Most Picnshow features are simple and easy to use. In fact if you have just started using Picnshow we would recommend simply trying it out, and come back to these help items if you run into any problems.
Account creation is easy. Visit our account creation page, enter your email address and choose a password, then click on the "Create Account" button. You will be logged in and redirected to the Picnshow slide show editor immediately after creating your account. If you log out, you can return to the Picnshow site and login anytime using your email address and password.
Type in your email address in the text field labelled "Email".
Type in your password in the text field labelled "Password".
If you would like to be logged in automatically every time you use your current web browser click the "Stay logged in" check box. Think carefully about this option as there are times you do not want to be logged in automatically. For example if you are borrowing a friend's computer, or are using a computer at your workplace or a public library.
To finish logging in, click on the "Login" button. The editor will be launched immediately after logging in.
If you mistype your email address or password a short error message will be displayed. Re-enter your email and password and try again. Remember to check both the email address and password if you are having trouble logging in.
At the bottom of the show list column are several buttons, including a button labelled with a "+" (plus) character. Click on this button to create a show.
The new show is added to the list with the temporary name "Untitled Slide Show", but it is also highlighted and ready to be renamed. Type in the name you want to give the new show and press the enter or return key.
A file selection dialog will open. Navigate to the directory holding the photos for your show. Select one or more images then click the "Open" button. The simplest method for selecting more than one image is to click on the first image you want, hold down the shift key on your keyboard, then select the last image you want.
As the images upload, the progress bar will show overall progress along with the number of images already uploaded. As each image is uploaded it will appear in the show's image list in the large area above the "Upload Images" button.
Begin by selecting the link to the show. It is found at the bottom of the editor beside the "Link:" label. Selecting it is usually a matter of double or triple clicking the link until all the text is highlighted.
Now copy the link to the clipboard as you normally would on your operating system. For example on Windows holding the ctrl key down and pressing the "c" key will copy the highlighted text. On a Mac hold down the command key and press "c" to copy.
Now you can paste the link into an email as you normally would. For example on Windows place the cursor in the body of your email, hold down the ctrl key and press the "v" key to paste the link. On a Mac hold down the command key and press "v" to paste.
Find the image in your show's image list and double click on the area immediately to the right of the image. This part of the image list is labelled "Caption" at the top of the list.
After double clicking, the caption becomes highlighted and you can begin typing in your note.
Press the enter or return key to save the caption.
Find the speed control and click on the slider button.
Drag the control to the right to shorten the time each slide is displayed and speed the show up. Drag to the left to lengthen the display time and slow the show down.
The length of time, in seconds, that each slide will be shown is displayed between the tortoise and hare icons above the slider bar.
Click once on the "Date Taken" column heading.
A confirmation dialog will then ask if you really want to reorder the slides in your show. Click "OK" to order the slides chronologically.
The first time slides are reordered chronologically they will be ordered from oldest to newest. To reverse that order follow the same steps given above. A small triangle icon in the heading will indicate the direction of the sort order.
It is possible to change the order of the photographs in your show to be alphabetically by filename. Once you reorder the photos there is usually no easy way to return to the previous ordering so consider for a moment before you follow these steps.
Click once on the filename column heading.
You will be prompted by a confirmation dialog asking if you really want to reorder the slides. Click the "OK" button to reorder the slides.
The first time you reorder the slides by filename they will be ordered from a-z. It is possible to reverse the sort order by simply reordering by filename again. Follow the same steps outlined above. A small triangle icon in the header indicates the direction of the sort order.
Slides can be moved around in a show by simply dragging and dropping them within the image list. To reorder photos by drag and drop follow the steps given below.
Select the image or block of images you wish to move. Select a single photo by clicking on the line in the image list containing it. To select a block of photos select the first photo in the block, hold down the shift key and select the last photo in the block — all the photos in between will be selected.
Click down and hold on the image or block of images you selected, and then drag while still holding the mouse button down. A narrow blue bar will indicate in which position the selected image or images will be dropped as you move them up or down the list.
When you reach the new position for the image or images, release the mouse button.
Renaming a slide show is easy. Keep in mind that the name for a show will be seen by everyone you send your show link to. It is usually best to give it an appropriately descriptive name to match the photos.
Find the show in the "Slide Shows" list and double click on its name.
Type in the new name and press the enter or return key.
If you would like to make a show private once more you can change the link for viewing the show. Keep in mind that you will have to distribute this new link to anyone who you would want to view the show. Once changed the old link will no longer work to access the show.
Click on the "Regenerate" button immediately to the right of the Link text field.
A confirmation dialog will open asking if you really want to change this show's link. Click the OK button to change the link and make the show private again.
Find the photo you wish to delete in the image list. Click on the "Delete" button at the right end of the line containing the image.
A dialog box will open and ask if you really want to delete the selected slide. Click the "OK" button to delete the slide.
Select several images at once. There are two different ways to select several images. You can select a block of images by clicking on the first image, then hold down the shift key and click on the last image. All the images in between will be selected. You can also select a set of images by holding down the ctrl key (or command key on a Mac) and clicking on each image.
Once you have selected all of the images you wish to delete, press the delete or backspace key.
A confirmation dialog will open and ask if the selected images should be deleted. Click on the "OK" button to delete the selected slides.
Start by selecting the show you will delete in the Slide Shows list. As usual you should see the images that belong to this show listed in the image list.
At the bottom of the show list column are several buttons, including a button labelled with a "-" (minus) character. Click on this button to delete the current show.
A confirmation dialog will open and ask if you truly wish to delete the show. The confirmation dialog includes the name of the show to be deleted. Click on the "OK" button to delete the named show.