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So you’re ready to start creating slideshows with the elite software: Adobe Premiere Pro?

Hannah Cross is a talented documentary photographer + videographer that can talk you through the basics in creating a slideshow in this software which you can easily do with photos just as you can video.

If you’re still trying to figure out which software is best for you, please know that Adobe Premiere Pro is an advanced software and caters to video creations. You can quickly and easily make slideshows with software you may already have, such as Lightroom, Windows Movie Maker, or iMovie. That being said, if you’re working towards learning full videos, this could be the software of choice for you!

For more on learning how to film beautiful video of your family, learn from the best at the Filming Life Academy!

Here’s a quick walkthrough in how you can make a slideshow with photos + video clips from Hannah:

Pros to using Premiere Pro:

• You have complete control over every aspect of your video or slideshow
• Can edit/fade out/splice your music directly on the timeline
• Uses source files from the original destination on your computer (this is huge because you can go back into your editing software and re-edit/color correct a clip or photo and then re-save it and it will automatically update in your Premiere project)
• Periodically auto-saves your project while you work

Cons to using Premiere Pro:

• Can be time consuming to learn and understand all the features
• Expensive (although it is part of most Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions)
• Need to have a fast computer with some space on your hard-drive for the program to run smoothly

Video Tutorial on Using Adobe Premiere Pro for Slideshows

Step by Step Instructions to Using Adobe Premiere Pro

Step 1: Open a New Project in Premiere Pro 

Make sure your “new sequence” settings match the settings of your video files that you will be working with OR if no video files will be used choose what frame size/rate you would like to work with

Step 2: Import all your media files into Premiere Pro (videos, photos, music)

Make sure your video and photo files are color corrected and look how you want them to look in your final project before pulling them in. Create a new “bin” by clicking the icon on the tool bar on the bottom left hand of your screen to group different media files together and keep everything organized.

Step 3: Start by adding your photo files to your timeline.

Select all the photos your would like to add and then select “automate to sequence” from the toolbar on the bottom left hand portion of your screen. Decide if you want to have the default video transition applied (and please note you can change what the default transition is and how long each photo shows for on your timeline by editing those settings ahead of time).

If needed/desired scale your photos to fill the entire frame (so there are no black bars on the side)

Step 4: Add music to timeline.

Drag and drop your music onto the audio section on your timeline.

Step 5: Add video clips, if desired.

Decide where you would like to add in a video clip and trim it down to the desired length. Insert it into your timeline by selecting all the photos after it and dragging them over so there is room to add your video.

Add in any desired video transitions to fade in/out video.

If you are trying to create a full video, you can head over the the guru of shooting + video creation: Emily of Everyday Films. She has an incredible workshop on this very subject (I took it and was blown away by what I learned).

Step 6: Finish going through your media files and add them to the timeline

Once you have a first “rough draft” of your project on the timeline, go through your video and see which media clips you can delete (it can get boring really quickly if you have too much of the same thing or if the clips are too long).

See if you need to extend/shorten clips to have it finish with the music.

Double check that you don’t have any little blank spaces between media clips in your video (otherwise it will flash to black).

Step 7: Add Titles as needed (for intro, your logo, etc.) 

Step 8: Export your video

IMPORTANT: Your original video clip settings, sequence settings, and export settings must ALL match (check and double check, frame size, frame rate, etc before exporting)

Step 9: Upload to Vimeo (or wherever you would like to host your video)

Enjoy and share it with the world!

Hannah’s Completed Slideshow:

Hannah Cross is a wife and mama living in Salt Lake City, UT with her adorable family. Documenting her everyday life is the only way she knows how to “embrace the mess” and cope with the demands of motherhood.  When her camera batteries are charging, you can find her watching Netflix documentaries or on the balance beam pretending she’s still a gymnast.

Connect with her here: Facebook

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