Preparing slides for slideshows on WordPress (and other CMS) Web sites seems to be a great mystery. I am asked regularly about the subject. In this post we will take a quick look at the problem.
Slides for slide shows can be nearly any size. For the purposes for this discussion we will assume that the slides we need will be 1150 pixels wide and 400 pixels high. This is a typical size, but you need to check your slideshow plugin to be sure what size you actually need. On the right is the photograph we will use for the slide.
The photo we are using was taken by a typical digital camera. It has the ability to take pictures that are nearly 26 megapixels. How big is that? Well, the photo we are using is 6000 pixels wide at 350 pixels per in right out of the camera! That means, with no processing at all, the photo is at least 5 times larger than is needed for the slide.
Below is the photo with dimensions added so you can see what I am talking about.
If we overlay a box 1150 pixels by 400 pixels, to represent the size of the slide we need, we get the example below.
If we use the photo “as is” without making serious adjustments, our slide would look like the next example.
Obviously, what we need to do, then, is to re-size the photograph to 1150 pixels wide, 400 pixels high. We also need to make sure the pixels per inch is no higher than 100.
The illustration below shows the original photo narrowed to 1150 pixels wide. The box with the black outline represents the dimensions of the slide. Note that there is still “waste” at the top and bottom of the image. This means the photo will need additional editing to crop it correctly.
A little further work and we have a finished slide, shown below, below that is 1150 pixels wide by 400 pixels high.
Of course, as I suggested above, your slide may have to be a different size. It could be wider, narrower, taller, shorter, or any combination of dimensions. The “trick”, then, is to know the final size you need and make edits and adjustments as needed.
I have one last point. I am also often asked about software. Yes, you can use Photoshop. But, for many folks that is a large tool to do a small job. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of software tools and you should find the one you like the best.