At first reading everything might seem to be a little bit tedious. But do not worry.
With some practice it goes rather fast.

1. Create a new directory on your PC.

2. Place copies of the images you want to show in the best available resolution.



4. Crop the images and bring them to 1920 x 1080 resolution (Full HD).

⚠️ You can also download these finished images from this dropbox folder for practice purposes.

5. Download the Photoshop templates for the start and the end of your picture show from this dropbox and put them also in your directory:


6. Open the Photoshop templates with a compatible image editing program and insert the start and end image. (You can type additional information into the template for the final image later. Therefore save not only the final results but also the PSD file. This way you can make updates without much effort at any time.)


7. Download the trial version of MAGIX Photostory deluxe 2021. (You can use the trial version free of charge for 30 days).

8. Open MAGIX Photostory deluxe 2021 and select "New Project"


9. Select Storyboard and your directory.


10. Move your pictures down to the storyboard by drag & drop. You can also adjust the display span so that all images can be seen.


11. By moving the time marker you can see the pictures in the upper left corner of the large preview display.


12. Now drag the opening template to the first position


13. Insert a music of your choice to the directory.

⚠️ Note that you may only use royalty-free music for public presentations. However, if you only publish your slideshow on YouTube, you can also use music that is already licensed for YouTube.

The easiest way to download music from Youtube is: Open the 320 YouTube Converter in a separate browser window. Copy the YouTube URL of the music and paste it into the 320 YouTube Converter. Process and download it. You can use it privately and for projects, which will be published on YouTube only. (The converter is also availbale as Firefox Add-On, which makes the processing to a one click step.) You find detailed information on legal use of YoutTube music on it's support page.

For this demo I chose Tears Of Joy by Adi Goldstein. Because I am not allowed to pass on this music, you will have to download it yourself for this practice project. Place it also in your project directory.

Switch the display to timeline now (1). Drag the music from the project directory (2) down to the line below the pictures. (It will appear as a blue bar.) Then right-click on the music strip. A pull down menue will open. Select "Create waveform display" in the first line.


The advantage is that you now get the music visualized as a waveform with the beats. So you can easily synchronize the picture changes to the beats.

14. Now enlarge the timeline by clicking the (+) symbol (1). Start the playback by clicking the start button (2) The beat at 2:00 seconds marked with (3) would be a good beginning point for the second image. You can read the exact time in the timeline (4) or larger displayed at (5).


You can move the line using the light gray slider at the bottom. For fine adjustments you can zoom in or out on the timeline by using (+) or (-). The program always orients itself to the position of the time marker.

15. Place the time marker a few tenths of a second before the beat. Then drag the second image to the red line.


You see how the two images overlap more and more.


The crossing that becomes visible indicates that a cross-fade is created. This is the simplest form of transition, but also the most discreet one that can always be used. Therefore it is the default.

⚠️ At this moment resist the temptation to try out other crossfade forms. Be focussed on the basic version first. Refinements come later.

16. Reset the time marker to the beginning and start a playback to check. You see the second image fading in very slowly. To make this transition shorter, drag the end of the first image forward.



17. Play this setting for a test. You will see that the transition is now short but smooth. For now we leave it like this.

As the music progresses, you will notice that a next good transition point would be at second 6:02.


18. Shrink the time line (1) and move the beginning of the next image (the third one of the series) to the marker (at 6:02 seconds) to the left (2).


The result will be a cross-fade again.


19. Click onto the second picture. It's colour turns to blue.


20. Move the end of the second image to the left again, so that the overlap is reduced. Repeat this process with all pictures. You can also move several images together by clicking on them while holding down the [Crtl] key.

21. Finally, trim the music. Go to the right end of the music bar and click on it to create a blue horizontal double arrow. With this arrow you drag the end of the music bar to the left until it is flush with the end of the last picture.



22. To avoid an abrupt end of the music, fade out the music appropriately.



23. You now have the preliminary final result.

⚠️ Trimming music is the least elegant method. It is softened a little by fading it out. But it would be better to select a piece of music of suitable length. Unfortunately, suitable music is often longer than the 2-3 minutes recommended for videos of this type. Therefore, the shortening should actually be done by cutting a middle part of the music of suitable length and rejoining the two ends. However, this is not the intention in this first exercise. Here, the video arrangement shall be in the spotlight.

24. Save your project now. As target folder choose your project directory.


25. After saving click the edit button.



26. Choose MPEG-4 / Full HD and click edit.


27. Your video will be compiled now. This takes some time.


28. Afterwards the video opens automatically in the media player.


29. During the final check you will notice that the credit information in the final image is not yet complete. Therefore open the saved template (step 6 of this tutorial) again. Fill in all details and save the result in your directory. In this tutorial it looks like this:


⚠️If the videos are to be published in the official ipernity channel on YouTube layout changes are only allowed in coordination with the ima team.

30. Now exchange the last image in your timeline by the updated version. Move the updated final picture from the directory down to the timeline (1). Trim the size to make it identical with the previous version (2). Also adjust the fading out. Delete the previous version (3). Then shift the updated version to the storyboard in the upper row. The cross-fading will be generated automatically.


Now the video is finished. Save it again and generate the final mp4-file.

⚠️ Now you can start experimenting with the different possibilities of other image transitions. Be economical with the variants. Too many gimmicks may be perceived as amateurish by the later viewers. You'll find very good tips in the MAGIX tutorials, which you can find on the MAGIX homepage. There you can also download a pdf-manual.

▶️ Online on YouTube meanwhile: The result

Have fun with your first own project!