Scenario: In iPhoto you have a folder full of photos that you want to turn into a slideshow – only you would want to play the images in random order. But: there is actually no ‘preset‘ for 'random order' or 'shuffle mode' in the iPhoto preferences panel – and you ask yourself, if it is actually possible, to play an iPhoto slideshow in random order at all?!
- How To Shuffle Slideshow
- Google Photos Slideshow Shuffle
- Shuffle Photos Slideshow Mac
- Shuffle Photo Order For Slideshow Mac Os
This may first occur a bit strange, but it does actually make perfect sense. Let me explain: you probably don't really want to have your images played in random order all the time. Instead the random play option is available on demand or actually on play – which means you can switch to random order ('shuffle order') while the slideshow is actually playing. Here is how:
How to play an iPhoto slideshow in random order
First you obviously have to have a slideshow you want to play in random order. So in the iPhoto sidebar under ‘slideshows' you either right-click and choose 'New Slideshow' or go to 'File > New Slideshow' from to menu bar. Add some picture you want to play by draggin and dropping them from any of the image overviews. Then press ‘Play'.
While the slideshow is playing, move the mouse pointer to make the slideshow controls appear. Then click the settings button, that looks like a cog wheel icon, next to the close [X] button:
Clicking the settings button in play mode will then open an extended preferences panel, featuring an additional option 'Shuffle slide order' in the lower third of the panel:
iPhoto's random order slideshow option 'shuffle slide order'
Ticking (Checking/unchecking) the option 'Shuffle slide order' will toggle the shuffle mode.
You can find a detailed description on this page 'Change slideshow settings'at support.apple.com – it's written for iPhoto 9.5 but should also apply for iPhoto 9.6 and other versions as well.
If you instead want to determine the order of the slideshow manually, you can drag and drop the images in the order you prefer at the top image bar.
Hope this short guide helped a bit. Cheers!
When Apple replaced iPhoto with the new Photos app in OS X Yosemite, we lost the ability to shuffle (randomize) the slide order. This was a big loss for those of us who have to quickly create slideshows from a large number of photos for a party or school event. Often we'll have several photos of the same subject taken about the same time. If you play back the photos in the order they were shot, parts of the slideshow seem repetitive. By shuffling the order of the photos, you can make the slideshow more interesting without spending time sifting through the whole album to find the best ones.
Hopefully Apple will reintroduce that feature back into the Photos app sometime soon. Until then, here's a quick way to randomly play back a collection of photos in your Photos library.
Use the screen saver
If you don't have iPhoto installed on your Mac, the only way to shuffle the photos in a slideshow is to use the built-in screen saver. It's not as full-featured as iPhoto as you lose the ability to control the slide time, transitions, titles and so on. However, if you need that kind of control in creating your slideshow, you can use iMovie instead.
Create photo books, wall art, photo cards and invitations, personalized gifts, and photo prints for friends and family at Shutterfly.com. Send life updates with graduation announcements, save the date cards, birth announcements, and wedding invitations. The number of seconds you choose applies to every slide in the slideshow. If you use a photo album for your slideshow, the timing is saved with it. You can try different timings by setting up multiple photo albums and changing the settings for each one. To fit the slideshow to the length of a song or playlist, click the Fit Slideshow to Music.
Click the System Preferences icon on your dock,
or select it from the Apple menu.
Click on the Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
Select the Screen Saver tab and then choose from one of the photo-related screen savers like 'Ken Burns' or 'Classic.'
Use the Source menu to choose a set of images in Photos (e.g. an album, moment, place).
If you don't see 'Photo Library…' at the bottom of the Source menu, you need change your Photos preferences to use the Photos library as the system photo library. To do this, launch the Photos app.
Then go to the Photos menu and select Preferences.
Make sure that you're in the General tab, and click the 'Use as System Photo Library' button. Afterwards, the button should become greyed out.
Go back to the Screen Saver preferences and click on the Source menu. At the bottom of the menu you should see the 'Photo Library…' item. Click on it.
How To Shuffle Slideshow
Now you will see all the collections from your Photos library. Select a collection and click the Choose button.
The last step is to check the 'Shuffle slide order' box.
To start the slideshow right away, click the preview image.
Background music
The screen saver slideshow doesn't have any options to play music, but you can make up for that by with iTunes. Before starting the screen saver, launch iTunes and start playing one of your playlists.
Google Photos Slideshow Shuffle
Limitations
This method isn't perfect––the screen saver doesn't give you much control. You can't change slide duration and transition types. Nor can you fit the slideshow to the length of a song or playlist.
Shuffle Photos Slideshow Mac
For quickly creating a random slideshow, though, this is the easiest (and cheapest) option available.
Shuffle Photo Order For Slideshow Mac Os
If you have any other tips and tricks, let us know in the comments.
