Despite their bad rap, slide shows need not be boring. In fact, they’re a great way to display your photos to an admiring (or at least polite) audience. Of course, you’re not really displaying slides, but creating the digital equivalent of a slide show. Most image-editing programs allow you to create a digital show from an existing album, or import photos from different locations on your computer. You might even be able to add sound effects.

To find out how to create a slide show using your image-editing program, search the Help index using the keyword “slide.” This is a standard term, although not all programs refer to a finished project as a slide show. For example, when you search for the word “slide” in PhotoDeluxe, the Help menu displays “slide show (see Photo Parade).” While both PhotoShop and PhotoDeluxe have features that allow you to create slide shows with ease, PhotoSuite has a more sophisticated range of capabilities.