--- title: "Birthday Slideshow – Photos to Video, Free | birthday.video" description: "Make a birthday slideshow from your photos: their name on an animated title, the pictures in order and a free Happy Birthday tune. No sign-up, no watermark." url: https://birthday.video/birthday-slideshow --- Free · made on your device # Make a birthday slideshow from your photos Choose the photos, put them in order and let them play under a Happy Birthday tune, opened and closed by an animated card with their name. Free · no sign-up · no watermark Through the years Grace 40 Forty years of you With love from all of us A birthday slideshow is a run of photos played one after another under music, usually with a title card at the start and a message at the end. Choose a slideshow design, type their **Name**, press **Add photos and clips** to pick the pictures in the order you want, add a tune and export an MP4. This page opens the photo designs in Landscape 16:9, which fills a TV at the party, with the photo picker ready. If you have video clips to mix in as well, the [birthday video with photos and music](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-with-photos-and-music) page is about combining the two. Your photos stay on your phone or computer the whole time; nothing is uploaded and the slideshow has no watermark. Start from one of these ## How to make a birthday slideshow 1. ### Choose a slideshow design Press **Make a birthday slideshow** and pick a photo design from **Templates**. 2. ### Add the photos in order Press **Add photos and clips** and select the pictures in the order they should play: oldest first is the usual choice. 3. ### Name the slideshow Type their **Name** and **Age** for the opening card and a **Message** for the end. 4. ### Add the tune and export Pick a Happy Birthday arrangement or your own song in **Add music**, then press **Export video** and **Download video**. ## How many photos for one song 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. ## Putting the photos in an order that tells a story Three orders work well for birthdays: 1. **Through the years.** Baby photo first, latest photo last. The classic for milestones such as a [50th](https://birthday.video/happy-50th-birthday). 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](https://birthday.video/happy-1st-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, phone photos and music ### 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](https://birthday.video/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. ## Birthday slideshows: questions ### Can I make a birthday slideshow for free? Yes. Choosing the photos, adding a tune and downloading the MP4 are free, with no watermark and no sign-up. ### Can I use a song from Spotify or Apple Music? Not directly. Streaming apps don’t give you the song file. Use one of the free Happy Birthday arrangements in **Add music**, or a song file you own. ### What shape should a birthday slideshow be? Landscape 16:9 for a TV or projector, Story 9:16 for phones and Stories, Square 1:1 for a group chat. Change it any time under **Format**. ### How do I choose the order of the photos? They play in the order you select them when you press **Add photos and clips**, so pick them oldest first, or in whatever order tells the story best. ### How long should a birthday slideshow be? One song (two to four minutes) holds a room at a party. For a phone, under a minute is kinder. ### Are my photos uploaded? No. The slideshow is made in your browser on your own device, and the photos never leave it unless you send the finished video. ## More birthday video ideas * [ Birthday video maker Start from an animated template, add their name, photos and a song. ](https://birthday.video/) * [ Birthday video with photos and music Photos and clips mixed together under a tune or your own song. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-with-photos-and-music) * [ Birthday slideshow songs Song ideas by age and person, and which music you can use in a shared video. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-slideshow-songs) * [ Happy 50th birthday wishes and videos Wishes for a 50th, a gold 50 GIF, and five decades of photos. ](https://birthday.video/happy-50th-birthday) * [ Happy 1st birthday wishes and videos Baby’s first year month by month, with wishes and an invitation. ](https://birthday.video/happy-1st-birthday) * [ Birthday montage from friends A clip from everyone, put together into one surprise tribute video. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-montage) * [ Happy birthday in heaven video A gentle remembrance video with their photos and your words. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-in-heaven) * [ Birthday video templates Every template in the editor, by occasion, with the formats it suits. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-templates)