There are many programs that can be used to produce slideshows. PicturesToExe is the first program I used to create my slideshows and screensavers. I have never felt the need to learn another program for these tasks. As with most programs I use, PicturesToExe has more features than I am likely to use.

For me, the critical settings are the display time, the transition type, and the transition duration. I like a slide to display for 15 seconds. This is long enough to have a good look at the slide. I prefer the simple fade in/out transition type and I set the transition time between slides for about 4 seconds. I include a slide caption in the upper left corner using Arial Bold, color white, and size 12. I have not advanced to providing music along with the show yet, although PicturesToExe can do this.

With PicturesToExe, it is easy to add control buttons to the slides. The default method of terminating the slideshow is with the ESC key. It is probably a good idea to include, at least, an exit button so that there is an plainly visible way of exiting the show.

Sometimes, I just arrange my slides so that the show is aesthetically pleasing to me. At other times, the slides tell a story. My last show chronicled a day in Seattle, Washington. For this show, I organized my slides to show my activities which included a ferry trip to Seattle, a walk along the Waterfront, and visits to The Pike Place Market, the Seattle Aquarium, and the Boeing Museum of Flight.

Once the slides are assembled and captioned, I preview the show from start to finish. When I am satisfied with the slideshow, I save the slideshow project--with all of the included images--on a CD. If I have already created an executable slideshow and/or screensaver, this also goes onto the CD.

When everything is ready to go, I create the slideshow.exe program and screensaver.scr. I burn these files onto a CD along with a small file that causes the slideshow to autorun when it is inserted into the CD drive.

As a finishing touch, I print a CD label with my color laser printer. I use an image from the slideshow as background for the label. On the label I include the slideshow title, the date, and a list of included files. When I send the CD out, I include a letter discussing the show along with information as to how the show and screensaver can be installed on the PC.