On-demand image publishing

Every image Director publishes is first generation. Meaning, you can have multiple slideshows of varying dimensions all requesting the same Director content, and each slideshow would receive images tailored-to-fit for optimum image quality. All published content is cached, server-side, for optimum speed and performance.

As part of its photo publishing system, Director allows you to assign focal points to control how content is cropped. For example (see right), you may assign focal points to a person's face in a portrait image, and if the image is cropped for a different aspect ratio that area will remain in view. Focal point coordinates are also used when using SlideShowPro's "Pan and Zoom" effect.

Dynamic titles and captions

Editing content titles and captions couldn't be easier. SlideShowPro Director provides an editing interface (see left) to setup content publishing guidelines for titles and captions. You may use the EXIF and IPTC metadata already embedded in your digital photos, as well as data that pertains to Director itself (like album titles, sort order, tags, etc). When established as part of an album, all newly uploaded content to the album automatically receive titles and captions using the same criteria; allowing you to shoot, upload and publish without editing content. If manual editing is your preferred method, SlideShowPro Director allows you to do that as well.

Watch a video that explains how SlideShowPro Director assigns titles and captions to content.

Smart albums and galleries

Director is smart. How smart? You can create albums/galleries of content that dynamically populate themselves using content from other albums/galleries based on rule criteria. For example, a smart album of your most recent uploads, your favorites, or content with a particular tag. You can enter multiple rules, assign a maximum content count, limit the returned results to photos or videos, and automatically sort the results by date or file name. When editing a rule, Director displays a live preview of the content that will be included so you can fine-tine the rule criteria however you like.

See SlideShowPro Director create a smart album of slideshow content in this video.

Auto and manual sorting

Ordering album content for display in a slideshow is simple — click on one or more pieces of content and drag/drop them into the order you need. Your changes will automatically be reflected in any slideshow currently loading the album. Or for a more automated approach, you may setup auto-sorting criteria (file name / date). When activated, any new content uploaded to the album will automatically fall into the correct order. This comes in handy for albums where, for example, you'd prefer to always show the latest album uploads first in a slideshow.

Video thumbnail generation

Uploading video? You'll be glad to know that SlideShowPro Director automatically publishes thumbnail and poster images (FFmpeg required). After uploading a video, Director stores multiple screen shots from a variety of video keyframes; allowing you to browse and select a preview image easily (see right). If you'd rather assign your own custom image, Director allows you to do that as well. To see an example of a slideshow with video preview images and thumbnails generated by Director, click here.

Photo watermarking

SlideShowPro Director offers the ability to assign watermarks to your uploaded images. You may upload multiple watermarks, and apply them automatically to all newly uploaded images, or assign them afterward to a specific album. Watermarking is only applied when images are published, so the process is completely non-destructive and can be edited at any time.

• Publishing schedules

  

  Want to control which content is shown in a slideshow on particular day? Or range of days? With SlideShowPro Director, you can. Simply assign publishing schedules to your album content and Director will handle the rest. Your slideshow will automatically change on your web site as time passes by.

• Automatic updates

  

  With Director, you never have to wonder if your version is up-to-date. Director notifies you whenever a new application release is available, and gives you the option of updating automatically or downloading the upgrade to install yourself. A single click, and Director updates itself right in your web browser.

• Multilingual

  

  Director is used all over the world, so the interface is translatable. Director comes with built-in support for Spanish, French, German, and Dutch, but we've also built a community translation utility so anyone can translate Director to their own language and share the files with other Director users.

• Robust API

  

  Are you a web developer? Love working with APIs? SlideShowPro Director comes with a full-featured API that allows you to access all of its data and uploaded content. We even provide a free PHP class to help you get started.