What to do with all those photos?

May 14, 2021 9:09 pm

Hope this newsletter finds everyone well! This week I've been thinking about making a slideshow for one of our dogs who passed away and it got me thinking that I really need to set a goal to make one family video/slideshow per week to memorialize all the things we've done as a family.


We no longer print photos--we just keep them digital. And we've digitized our older photos, so we have easy access to everything. Since we no longer put photos in scrapbooks, there are two primary ways we like to use them:


First, Memory books--we'll create a memory book for special occasions, a holiday, a family trip, or as a gift for a teacher or relative. I have friends who create family yearbooks at the end of each year. Popular sites include:

  1. Mixbook--they have a sale that expires May 17th
  2. Chatbooks--they offer 10% off your first book
  3. Shutterfly--they have a sale that ends May 16th
  4. Snapfish--they have a sale that ends May 16th

And if you're not ready to complete a photo book, just start a book on one of these websites and you'll start getting discounts and coupon offers encouraging you to complete your book.




Second, Slideshows--we primarily make videos and slideshows from our photographs. We can share these online and watch them on our devices and they're digital, so we're not accumulating more 'things.' Some slideshow makers are:

  1. Animoto--they have a free version which leaves the Animoto branding in the bottom corner of a slideshow. We pay for the professional version because we use it so frequently and prefer non-branded videos. They offer tons of prebuilt slideshows and 1000s of song choices.
  2. iMovie--this is free with Mac computers and was our go-to slideshow maker before we discovered Animoto.
  3. Slideshow Maker and Video Editor--this is free with a Microsoft Windows bundle
  4. Canva--this is a design site for anything from custom letterhead to slideshows. It's possible to create audio and video slideshows with a free version of Canva, but it takes a lot of time to customize and build nice slideshows in my opinion. I've included a link to a Canva slideshow I made.




Animoto Slideshow Example

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Made with the FREE version (includes Animoto branding and highest resolution allowed is 720 p): https://animoto.com/play/AykHqRzh0SJI1kIb911iMA


Made with the professional version (no branding, highest resolution is 1080p):

https://video214.com/play/00a3zWbOKrXoI1Ejs0LVAg/s/dark





Canva Slideshow Example


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Here's an example of an audio slideshow made using the FREE version of Canva. You'll need to create a free account with Canva to view the slideshow with audio: https://www.canva.com/design/DAEeaX8xucQ/VGe1PxQVw3I-54zfc2g24g/view?utm_content=DAEeaX8xucQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton&mode=preview


To view the slideshow with audio, create a free Canva account and then copy and paste the link to a new window in your browser. Make sure your speakers are on. In the upper right-hand corner, select Present, and instead of the default "Standard" select "AutoPlay" so the slides will progress automatically.


Here's a blank version of the template I used, and you can drag and drop photos into this slideshow. https://www.canva.com/design/DAEeaPE96Gs/ogbZDvTR0FUPm4C2ufGSuQ/view?utm_content=DAEeaPE96Gs&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton&mode=preview


Also check out all the free templates Canva offers. There are a lot of tools in Canva but it's the simplest design program I've used, and they have free tutorials in their menu under "Learn".




New and Updated Listings

Again this week I'm working on adding MyHeritage collections and a few other subscription sites (like Backblaze and Animoto) that I enjoy and use in my genealogy.




Best with your family history!


Alyson

OnGenealogy

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