How to use StoryPix

1

Get your photos ready

Put the photos and video clips for the show in one folder. Inside it, make a sub-folder for each part of the show, such as Term 1, Camp and Sports Day. StoryPix turns each sub-folder into a section with its own title slide.

Have your music ready too: MP3, M4A and WAV files all work.

Tip: There's no need to rename or resize anything. StoryPix sorts photos by the date they were taken and handles phone photos taken sideways.

2

Choose your folder

Open StoryPix and click ✨ Auto Build, then Choose folder… and pick the main folder.

Your sub-folders appear as a list. Use the ↑ ↓ arrows to put them in order, untick any you want to leave out, and click a name to change the title shown on screen.

3

Add music and pick a style

Click ＋ Add songs. Choose Make the show as long as the music, or set a length in minutes.

Under Pace & style, choose how many photos go on each slide, the photo frames and the transitions. Type an opening title and a closing message.

The panel on the right shows how long each photo will be on screen. If there are too many photos for the time, it says so and gives you three choices: use a well-spread selection, put more photos on each slide, or let the show run longer than the music.

Click Build my show.

4

Find your way around

Your show is built in a few seconds. The screen has four areas:

• Left: your photos and videos. A tick shows a photo is already in the show.
• Centre: the slide you're working on, with play controls underneath.
• Right: settings for whatever you've selected.
• Bottom: the storyboard, with every slide in order. Drag slides to reorder them.

Press Space to play from the current slide, and Ctrl+Z to undo anything.

5

Change a slide

Click a slide in the storyboard. On the right, under Layout, pick how many photos and which arrangement.

To swap a photo, drag one from the library on the left and drop it on a photo box. Drag a box to move it, or drag its corners to resize it.

Click a photo, then Reposition photo, to choose which part shows. StoryPix never stretches or squashes a photo unless you choose Stretch.

6

Add captions and titles

Click ＋ Text above the slide and type in the box on the right. Choose the font, size, colour and outline there too. Drag the text box to where you want it.

For a slide with just words, such as a thank-you or a new section, click ＋ Title card under the storyboard.

7

Zoom in on a face

Every photo already moves slowly. To choose exactly where the camera goes, click a photo and then 🎯 Zoom to a spot…

The green START frame is where the camera begins and the orange END frame is where it finishes. Drag them into place and drag a corner to zoom in or out. The preview shows the result. Click Use this zoom.

8

Trim video clips

Click a video, then ✂ Trim video…. Drag the yellow handles to keep just the best part, or play the clip and press I where it should start and O where it should end.

Clips are muted by default. Tick Play this clip's sound for a speech or a cheer, and the music dips underneath automatically.

On the Music tab you can start a song a few seconds in to skip a slow intro, add more songs, or change the volume.

9

Save your show

Click Save to keep your show as a .storypix file so you can come back and change it later. StoryPix also saves a backup every few seconds and offers to recover it if the computer crashes.

The show file only remembers where your photos are; it doesn't contain them. To work on another computer, copy the photo folder too. If the photos aren't where they were, StoryPix asks you to point to the folder and finds them by name.

10

Export the video

Click ⬇ Export video, choose where to save, and leave the size at 1080p Full HD unless your projector or TV is 4K. Click Export.

A five-minute show usually takes a few minutes. You'll get a standard MP4 file that plays on any projector, TV, laptop or YouTube.

Before the big night: play the finished MP4 on the actual projector and speakers. Check that captions are readable from the back of the room and the music isn't too loud.