How To Create DVD Slideshow Using Windows DVD Maker

Windows 7 comes with many built-in tools which make 3rd party software redundant, such as Windows DVD Maker which makes DVD burning fun and easy, Start Menu search for launching applications and documents, a custom theme maker, a background rotator, and so on.

Normally in order to create DVD slideshows, you would need slideshow maker software. However Windows DVD Maker lets create and burn slideshows to DVDs in just a few clicks.

Here are the steps to create Slideshow using Windows DVD Maker.

1. Launch the program by going to Start Menu –> All Programs –> Windows DVD Maker. Or simply type ‘Windows DVD Maker in Start Menu search box and hit Enter.

2. Click on ‘Add items’ found at the top left.

3. Browse to your pictures folder, and select all the pictures that you want to add to the slideshow using CTRL or SHIFT key. Then click on ‘Add’ button.

4. Keep adding photos in the same way by clicking on ‘Add items’. All your pictures are added to a folder titled Slide show. You can view the duration of the DVD, and set the DVD title in the text box located in the bottom.

5. For changing the DVD burning settings, click on ‘Options’ found at the bottom right corner. In the options dialog, you can choose DVD playback settings, DVD aspect ration (4:3 or 16:9), video format (NTSC/PAL), DVD burner speed, and so on. Click ‘OK’ to save your changes and return to the main screen.

6. Click ‘Next’ to go to the ‘Ready to burn DVD’ page. Choose from one of the several available DVD Menu styles from the right side pane. You can customize menu, including text as already described in our step by step tutorial, burning DVDs using Windows DVD Maker. Click on ‘Slide show’ to customize the slide show.

7. In the ‘Change your slide show settings’ dialog, you can add background music to the slideshow. Click on ‘Add Music…’, and choose the tracks that you want to add.

8.You can choose the time duration for each picture in the slideshow (‘Picture length’) between 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 or 30 seconds. In case you want to run the slideshow as long as the added music, select the check box ‘Change slide show length to match music length’.

9. A number of transitions are available for you to apply to your slide show, including Cross fade, Cut, Dissolve, Flip, Inset, Page curl, Pixelate, Random, and Wipe.

10. Once you are done with the slideshow settings, click on ‘Preview’ to preview your slideshow before burning it to a DVD. In the Preview mode, you can see how actually your slideshow would turn out to be. Click ‘OK’ and then click ‘Don’t change’ to return to the ‘Ready to burn DVD’ page.

11. Insert a disc into the DVD drive, and click ‘Burn’.

That’s it. Sit back and enjoy while your DVD slideshow gets authored by Windows DVD Maker. Print a nice looking DVD cover with the best of your photos, and share the DVD with your friends and family.