Reviewing Roxio PhotoShow - Online Slideshow Creator

Written by:  • Edited by: Rhonda Callow
Published Nov 16, 2009
• Related Guides: Online Services | Roxio
4

Roxio PhotoShow is an easy-to-use online application that lets you create and share slideshows featuring your digital photographs. This review looks at the various capabilities of the web-based tool and compares the free and paid versions.

Overview of Roxio PhotoShow

Welcome Screen for Roxio PhotoShow
click to enlarge
There's definitely no shortage of online sites dedicated to photo sharing – in fact, new ones seem to keep popping up everyday. As this collection continues to grow, most sites are choosing to focus on a specific aspect of photo sharing or to target a particular class of users. With PhotoShow, Roxio is doing a little of both by marketing its slideshow creation tool to the casual user looking for a fun, easy way to share personal photos with friends and family.

PhotoShow comes in two varieties – a free version with limited tools that can be accessed through a web browser and a yearly subscription package that includes PhotoShow 6, a Windows desktop application that lets you create your slideshows offline as well. In this review, we'll be focusing on the online portion of PhotoShow and looking at some of the differences between the free and subscription versions.

Ease of Use
Rating Excellent

PhotoShow Editing Options
click to enlarge
In terms of usability, PhotoShow gets high marks. The software sports a 1-2-3 creation process where you (1) upload your photos, (2) design your slideshow by adding titles, captions, styles, and effects, and (3) choose how you want to share your final production.

The entire process is fairly intuitive with well-labeled tools and helpful hints along the way. If you need additional help, Roxio has put together a number of video tutorials covering all aspects of the application's capabilities. This video collection can be found on the RoxioPhotoShow Channel at YouTube.

Features and Performance
Rating Average

Importing from Picasa
click to enlarge
Although extremely easy to use, the features of the free version of PhotoShow are fairly limited in scope. However, this version does provide a nice means to let users try out the application before purchasing, and it serves as a pretty good tool for creating slideshows with limited customization.

Both the free and subscription versions allow you to upload your photos several ways. You can either add your images directly from your computer by browsing through your PC's directory and selecting the ones you wish to use, or you can upload photos from several online services – Facebook, Shutterfly, Flickr, or Picasa Web Albums. This latter option is particularly nice for those who want to create several shows using the same photos.

Most of the differences between the two versions of the application are related to the design phase of the creation process. Here, the free version allows you to select from eight different slideshow styles, while the subscription package offers over 160 additional themes. Additionally, the subscription package gives you more options for adding music, titles, stickers, and borders.

Read on to the next page for the conclusion of our review of the online version of Roxio PhotoShow.

Showing page 1 of 2

 
blog comments powered by Disqus
Email to a friend