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Importing and arranging your pictures

If you are creating a new video story, first select the pictures you want to use. You can import pictures from your computer, a network folder, or an MSN® Groups Web site. For each story, you can import up to 300 pictures, which can be files with .bmp, .dib, .eps, .gif, .jhif, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .pcd, .pcx, .png, .psd, .rle, .tga, and .tif file name extensions.

After you import your pictures, you can arrange them on the Photo Story film strip in the order you want them to be displayed. Then you can use the editing tools to edit, enhance, rotate, and crop your pictures.

To import and arrange your pictures

  1. On the Import and arrange your pictures page, click Import Pictures.
  2. In the File Browser dialog box, do one of the following:

    Your pictures appear in the film strip at the bottom of the page. If you import more pictures, Photo Story adds them at the end of the film strip.

    If you want Photo Story to remove black borders from your pictures by automatically cropping them, click the Remove black borders button  Remove black borders button.

    The button is available if Photo Story detects that some pictures in your story do not have a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is the relation of the width to the height of the picture.

  3. After you click the Remove black borders button, Photo Story displays each picture with the black border removed in the Removing Black Borders dialog box. Do one of the following:
  4. To view the pictures in the film strip, use the scroll bar located below the strip.
  5. To view your pictures individually in the picture preview area, click a picture in the film strip, or click the Previous Picture button Previous picture button or the Next Picture button Next picture button.
  6. If you want to enhance the appearance of a picture, click on the following buttons at the bottom of the picture preview area:
  7. To make additional changes such as correcting contrast or adding an effect to your picture, click the Edit button, and then do one of the following in the Edit Pictures dialog box:

    When you are done editing your pictures, click Save to save the changes made to your pictures, and then click Close to exit the Edit Pictures dialog box.

  8. On the Import and arrange your pictures page, to change the order of the pictures in the film strip, click a picture, and then drag it to a new location.

    Photo Story marks the currently selected picture on the film strip with a dark border. If you drag the picture to a location that is already occupied by another picture, Photo Story inserts the picture you are dragging after the location if you are dragging the picture to the right and before the location if you are dragging the picture to the left.

  9. To delete any of the pictures you imported, click the picture, and then click the Delete button Delete button or press the DELETE key.

    Photo Story also deletes any narration, and anything else associated with the picture. Music is deleted from the story only if the picture is the anchor image for the music.

  10. Click Next.

    If you want to return to the previous page, click Back.

Note image Notes

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