Slideshow and Music FAQ
From Doc
Slideshow FAQ
- How can I turn off the "pan and zoom" effects in a slideshow?
- Can I view a slideshow full screen?
- Can I download a slideshow to play offline on a computer?
- Can I burn a DVD of a slideshow to play on a standard DVD player?
- The images in the slideshow aren't as crisp as my originals. Why?
- Why do my videos play smaller in the slideshow?
- Can I turn the slideshow music off when viewing a video in a slideshow?
- I am having problems downloading a large slideshow, what should I do?
- Can I change the position/appearance of text that is presented with each image?
- Can I embed a slideshow in an outside site?
- I am using an international characters, but captions in the slideshow don't appear correctly. Why?
Music FAQ
- How can I add music from my Music Library for use in a slideshow?
- How can I change the music on my slideshow?
- I cannot hear the music when I play a slideshow. Why?
- I have uploaded a song to my music library and it isn't available yet. Why?
- Can I use multiple songs in a slideshow?
- Is there a way just for me to upload a music track to share with friends and family as long as I own the rights?
Q: How do I turn off the "pan and zoom" effects in a slideshow?
A: If you want to turn off the "pan and zoom" effects on any existing album, you currently need to use the desktop Windows or Mac desktop application. On the Windows application, highlight the album and select the "Album Options" button. Scroll down to the slideshows section, and uncheck the box to "Enable zooming and panning effects." Hit save.
To set the default for these effects to off for any album you create from this point on, you can use the Phanfare web-browser client or our Windows or Mac destop applications. Using the web-browser client at www.phanfare.com, click on "settings" on the header and go to "shared album settings." Uncheck the box marked “New albums created with slideshow effects enabled” under “Slideshow Defaults for New Albums,” and click “Save.” On the PC application, you can go to the Settings button and choose Program Options. Then choose the Album defaults tab and uncheck the "Enable Zooming and Panning effects" box. Back to top.
Q: Can I view a slideshow full screen?
A: Yes, you can. Hover your mouse over the bottom of the screen, and a menu will pop up. Choose the fullscreen icon (the square with arrows coming out all sides) and the slideshow should start playing fullscreen. You do need to have at least Flash Player version 9 installed. Back to top.
Q: Can I download a slideshow to play offline on a computer?
A: You can download a slideshow to your computer by clicking on the Download Slideshow option under Album Options to the right of the image you’re looking at. You can then burn it to a CD/DVD if you wish to play on your computer locally or any other computer. It will not play on a DVD player. Back to top.
Q: Can I burn a DVD of a slideshow to play on a standard DVD player?
A: You can burn a DVD or CD of a downloaded slideshow to play on any computer. However, currently Phanfare slideshows cannot be played back on a standard DVD player. The downloadable slideshow is a .exe file, not a video file currently. This feature is on our customer request list, and we will let customers know when we have an update on its availability. Back to top.
Q: The images in the slideshow aren't as crisp as my originals. Why?
A: The slideshow uses Flash, which may soften your images slightly, but it should be a very slight difference if any. If you are noticing that the images are considerably less crisp, it is probably one of two things. First, check to make sure that we have the fullsize images for all the pictures in that album. If looking at the images on your shared album, you can tell if we have the full-size versions if you see a download hi-res option next to each one. If looking at the album in one of our desktop applications, hovering over the thumbnails will let you know if we do not have the fullsize images. If we don't have the full-size images then the slideshow is enlarging the web-sized versions Phanfare creates when you import images. This would account for the blurriness. The second option may be that your originals are not at least 1400 pixels wide and 1000 pixels tall. That is the size we use for the slideshow. If less than this size, you can turn off zooming and panning effects to keep the slideshow showing the pictures in their original proportions. Back to top.
Q: Why do my videos play smaller in the slideshow?
A: When you play a video in your slideshow, we detect the connection speed and include a video that the system believes your connection can stream without stops/stalls/jumps, etc. Since you are streaming a Flash video (the slideshow itself) at the time, it may detect a smaller version of the video than you are used to seeing when viewing videos individually on your site. If you download the slideshow, you should see them in their largest setting. Back to top.
Q: Can I turn the slideshow music off when viewing a video in a slideshow?
A: The slideshow music will automatically grow softer when you view a video in a slideshow, but it will not completely mute. Currently, there is no way to turn off the slideshow music other than to not have slideshow music at all or put videos in a separate section of the album and assign that section to play no music. Back to top.
Q: I am having problems downloading a large slideshow, what should I do?
A: Slideshows are very large files. If you have an album with several hundred pictures in it, you may have difficulty getting the slideshow to download before the connection times out. This is an issue we are aware of and working on. It should not be a problem for smaller albums. If you have access to a faster connection, try downloading it there and then burn the slideshow to a CD or DVD to transfer to your own computer. Otherwise, you may have to divide the album into 2 or more parts to successfully download the slideshow. Back to top.
Q: Can I change the position/appearance of text that is presented with each image or video in the slideshow?
A: While the image caption fields do accept HTML, which allows you to change the appearance of the text and the position of the caption on the webpage, the slideshow does not honor the HTML. Slideshow captions will appear in the upper left corner of the image in a uniform font. You currently can not change the placement or font. Back to top.
Q: Can I embed a slideshow in an outside site?
A: You can not embed a slideshow in another site. Back to top.
Q: I am using an international character set, but the captions in the slideshow don't appear correctly. Why?
A: We are aware that international characters do not show up in the captions for slideshows. This is a Flash limitation as adding support for international characters dramatically increases the size of the SWF files. International characters should appear correctly in other parts of your Phanfare site. Back to top.
Q: How can I add music to my Music Library for use in a slideshow?
A: To add music to your music library, you must use the Phanfare desktop application. Open the application, and click on Settings and choose "Music Library". Click on "Add Music" to browse your computer for music files to be added to Phanfare. Click on "Import from iTunes" to see a list of songs from your iTunes library that can be imported. Once you’ve found the track you want to import, click "Upload" to add it to your Music Library. Note that music downloaded from the iTunes store may be encoded with copy protection, in which case you won’t be able to upload it to your Phanfare Music Library. Once the track you've selected is imported to the Music Library, it will be available to select as slideshow music. Read more on adding music to a slideshow. Back to top.
Q: How can I change the music on my slideshow?
A: To change music on any existing Phanfare album, you can login to the web-browser client at www.phanfare.com and click edit albums. Select the album and then select edit album options. You can pick a new song for the slideshow there and save. Alternatively, you can use the Phanfare desktop application. Launch the applicaiton and highlight the album in which you want to use music from the Music Library. Click on "Album Options", then scroll down to the Slideshow section and click "Choose". You’ll see a list of the songs you can use on the slideshow. Select the song you want, then click "Use the Selected Track". Click "Save" and "Return to Album" to get back to the application page. Read more on adding music to a slideshow. Back to top.
Q: I cannot hear the music when I play a slideshow. Why?
A: Make sure your speakers are turned on and up, and that you can hear sound from other sources on your computer. Some music file formats must be converted to .mp3 before they become available to play in Phanfare slideshows. If that conversion fails, the track may not play. Try converting the original music track to the .mp3 format manually, then re-upload to the Music Library. If you still can't hear music, temporarily turn off any internet security programs you might have, delete your browser cache, and reload the page to see if that makes a difference. Occasionally, we have seen security programs block music. You should also look at the security settings on your browser and make sure they are set to the default level. Back to top.
Q: I have uploaded a song to my music library and it isn't available yet. Why?
A: Some music file formats must be converted to .mp3 before they become available to play in Phanfare slideshows. Wait until the conversion is complete, and the music should be available. Back to top.
Q: Can I use multiple songs in a slideshow?
A: Currently, the only way to have multiple songs in a slideshow is to edit more than one song together into a single track. There are various programs that allow you to do this, including Windows Movie Maker, which comes standard with most Windows operating systems. Read more on adding more than one song per slideshow. Back to top.
Q: Is there a way just for me to upload a music track (no image or video) to share with friends and family as long as I own the rights?
A: Phanfare is not designed to just let you share music files even if the music files you are sharing was created and owned by you. If you want to upload an audio track, you will need to make it into a video with a black screen and just an audio track (using a program like Windows Movie Maker), save it as a video file format we accept and then upload it. There is no way to download just the audio file from any album. Back to top.