SlideShowPro: Frequently asked questions

I own both Flash and Lightroom. Which should I buy?

It depends on a few factors, including how you intend to use SlideShowPro, how comfortable you are working with both applications, and how you intend to deploy content online.

SlideShowPro for Flash gives users the greatest amount of freedom and flexibility when building slideshows. This is because it leverages the Flash authoring application, which allows you to use the component's ActionScript API to do all kinds of custom things; including building external navigations, dynamically assigning properties, using custom typefaces, assigning sound effects, and incorporating slideshows into existing Flash movies. Flash also allows you to customize SlideShowPro's navigational buttons, either with your own Movie Clips or with one of our button packs.

SlideShowPro for Lightroom doesn't provide the full range of customization / integration options of the Flash version, but exceeds in the ease of use department. Think of it as more of a "push button publishing" product you can use to quickly publish out slideshows with all the requisite files you need to place online. You simply pick which photos you want to use from your Lightroom library, and all the requisite imagery and data is created upon export. Those with some web development experience will be able to integrate their Lightroom published slideshows into their own layouts.

Are there any other limitations of the Lightroom version?

Because SlideShowPro for Lightroom uses Lightroom to publish content, some of SlideShowPro's functionality is limited by what's possible in the app itself. For example, Lightroom doesn't manage video, so there isn't a way within the app to preview or publish video. You can however manually integrate video after-the-fact, assuming you're comfortable editing XML and encoding video.

Lightroom also can't export more than a single album of imagery at a time, so if you plan on displaying more than one album in a single slideshow gallery (similar to how our home page example is setup), then you will have to manually merge your published content. It's not difficult, and we provide instructions for doing so, but it will require a little bit of web development experience to edit the requisite files.

I own neither Flash nor Lightroom. Am I out of luck?

Not completely. SlideShowPro for Flash does come (in the same download) with a "standalone" version that doesn't require Flash or Lightroom. Instead, it comes with a compiled SWF containing SlideShowPro, plus a few XML/HTML files you may edit to change its parameters. You will need some web development experience in order to edit/use the standalone version, but it's there for people who don't own Flash or Lightroom.

Can I try before I buy?

Absolutely. Feel free to download the free trials of both products to get a feel for their respective strengths. Trial links are at the top right of both pages. Additionally, if you purchase one and decide you'd like the other down the road, we offer special "crossgrade" prices for purchasers of either application.