Do you know how easy it is to play a slideshow using Picasa?
Just click the play button at the top of any folder or album. When you do, the contents of that folder or album will start playing full screen.
Once the slideshow is playing, you have a set of controls at the bottom. If you don’t see these controls, just move your mouse and they will appear.
From left to right, those controls are:
- Exit: click this to stop the slideshow
- Magnify: drag the slider to magnify the currently displayed picture
- Rotate: click the rotate left or rotate right buttons to turn the currently displayed picture
- Previous slide: click to manually move to the previous picture
- Play: click this to resume playing the slideshow
- Next slide: click to manually move to the next slide
- Star: click this to mark the current slide as a ‘Starred’ picture
- Transition dropdown: click the dropdown arrow to see the choices for transitions between slides
- Caption: click the green checkmark On to see captions, Off to hide them
- Display time: click the minus or the plus to decrease or increase the duration of each slide in the show
So where is the option for Music?
It’s in the properties of the particular folder or album. Double-click on the name of the folder or album and you will see a checkbox for “Use Music for Slideshow and Movie Presentation.” Make sure that is checked, then you can browse your computer to find the music selection you want played. Once you have entered a selection here, it will always play whenever you play a slideshow on that particular folder or album.
Limitations
You can only play one selection per folder/album. The music will not follow a slideshow to a Gift CD, or to the web for a web album. It is only for playing the slideshow using the 
play button in Picasa. If you want to record the slideshow and music and share it, you need to make a Movie. See other articles on that.
Note: if you stop your slideshow, the music will start over from the beginning when you play it again. So, if you want the music to play thru, be sure to keep your hands away from the mouse as it plays!
If you are a Geeks on Tour Member, you can watch a video on Picasa – Playing Slideshows with Music
Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.
More videos about slideshows
Want to make a slideshow with music and share it? See video