Create a memorial slideshow that tells their story

Shape a life story

Begin with the place the video will have in the service. Ask the organizer whether guests will watch it together, see it while arriving, or watch photographs during a reading. Agree on the time available and who will press play before choosing the final photos.

Give one person responsibility for collecting the files and one family member responsibility for checking the story. In your own notes, record each photo’s filename, people, approximate year, contributor and agreed audience. Ask relatives for original files and a collection deadline so there is time for a complete review.

An example of a short life story

This is an illustrative 24-photo plan for a paid project. Change the balance to suit the person, including friendships, work, interests and ordinary moments that mattered to them.

If photographs are scarce, include a real photograph of a keepsake or a place they loved. Keep the person identifiable in group shots. A few well-chosen pictures can carry the story without filling every possible year.

Open the memorial workbench and choose Add photos. Use JPEG, PNG or WebP files, at most 20 MB each and 100 MB together. Drag photos into the life-story order, or use the earlier/later controls. Add a separate opening card with the family-approved name and a closing message. The Memorial preset supplies a quiet starting style; you decide the life chapters and the words.

Choose a respectful pace and style

For the example above, 24 photos at six seconds each use 144 seconds. A three-second opening and a three-second closing card bring it to 150 seconds, within the paid project’s 180-second limit. You can use automatic timing for a chosen total, then give a crowded photograph or longer caption more time. Keep beat alignment off for an unhurried tribute unless the family prefers otherwise. Cards use time, without using photo slots.

1. Select a photo and set Duration. Each photo can last 1–15 seconds, in half-second steps. Check the total beside Your slideshow after adjusting it.
2. Under Photo fit, choose Whole photo to retain the edges of portraits and old prints. Space around a differently shaped photograph is expected. Fill frame can crop faces or details; check every photo if you use it.
3. Choose Soft fade under Transition for a gentle change between photos, or No transition for a simple cut. Leave Gentle photo movement off for still images, or preview the whole sequence after turning it on.

These visual settings apply across the slideshow. If the maker reports that the story exceeds your plan’s limit, shorten selected durations or remove photos: Free allows 60 seconds; paid projects allow 180 seconds. If the service needs a longer tribute or more than 50 photographs, build that version in an editor that supports its full length; rushing the photos to fit changes what the family will be able to see.

Review names, dates and music

Keep each Caption to the detail guests need: a name, year, place or short memory. For example, “Sunday walks with Dad” is an illustrative caption to adapt. The field allows 120 characters, but there is one caption area at the bottom of the picture. Shorten or omit text if it covers an important detail; its position and font size cannot be adjusted.

Give the family a concrete review

• Check the preferred name, spelling and any birth or death dates against family-confirmed information. If a photo date is uncertain, use a confirmed year or leave it out.
• Ask contributors whether the photographs are suitable for this audience and who can authorize their use. Check professional photos with the photographer or the agreement. Keep approval for an online version separate from approval for the service. The U.S. Copyright Office’s photography guidance explains ownership; being given a copy is not a permission check.
• Play the full preview with a family reviewer, then download a review MP4 for relatives who are elsewhere. Ask for corrections by photo number. Apply them and watch the entire final export again. Review and approval happen outside the editor; it has no shared family project or commenting system.

Try the bundled Quiet Light instrumental for a gentle accompaniment, choose Warm Days or Small Celebrations, or leave the story silent. To use a personal track, choose Add your music and supply one MP3, WAV or M4A up to 30 MB. Set Volume and use Track options to check the start, looping and ending fade. Listen through every repeat and the final card. The music guide explains those controls.

For your own music, check permission for the video and its intended use, including public sharing. In U.S. guidance, the composition and the recording have separate rights; see the Copyright Office’s music guidance. The three bundled instrumentals are available on Free and paid projects; a project purchase adds no rights to someone else’s song. Ask the venue about its playback arrangements. If a reading or live music accompanies the pictures, choose Remove music before exporting that copy.

Prepare the venue copy

Tell the operator exactly what you can deliver. With Video format set to 16:9, the export is a 1280 × 720 MP4 on Free, or 1920 × 1080 for a paid project, with H.264 video at 24 fps, plus AAC audio when you add music. Confirm that those specifications fit their system and the planned service slot. Resolve any requirement for a different resolution or format before the event.

Choose Export free 720p for a watermarked video without an account, or Export 1080p for a paid project without a watermark. One project credit unlocks one paid project; compare the plans and export limits. Paid checkout is not open yet. Wait for completion, then select Download video. Download before changing settings or leaving the workbench: its temporary download button is not an archive. There is no hosted sharing link with a download deadline. The downloaded MP4 is a local file you control, with no site-controlled expiry; make your own backup.

Test the actual handoff

1. Give the operator the final file ahead of time, with its filename, running time, whether it contains music and the cue to start it. Keep another copy on your own device or a backup drive.
2. Play that exact file on the intended screen and speakers from beginning to end. Check that the first image appears, people remain in frame, captions can be read from the back of the room and the sound and last image finish as intended.
3. Test using a downloaded local copy so playback does not depend on opening this website. If the venue’s USB player rejects the file, arrange a tested computer connection or ask its operator for a supported conversion, then repeat the playback check. The TV playback guide covers the device questions to resolve.

If export is unavailable, try a current desktop Chrome browser; availability still depends on the device’s encoding support. If the exporter cannot load, check your connection and retry. Reload only after Draft saved on this device appears. If you see Draft not saved, keep the tab open and download the video before leaving. Local drafts stay in this device and browser, with separate drafts for each account and for guests. A guest draft can be continued after signing in; it is not a backup. Clear photos asks for confirmation and clears the photos, music, settings and saved draft; already downloaded videos stay on your device.

For a private server copy, sign in and choose Save project. Each unused project credit provides one unexported draft slot. Manage saved work in My projects; server files are kept for 30 days from the first cloud save, so download your venue copy before they expire.