Question about Backgrounds

[SherriCreates]

I am extremely new to this program, so my question is probably laughable, but I'm going to put it "out there" anyway. I am going to do a show on our camping trips and I know that there are digital scrapbook images available on the internet. I am doing a 16:9 format. I am looking for backgrounds with a camping theme. Can I import images I might find or am I limited to what I can find on Choice Backgrounds or Photodex? And because I like the widescreen show, if I am able to import them to Producer, do I have to stretch them to make them fit and will that then distort them? Okay, more than 1 question, but I'm happy I finally jumped in and asked! Sherri

[DickK]

You can use anything you have as a background. Are you meaning a background for a slide or for the menu or...? Not matter which you want you can do it, only the "how" will vary depending on what you want to do with it.

As for making them fit, it depends is the answer. In general you'll want backgrounds to fill the frame--don't have it stretch it. And I wouldn't use images that are really small because ProShow will have to zoom it a lot for it to fill the frame. Bigger is better mostly and the minimum really depends on what kind of output you are going to make.

Dick

[HunnyB]

Sometime I go to the scrapbook store and get the pages I want and then scan them. Works great.

[charlie4031]

Hi Sherri,
You can use any background you can find on the internet. I do that a lot on personal shows I make. It's hard to find photos though that are exactly 16:9 ratio so two things you can do. Crop the file using Photoshop or any program you have that can do that and save the image, or the faster one just import the file in Proshow and set the layer properties to 'fill frame'. That way the photo zooms in to fill the entire show screen then you can just drag it to the position that you like.

But one more thing, to make sure you have good quality pictures for your background make sure that your source photo is at least 1024x768 in size. If you can get it larger, better.

Hope this helps.

[SherriCreates]

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question about backgrounds. I found a couple of digital scrapbooking sites and I was able to download backgrounds, embellishments and templates. Now to continue reading the manual so I can figure out keyframing, masks and everything else. I'm having fun though!! Thanks, again for your help!! Sherri

[jmjake911]

I saw a syle where the floating slide came out from behind a flower that looked to have been a layer...looked awesome! So my question is this.... I too have a ton of digital scrap elements etc... and thought I could maybe use one of the flower elements but how do I make that element the top layer. I am new to this and am having so much fun!

I have ProShow Gold 4... any thoughts, wisdom or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

janet

[ChrissyC]

Hi Sherri, welcome to the forum
A lot of us use scrapping things in our shows, Producer works well with them...
watch Sandy's show she posted, you'll see how she handles backgrounds and elements.
http://www.photodex.com/share/sunshinesandy/dagp8mg4
Post your questions, you'll get lots of answers...
I use scrap papers I collect, I have 100's, just make sure the background isn't to busy and then stretch it so it fills all of the black in the designing window.....
You have a good attitude about having fun with it, because my dear, by the time you learn masking and keyframing you'll either be sitting in a corner drooling or running down your street with your hair standing on end!! it's a never ending curve, the more you learn the more you want to learn.....but it's a BLAST!!!
take care, Chrissy

[trulytango]

I saw a style where the floating slide came out from behind a flower that looked to have been a layer...looked awesome! So my question is this.... how do I make that element the top layer. I am new to this and am having so much fun! I have ProShow Gold 4... any thoughts, wisdom or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

janet

Hi Janet

Can I just mention first that if you have Gold you should really post your questions in the PSG section of the Forum, not here in PSP - otherwise people might assume you have Producer and start talking about features you do not have and you could end up confused or even disappointed

I maybe misunderstood your question, but you asked how to have an element as your uppermost layer, so that other things can appear to be behind it? Well, that's easy, you just press down the Ctrl key as you drag and drop additional layers into your slide - your slide will fill from the bottom up. If you have already figured that out, and have a slide that needs the layers reordering e.g. the bottom layer needs to become the top one or the top layer needs to be moved down, then simply highlight the appropriate layer and click the upward facing arrow (or the downward one if necessary) and the layers will move up/down the stack for you.

You can have as many layers as you like in your slides, and you can size and position each layer individually from within Slide options>Layers or Slide options>Motion... just make sure you have the correct layer highlighted in the layers stack, then use your mouse on the image itself. Click and drag it around to position it and use your scroll wheel to resize it.

If you want to create an effect in Gold, where something seems to appear at some point during the slide e.g. an object comes out from behind something else and moves across the screen then stops, well, you'll have to do that in a series of slides. In the example I mentioned you'd need three slides... the first slide would be the initial display, the second slide would have the object start to move/appear and reach the point where you'd like it to stop, and the third slide would be a slide where the object has no movement at all i.e. the visible 'stop'. The trick that will give fluidity to such a sequence is the fact that the starting point of all layers for the 2nd (and 3rd) slides is exactly the same as the ending points of the layers in the slide before it, and insert a '0' second or 'Cut' transition in between the slides.

Proshow has a feature that allows you to copy the end point of all layers in one slide, over to the start point of the next slide. As you learn to compile effects in Gold, you will use this feature time and again!

Hope that helps and Happy ProShowing!
Iris