Barry Beckham

As suggested, probably the way to go with that is via a mask, but I doubt you're going to get the software to automatically do this for you if the images vary in size. Using layers would still be the way to go because you can create a new document at your slide show size and then cut out a hole in the background to accommodate your image behind it. Save it as a Png file to preserve the transparent centre part and it can be placed over your image in the Object and Animation screen. As long as you create the hole at the smallest size you want the image to be, your free to animate the image behind the matt/mask. In fact, you can take this a whole lot further and create a real Matt effect that looks as though your image is sitting beneath the matt/mask

just as a technique to have a black border all the way around the images and to show a border on each image. I must be missing the point here because this seems a complicated way to add a border to an image. Forgive me if I have grabbed the wrong end of the stick. I would use Photoshop/Elements layers to do this so that I could create each image on it's own layer. The free transform controls allow infinite size options to create the border to each image. I can see the effects of what I am doing before I save the layer as an image for the show. I also get to see and adjust how the shape of one image will look with regards to the next one in the sequence. Especially if the images are not all the same size. A Border stroked line can be applied to each image with a simple drag and drop technique from the layers Fx. Maybe portrait format images can be prepared side by side on one page if required. It allows an attractive layout of a number of different sized images and helps to create that all important flow to the images created. For Photoshop users, a simple action can be prepared to save each layer as a separate image and even allow you to name each one in sequence.

Still doesn't alter the fact that if you want to study images, go to a web site, if you want to see an AV, then don't expect to be able to stop it every few seconds.

some members think when they put a show up to the forum it is the end all Well, perhaps it is the end for them. Not everyone goes down the local shopping centre at midday and has a slide show posted by 4pm. Some people actually take a lot of time and trouble to get everything just right. personally I very seldom watch shows where I don't have control Then you're missing out on some of the best shows posted and that is your loss, because really good ones don't come along that often.

You're enthusiasm for this improvement is coming through loud and clear in your text, so it must be impressive. Looking forward to that.

Judy, sorry, I am hanging onto the other one, its my favourite lens

Snapcam The reason no-one comments is because some people have got every upset in the past if the comments were not completely favourable. This is our hobby and its just too tiresome to make a comment with the best intentions and get abused for your trouble. The natural reaction of most people will be, why bother. I am about a thick skinned a person as your likely to meet, but even I take that view too.

Thanks guys, but it has to be a Canon 17-40 because it's for use with an Infra-Red converted Canon 5D camera. Some lenses produce a hot spot when used for I/R and it's difficult, if not impossible to always edit it out. I found that to be the case with the lens I had, which was a 16~35 Canon. I know from information from the Internet and more importantly from a respected photographer friend of mine who has experience of I/R that the 17-40 is good with I/R converted cameras. He uses the same combination of Canon 5D Mk2 and a 17-40 and gets great results and no hotspots.. If I bought another type of lens I may go from the frying pan into the fire and still have a hotspot. I already have a 28-135mm lens that is reported as good with I/R. My recent trip away and lots of practical use, sadly confirms the hot spot with the 16-35. (a super lens for visible light photography) I was fortunate that my wife has downsized her camera system very recently, so I actually had two 16-35 lenses, one of which I sold this week. I was offered a 4 year old 17-40mm for $AUS550, but today I picked up a brand new, boxed lens in Brisbane for $737 with full warranty. Some people want just too much for second hand kit and for under $200 saving I felt I may as well buy new. So, the situation is resolved and anyone interested can see my first few I/R images on my Flickr site

I am about to purchase a Canon 17-40mm lens. Does anyone out there have one they wish to part with? E-mail me if you do please

Jeff No need to be careful with comments, this forum needs more of them.

Mick As a showcase of images, that is a different thing and I agree with you, but in all the times it has raised it's head on this forum, that has not been the case.

Don't you just love rules that cramp your creative style? Who thinks these darn rules up anyway? There is something about photographers that as soon as they gather together, they have this compelling need to dream up rules for the rest of to jump through.

Snapcam I couldn't help but pick up on your point that the space bar pauses your show for a longer look. I have had this discussion with another distinguished gentleman on this site before. What is the point of that? Isn't that missing the whole point of audio visual. We present our images as a sequence, not as individuals. Anyone who wants to see individual images should go to a web gallery. Why go to all that trouble to create a synchronised sequence for someone to stop it every few seconds? Anyone who tells you that the images need to be on screen longer (sorry Jeff) is missing the AV point. They can always watch the show again if they missed something. That constant movement and flow you created is what adds the charm and appeal. It's just right in my view.

Just posted our June Newsletter and video

Igor I have asked the person concerned to send a zipped version of the slide show he had trouble with and offered him my own File Drop facility to make it easier. I will forward the link if he responds. I had the same issues when I tried to download Eric's slide show Canterbury Canter from his drop box link. I used Google Chrome and it appeared to be going well and at the end Google blocked the slide show as malicious. After turning of the Phishing and Maleware option it downloaded OK.

In the problem slide show I was trouble shooting, I never did discover which image it was that caused the problem, just thankful that we managed to solve it. I don't blame you for leaving it now, these things grind you down at times don't they.

Dave I never asked that question to be honest and I will do so and come back with the answer. However, I expect that is was a made slide show that was zipped later. I think many of us are in that situation with older slide shows we may want to store using cloud storage or download from others.

I have one last suggestion, that you might want to try, but I hope you're a Photoshop user. Replace all the images in your show, not a major task if you use Photoshop !!! It is something I found recently on a slide show I was asked to fault find for a friend of a friend. What caused the fault seemed completely unrelated to the fault itself, which was a sound issue.I eventually found the cause was an image that displayed OK, but it was causing the whole problem. After signing out last night I started to think of your problem and how it just might be the same or similar to what I found. Changing all the images is not such a task, but first copy the folder of images for safe keeping. In PS, go to File > Scripts >Image processor. In section 1 of the image processor, select the location of your folder of images. In section 2 select save in the same location. In section 3 select Jpeg and what level of compression you normally use. Then run the task. When complete, open the folder you targeted in section 1 and you will see a new folder has been created called JPEG. In that folder will be all your newly created images all with the same names as the originals. Copy those and paste them into the folder over the originals that you used in your slide show. Allow them to over-write them all. You have a copy stored elsewhere, so no risk. Then try your DVD again.

Mick That error message is a file association issue. You should be able to right click the file you tried to launch and select a default program for it. In Windows Explorer, right click the file and choose Open With > Choose a default program. Select WMP and tick the box that says always use this program. It should then run OK I think. I appreciate that doesn't help the DVD problem you have.

A contact on my own forum reported that he suddenly became unable to download his own zipped slide show from cloud storage via the Google Chrome browser. Google Chrome isolated his zipped slide shows as malicious and prevented him from downloading them. It gave no option to correct the mistake and allow the file to be run. I downloaded a slide show from this forum earlier today and the same thing happened to me, so it does appear there has been a change within Google Chrome that is causing this. We discovered that Google Chrome has it's own built in phishing and maleware program and that was preventing a genuine file from being downloaded. Once, we could always be assured that zipping an exe file would protect the exe within from over zealous virus protection software, but perhaps not now. The solution is to go into Google Chrome settings > advanced settings and un-tick the phishing and maleware protection. Most of us have other dedicated virus protection to do that for us and Google's over protection is of little help if it also stops legitimate files from being downloaded and opened.

Brick walls are pretty hard and thick

PS when I open the thumb on your "Discarded" show it is the same size more or less as the original. Well of course it does. I created the thumbnail at 120px square, so it's not a surprising that it shows up in SSC at 120px square. How can software take a 16:9 image and make it square anyway? It has to crop it and why leave that decision to computer code. Create your own thumbnail and then you can select something bold and interesting to appear on it. Make it to look attractive for your show. Set your crop parameters to 120px by 120px in your image editor and the job takes seconds. If your a Photoshop user, save the crop parameters as a pre-set and name it SSC thumbnail. Then you have it to use all the time.

Perhaps its worth a tiny little effort to crop a selection from an image at 120px square yourself. The advantage of course is you can pick a section of an image that looks interesting in a small thumbnail. The alternative is allowing software to decide what part of your image is displayed and I would rather make that choice myself.

screenshot/thumbnail is the same thing. I wonder if this is a similar issue to one I have experienced recently. Something has been changed by Windows Explorer recently. (a few months ago) and it impacted on my ability to add links on my web site. The process appeared to work well, but showed a similar problem to what you describe here. It was OK one day and not the next. My web guru was the one who discovered the problem and to get around it I have to use another browser (Google Chrome) to add the links. Could this issue be something like that and another browser would work OK. I am away from home at present, but if I were not I would suggest you send the zipped file to me so I could try uploading it for you from my end. Not a great plan with a slow mobile internet connection though, but perhaps someone else could try that option for you

I use Windows Explorer and advanced mode. SnapCam. The thumbnail is a part of the upload and you can take a 120px crop of a picture from your slide show and it needs to be included when you are uploading your show. If I leave that off the upload does not complete and I find myself back as the disclaimer page.