Introducing the User Interface

The user interface in a FotoMagico document window is divided into four main areas:

1. Storyboard & Timeline

Arrange slides in this area to tell your story. Add slides and audio by dragging images, movies, or audio files from the Sidebar or a Finder folder to the Storyboard. Drag and drop slides to re-arrange the sequence. Switch to the Timeline view to fine-tune the timing by adjusting the duration of slides or transitions. Use the audio waveform or audio markers in the Timeline view to precisely sync the transitions to your audio.

2. Stage

When a single slide is selected in the Storyboard or Timeline, the Stage displays the layers of the selected slide. Here the layers can be positioned, zoomed, and rotated. If animation is enabled for this slide, the layers are displayed twice: the start of the animation is displayed on the left side, and the finish of the animation is displayed on the right side of the Stage.

3. Sidebar

The Sidebar holds the Image, Movie, and Audio browsers, as well as the Options Inspector. The Image Browser provides convenient access to your iPhoto, Aperture, and Lightroom libraries. The Movie Browser provides access to movies and video clips from various sources on your computer. The Audio Browser provides access to the songs in your iTunes Library and sound effects from iLife applications. The Options Inspector contains the options that allow you to control various aspects of the slides that are selected in the Storyboard/Timeline.

4. Toolbar

The toolbar contains buttons for commonly used features. On the left side are the Storyboard, Timeline, Blank Slide, and Add Title tools. In the middle are the Playback and Share buttons (which include the Jump to Beginning, Play/Share, and Jump to End buttons). On the right side are the buttons to show or hide the Image, Movie, Audio browsers, and the Options Inspector.

Other Windows and Menus

There are other parts of the user interface that are important at various stages of the slideshow authoring process: