25.6.15

Backgrounds in ProShow Producer


There are two kinds of background in ProShow Producer, and it is important to differentiate between them:
  1. Show background
  2. Slide background

  1. Changing the Show Background
 The show background is constant, and seen throughout the show, on every slide. It even peeks during some transitions. The default color in ProShow is black, and  this is the source of those black lines that we may see on the sides or on the top of the screen, when our pictures don't cover the whole surface.
The show background doesn't have to stay black !
You can change it to a different color, to a gradient, or to a nice decorative image that you have. Here is how to do it:

1.1 Change the color

Show > Show Background 
Solid color is selected by default, and you will see the black default color in the preview. Click on the words "Edit Show Background"
Click on the smaller black rectangular to open the color picker wheel. Pick up the eyedropper, and point it to a color of your choice.


Press on the words "Set color". You will now see your color in the preview, meaning that your show color has changed. Click OK.
  
1.2 Use a gradient


Show > Show Background > Instead of the default "Solid Color", check the word "Gradient".
You will notice that the preview on the right has changed, and that one corner is lighter than the other. This is a gradient made of white and black, which is the default gradient.
We can change these colors, by clicking on Edit
 

Take your time, to browse the various various Presets and Types and experience how they change the look of your slide.

1.3 Use an image (picture)

If you have a nice picture or a decorative image that would enhance your show, you may use it as a show background as well:
Show > Show Background > Instead of the default "Solid Color", click the word "Image" and then on "Browse"
If you choose "Select Image File", Producer will open a small window where you can navigate through the directories of your computer and you can select the right image.

If you choose "Select from Media Source", Producer will open the directory with all the backgrounds that are included in the program, as well as the ones that you may download as extras from Photodex.You have a very large selection of pictures that can be used as backgrounds.
Choose your image carefully, so that it enhances the content of you slides, but does not draw too much attention onto itself. You want your viewer's attention on the pictures in the slide, and not on the background.
To achieve this you have the options of editing your image. The editing of the image only affects how the image is shown in Producer, and does not alter your picture in any way.

 

2. Changing the Slide Background


In addition to the show background, each and every slide can have its own background, and can be different than all the rest.
Slide backgrounds can be created in two ways:

2.1 Slide > Slide Options > Background
OR: Edit Slide

The choices are similar to the ones in Show Background,  but the changes that we make here, affect only the background of the one slide that we are working on.
Select one of you slides, and then go to Slide > Slide Options > Slide Background
The default is the same as the show background. Put a check mark on your preference:

Either a solid color , a gradient, or an image of your own, or an image from Media Source.

2.2. Adding a layer as a background

In addition to the background options provided in Slide Options, we can also insert a background by adding it as an extra layer in our slide.
This extra layer can be a video clip, an image, a gradient or a combination of all.
The layer that we designate as background must be placed always at the very bottom of all the other layers.
This layer must fill all our screen (Layer Settings > Fill Frame), so that it covers the default show or slide background (remember the black lines?)

Interesting things that you can do with background layers:
 
* Choose one of the pictures that already appears in your slide, and give it some interesting effects: colorize, blur, zoom much more than the original and move it slightly.
As an example, watch the built-in style named "Display Of 3 Still".  The fourth layer is a duplicate of the 1st layer, and functions as background. If you delete it, you will see the slide background instead, which is white.

* Choose a different image - for example a picture of a nice fabric. In the example on the right I chose a detail from the bride's dress and placed it below my image. It now functions as the background of my slide.



 * Choose two different gradients (plasma for example) and place them at the bottom of your layers. Reduce the opacity of each gradient to 50%. Move each one in a different direction, and watch what happens when you play the slide.


Using layers as backgrounds can be fun. There are endless possibilities for changing the look of your slide.
 


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