow with enhanced configurations and playback features. This lets you organize slides, incorporate text, embed music, fine-tune slide timings, and save and export the video.

Here’s how to create a custom slideshow in Photos:

1. Launch the Photos app by searching for it in Spotlight search.

2. Click File in the menu bar and navigate to Create > Slideshow > Photos.

3. A new window will appear. Select New Slideshow from the dropdown and give the slideshow a name. Then, click OK.

4. Select the photos you want to include in the slideshow and click the Add button in the top-right corner.

5. To customize your slideshow’s appearance, you can click the icons in the right strip.

6. To modify slide transitions, positioning, font style, and zoom level, click the Theme icon and pick from the list.

7. Click the Music icon to select your slideshow’s music.

8. To tweak the slideshow’s length, access the Duration menu and drag the Custom slider. Alternatively, check the Fit to Music feature to synchronize the slideshow’s duration with your chosen soundtrack.
9. Configure transitions via the Transition dropdown, which will be applied to all slides.
10. Check the Scale photos to fit screen option to ensure images are displayed optimally.

11. Activate the Loop feature if you want the slideshow to replay indefinitely, restarting after the concluding slide.

12. Click the Preview button to view your slideshow. Click it again to stop the slideshow.

13. The Play button also initiates the slideshow.

14. To exit the slideshow, press the Escape key.

How to Add or Remove Photos and Text in a Slideshow on Mac

You can also customize slideshows on your Mac. Here’s how to add or remove photos and text in a slideshow on Mac:

a. Adding Photos

1. Launch the Photos app and open your slideshow.
2. Click the + (plus) icon at the bottom-right corner of the slideshow.

3. Select the Add Photos option from the menu that appears.

b. Removing Photos

1. Navigate to the slide containing the photo you want to remove.
2. Right-click the photo and select Delete Slide.

c. Adding Text

1. Open your slideshow and select the slide you want to add text to.
2. Click the + (plus) icon at the bottom-right corner of the slideshow.
3. Select Add Text from the menu.

4. A text box will appear on your slide. You can modify the Default Text by clicking it and typing your desired text.

d. Removing Text

1. Navigate to the slide with the text you want to remove.
2. Click the text box to select it or the T icon preceding the photo in the thumbnail lineup, and hit the Delete key.
3. Alternatively, right-click the T box and select Delete Text.

2. How to Make a Slideshow on a Mac With Preview

The Preview app on a Mac is primarily known for viewing and annotating PDFs and images. However, it also offers a simple slideshow feature. While it doesn’t have the advanced customization options found in dedicated slideshow software, it’s perfect for quickly viewing a series of images in a slideshow format.

Here’s how to make a slideshow on a Mac in the Preview app:

1. Launch the Preview app from the Dock or the Applications folder.

2. A new window will open. Navigate to the location where your images are saved and select the ones you want in a slideshow. Click Open.

3. This will open all selected images in a Preview window. Select all the images in the left sidebar by pressing Command ⌘ + A.

4. With all your images open in Preview, go to View in the menu bar and select Slideshow.

5. Navigate through the slideshow using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.
6. Press the Spacebar to pause or play the slideshow.
7. Use the Escape key to exit the slideshow.

3. How to Make a Slideshow in Keynote

Keynote is Apple’s answer to presentation software and is known for its sleek designs and smooth animations. While primarily used for presentations, it’s also an excellent tool for creating slideshows, especially if you want to incorporate text, transitions, and other advanced features.

Here’s how to make a slideshow on a Mac using Keynote:

1. Open Keynote by searching for it in the Spotlight search.

2. Upon opening, Keynote will present you with various templates. Choose one that fits the style of your slideshow.

3. Click Slide in the menu bar and select New Slide.

4. Alternatively, click the Add Slide button in the top toolbar.

5. You can choose different slide layouts based on content (e.g., title slides, content slides, photo slides).
6. Drag and drop photos, videos, or text into the slide placeholders.
7. Use the Media button in the toolbar to insert images, videos, and music directly from your library.

8. Click a slide, then choose the Animate button in the toolbar.
9. Select Add an Effect to choose from various slide transitions. You can also add object animations for individual elements within a slide.

10. If you want the slideshow to play automatically, go to Document > Document in the top right corner and check Automatically play upon open. Adjust the slide duration as desired.

11. Click the Play button in the top toolbar to view your slideshow.

12. Save your project by going to File > Save.

13. To export the slideshow as a video or another format, go to File > Export To and choose your desired format.

Why Make a Slideshow on a Mac?

Making a slideshow on a Mac not only provides a seamless experience but also ensures a polished and professional outcome. Creating a slideshow on a Mac offers several advantages, like the following:

1. 🖥️ User-Friendly Interface: Mac’s operating system, macOS, is known for its intuitive and user-friendly design. This makes the process of creating slideshows straightforward, even for beginners.
2. 🌈 High-Quality Graphics: Mac computers are renowned for their superior display quality. This ensures that your slideshows will look crisp, vibrant, and professional.
3. 📦 Integrated Software: Macs come with pre-installed software like iMovie and Photos, which offer slideshow creation tools. This means you don’t need to invest in additional software.
4. ✨ Customization: With a Mac, you have a plethora of customization options at your fingertips, from transitions to music integration, allowing for a personalized touch.
5. ☁️ Seamless Integration: If you’re using other Apple devices, such as an iPhone or iPad, you can easily sync and share your slideshows across devices via iCloud.
6. 🎥 Multimedia Capabilities: Macs handle multimedia content efficiently, allowing you to incorporate videos, music, and high-resolution images without compromising performance.
7. 🔒 Security: macOS is known for its robust security features, ensuring that your content remains safe from potential threats.

Create Slideshows on Your Mac Quickly

Whether you’re using the Photos app for a quick and simple presentation, Preview for a rapid image display, or Keynote for a more intricate and interactive experience, Mac ensures a seamless and efficient process.

Here are some more tips for you:

• If you want to add a voice-over to your slideshow, learn how to record audio on your Mac.
• If you want to upload a slideshow video to your social media, you might have to compress a video on Mac.
• You can take a screenshot on your Mac and add that to a slideshow.

Frequently Asked Questions