Tell your years together in an anniversary slideshow
Use the Anniversary preset to pair old photographs with recent moments and frame the years together with a personal opening and closing card. Let automatic timing set a first pace, then linger on the pictures that need it. Whole photo keeps the edges of old prints visible by default. Free allows up to 20 photos and 60 seconds; paid projects allow up to 50 photos and 180 seconds, including cards.
Your starting point in Slidesong
Anniversary story
A warm, steady story of the years you share.
- Frame
- 16:9 · Whole photo
- Starting pace
- 4.5 seconds per photo
- Suggested music
- Quiet Light
Add your own opening and closing text cards, then automatically divide the remaining time between your photos. Cards count toward the video length, without using a photo slot. Change the frame, pacing or music before exporting.
Use this storyMap the years together
Make a short timeline in your own notes before importing anything. Include the start of the relationship, important changes and details that have stayed with you: a home, a journey, a shared project, celebrations or a familiar weekend routine. Choose the moments that describe this couple; children, a wedding ceremony or a house purchase do not have to be part of the story.
Put a confirmed year or approximate period beside each photograph. You do not need one picture from every year. Where a decade has many near-duplicates, choose the one that explains something new. Where photos are missing, move to the next known moment. The preparation and scanning suggestions in SmartSHOW’s anniversary planning guide are useful prompts for gathering this material; the settings below describe this maker.
An example built around what changed
For a comparison-led gift, try six then-and-now pairs, six additional milestone photos and two recent pictures: 20 photos. At six seconds each, plus two three-second cards, the story lasts 126 seconds and needs a paid project. For Free, choose a smaller selection and let automatic timing share out the time remaining after the cards. Order pairs by the earlier photo’s date and use captions to explain each jump to the present.
Open the photo workbench and select Add photos. Use JPEG, PNG or WebP files, up to 20 MB each and 100 MB together. Drag photos into your chosen order or select one and use the up/down controls. Set Duration for each photo: 1–15 seconds in half-second steps, keeping the total within 60 seconds for Free or 180 seconds for a paid project. If a full family history needs more than 50 photos or a longer running time, use an editor that supports that version.
Pair then-and-now moments
Look for a connection viewers can recognize: the same doorway, beach, celebration, hobby or pose. You can also pair the same activity in different places. Choose real photographs you have; a missing matching picture does not have to be recreated.
- Scan paper prints outside the maker, keeping the print edges and any meaningful writing in your digital copy. Save the original scan separately, then prepare a supported JPEG, PNG or WebP for the slideshow. The maker does not scan or restore old photos.
- Put the older photograph immediately before its recent partner. They play consecutively, one photo at a time; there is no side-by-side collage control.
- Set Photo fit to Whole photo. It keeps the complete image, with space around it when its shape differs from the video. Fill frame can crop an old border, handwriting or a person at an edge.
- Leave Gentle photo movement off while checking the pair. Play it and look at faces, edges and any writing. Photo fit and movement apply to the whole sequence, so inspect every pair after changing them.
Whole photo preserves the image’s framing; a caption can still cover its lower part. Keep a caption brief or leave it empty when the old print has important detail there. Choose Soft fade or No transition under Transition and watch whether the change between old and new is easy to follow.
Write personal captions
Give the photo one job and the caption one useful detail. A year can explain a jump in the timeline; a small observation can explain why an ordinary photograph belongs in the gift. Use words the recipient would recognize from you.
Short examples to adapt
These are invented examples, not details about your photographs: “Our first kitchen, 1996”; “The Sunday pancakes are still yours”; “Same beach, thirty years later”; “I would choose this life with you again.” Replace years, places and the point of view with the details you can confirm. A gift from children or friends should speak in their own voice.
Select a photo and enter its Caption for a year or brief memory. The fixed bottom caption area allows 120 characters; its font size, color and position are not adjustable. Put the personal dedication in the separate opening or closing text card when you want it to stand on its own. Check the names, anniversary number and reading time for both cards.
Check the details before the surprise
- Check preferred names, spelling and places against the original photo or a relative who knows. If a year cannot be confirmed, use an honest period such as “Early 1990s” when that is known, or omit the date.
- Confirm the anniversary you are celebrating from the actual relationship or wedding date. Check that the anniversary has been reached by the celebration date before writing “30 years” or another milestone number.
- For a surprise, ask one trusted person to proofread names and dates without circulating the gift widely. Play the whole preview and allow enough Duration to read each caption. If the final line feels rushed, give that photo more time while keeping the total within your plan’s 60- or 180-second limit.