Email link to auto-playing slideshow to ppl w/various tech capabilities?
March 12, 2013 7:57 PM Subscribe
My partner and I are "eloping" this weekend. (More on that below the fold.) We'd like to put together a slideshow to announce this to our families and friends. How can I make a slideshow so that I can send a single link to all parties, and they'll get an auto-playing slideshow when they click the link. I don't want to use PowerPoint, because many of them won't have it. What I really want to avoid is having the older relatives seeing the word "eloped" and not being able to view the playful explanation inside the slideshow. Thoughts?
My P of 5.5 years and I are registering as domestic partners on Friday. This involves putting our names on a piece of paper and signing it, and then giving the state of CA $48. Sooooo romantic.
Because it feels so fundamentally bureaucratic, and because our families already know that we're a unit, want to squeeze some fun out of it. After dropping off our notarized papers in Sacramento, we're going to 'elope' to Reno. We're keeping this secret from our families and friends for now and will announce it after we've celebrated with a dinner that we wouldn't otherwise treat ourselves to.
What I'd like to do is put together a slide show of the various steps (the notary, the trip to the Secretary of State's office, the stop at the flea market on the way for cheap socks, the celebration toast/dinner in Reno, etc.) that we can email to our friends and family as an announcement. I don't want to do a PowerPoint slideshow because not all of them will have PowerPoint. Some are on iPads, some are on PCs, some are on Macs.
Is there any online service that will allow anyone to click a link, which will autoplay a slideshow? My first thought was Picasa. The autoplay is a must, I think. I don't want to set up a website -- don't have enough time.
Other thoughts are welcome as well.
My P of 5.5 years and I are registering as domestic partners on Friday. This involves putting our names on a piece of paper and signing it, and then giving the state of CA $48. Sooooo romantic.
Because it feels so fundamentally bureaucratic, and because our families already know that we're a unit, want to squeeze some fun out of it. After dropping off our notarized papers in Sacramento, we're going to 'elope' to Reno. We're keeping this secret from our families and friends for now and will announce it after we've celebrated with a dinner that we wouldn't otherwise treat ourselves to.
What I'd like to do is put together a slide show of the various steps (the notary, the trip to the Secretary of State's office, the stop at the flea market on the way for cheap socks, the celebration toast/dinner in Reno, etc.) that we can email to our friends and family as an announcement. I don't want to do a PowerPoint slideshow because not all of them will have PowerPoint. Some are on iPads, some are on PCs, some are on Macs.
Is there any online service that will allow anyone to click a link, which will autoplay a slideshow? My first thought was Picasa. The autoplay is a must, I think. I don't want to set up a website -- don't have enough time.
Other thoughts are welcome as well.
Could you use Picasa to create the slideshow, export it as video, and upload it to Youtube?
posted by neilbert at 8:14 PM on March 12, 2013
posted by neilbert at 8:14 PM on March 12, 2013
Other thoughts are welcome as well.
Congratulations!!
posted by heyho at 8:18 PM on March 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
Congratulations!!
posted by heyho at 8:18 PM on March 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
You can create a set on Flickr.com and send people the link to a slideshow. They would have to click play.
I tried to see if Picasa did this, but all roads pointed to Google+ and I'd be hesitant to send family there just in case it ade you jump through sign up hoops.
posted by advicepig at 8:22 PM on March 12, 2013
I tried to see if Picasa did this, but all roads pointed to Google+ and I'd be hesitant to send family there just in case it ade you jump through sign up hoops.
posted by advicepig at 8:22 PM on March 12, 2013
You can do it in Flickr - put all the images in one set and then click the slideshow link, then copy that and send it. It's super easy BUT, argh, it won't work on iPads, at least older ones - I know for sure that none of my Flickr slideshows work on my aunt's first generation iPad. I'm also not 100% sure it will work if the recipient doesn't have a flickr / yahoo account.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:23 PM on March 12, 2013
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:23 PM on March 12, 2013
Response by poster: Anyone have any experience with PhotoSnack?
posted by mudpuppie at 8:28 PM on March 12, 2013
posted by mudpuppie at 8:28 PM on March 12, 2013
A question, not an answer but maybe one that will lead to an answer: can the Google Doc faux powerpoint do this? Would it play on most equipment?
Congratulations!
posted by fieldtrip at 8:31 PM on March 12, 2013
Congratulations!
posted by fieldtrip at 8:31 PM on March 12, 2013
Seconding putting the slideshow on Youtube as a movie - it's so easy. Are you using a Mac? Do you have iMovie?
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:32 PM on March 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:32 PM on March 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: My Mac recently died, so I'm mostly using an iPad and a loaner work Mac for which I don't have admin privileges -- therefore, can't install much.
I'm concerned that the Google erzatz powerpoint feature would require a google account, and a lot of our relatives only have aol accounts still. (Forgive them. They're pushing 70.)
As for YouTube, my one hesitation there is that I have a nice camera with a really nice lens, and I'd like to preserve some of the quality of the photos. My feeling is that YouTube would compress them too much and make them all YouTube-y. I could be talked into it, though, if that seems to be the most universal option.
posted by mudpuppie at 8:41 PM on March 12, 2013
I'm concerned that the Google erzatz powerpoint feature would require a google account, and a lot of our relatives only have aol accounts still. (Forgive them. They're pushing 70.)
As for YouTube, my one hesitation there is that I have a nice camera with a really nice lens, and I'd like to preserve some of the quality of the photos. My feeling is that YouTube would compress them too much and make them all YouTube-y. I could be talked into it, though, if that seems to be the most universal option.
posted by mudpuppie at 8:41 PM on March 12, 2013
You can share Google files like Google documents etc with people who don't have a Google account. But I have seen that get screwy when sharing them with people on a variety of other platforms, so I wouldn't go that route.
It's true, YouTube wouldn't be high res. You could make a slideshow on a paid service like smugmug and you would retain the beautiful look of the photos - but I don't think it will do auto-slideshow, they would have to enter the gallery via a link you send them and then click the "slideshow" button in the upper corner of the page. Once they do that, though, it would totally be what you're looking for. I believe you can store video on smugmug as well, which would be another thought, although I haven't used that part of the site so I can't speak to how good it looks.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:49 PM on March 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's true, YouTube wouldn't be high res. You could make a slideshow on a paid service like smugmug and you would retain the beautiful look of the photos - but I don't think it will do auto-slideshow, they would have to enter the gallery via a link you send them and then click the "slideshow" button in the upper corner of the page. Once they do that, though, it would totally be what you're looking for. I believe you can store video on smugmug as well, which would be another thought, although I haven't used that part of the site so I can't speak to how good it looks.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:49 PM on March 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
you can create a slideshow and turn it into a video file using iMovie for iPad. Then you can upload to youtube.
posted by milestogo at 5:55 AM on March 13, 2013
posted by milestogo at 5:55 AM on March 13, 2013
You might be able to do something on a personal website like from the one linked on the Practical Wedding website
posted by hydrobatidae at 6:35 AM on March 13, 2013
posted by hydrobatidae at 6:35 AM on March 13, 2013
I tested the Flickr slideshow on my iPad and it worked fine. I believe they changed the slideshow feature not all that long ago.
posted by advicepig at 10:12 AM on March 13, 2013
posted by advicepig at 10:12 AM on March 13, 2013
I think using iMovie on your iPad is your best bet if you want something that looks nice. If you are worried about the quality of YouTube, maybe you can try a nicer video upload service like Vimeo?
posted by theuninvitedguest at 1:13 PM on March 13, 2013
posted by theuninvitedguest at 1:13 PM on March 13, 2013
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posted by 1367 at 8:06 PM on March 12, 2013