Make a birthday slideshow from your photos

Three to five seconds per photo is the pace people actually watch. As a rough guide:

• A 1-minute tune: about 12 to 20 photos.
• A 3-minute song: about 35 to 60 photos.
• A 30-second Story: 6 to 10 photos.

Fewer, better photos beat a long scroll of near-duplicates. If you have hundreds, choose one per year or one per place and keep the rest for an album.

Three orders work well for birthdays:

1. Through the years. Baby photo first, latest photo last. The classic for milestones such as a 50th.
2. By people. Family, then school friends, then work friends, then partner and children. Good when lots of people will watch together.
3. The last twelve months. A year in the life, month by month. Lovely for a first birthday.

Select the photos in that order when you press Add photos and clips; that is the order they play. Save your strongest picture for last, just before the closing message.

Old prints

Photograph them with your phone, straight on and in daylight, with no flash. Crop out the table edge before you add them. Mixed old and new photos look fine together in a slideshow.

The music

A slower arrangement suits old family photos, where people want time to look at each face; a lively one suits a party screen. The Happy Birthday arrangements in Add music are free to use anywhere. A chart song from your device works too, but may be muted if you post the slideshow publicly. The birthday slideshow songs page has ideas.

Playing it at the party

Download video saves an MP4 most TVs play from a USB stick, or cast it from a phone or laptop. Play it through once beforehand with the sound on.