How to make a funeral slideshow
A complete, honest walkthrough. It is absolutely something you can do yourself — this is everything that matters, including the parts people learn the hard way.
1. Gather more photos than you think you need
Start with everyone, not just your own albums — siblings, cousins, and old friends hold decades you have never seen. Ask each person for their five favorites rather than everything. For printed photos, a phone photo of the print, taken square-on in good light, is honestly fine; a flatbed scan is better but not required.
2. Choose with a whole-life spread
Aim for 40–80 photos covering the entire life: childhood, youth, the family years, and the warmest recent ones to close. Keep one photo per moment — the second and third takes of the same pose add length, not memory. Our photo-count guide has the exact math.
3. Put them in order
Roughly chronological, grouped by theme within each era — the fishing photos together, the garden photos together. Open with one strong portrait that is simply them. End on the photo you want the room to sit with.
4. Time it gently
Four to seven seconds per photo; five is the sweet spot. Use simple crossfades and resist every other transition your software offers — spins and wipes read as PowerPoint, not tribute. Vertical photos belong on a softly blurred background, never stretched.
5. Choose the music, then listen to every word
One song for a short slideshow, two for anything over five minutes. Listen to the full lyrics before committing, and know that popular recordings can be blocked if the video is uploaded or the service is streamed — our music guide covers songs and the licensing question properly.
6. Add the cards
An opening card with their name and years, a closing card with one warm line. Serif type, plain background, no animation. Check every date twice — the room will notice, and it is the one error that cannot be lived with.
7. Export and test where it will play
Export as MP4, put it on a USB stick anda phone, and test it at the venue on the actual equipment the day before — sound included. Assume the venue's wifi will fail and have the file, not a streaming link. The most common slideshow disaster is not the editing; it is the playback.
The mistakes that hurt on the day
Photos too fast to recognize · a song whose third verse lands wrong · duplicates the tired editor stopped noticing · a wrong date on the title card · a file format the funeral home's system cannot open. Every one is avoidable with a day of margin, which is the real argument for not starting the night before.
Questions families ask
How long does it take to make a funeral slideshow yourself?
Plan for four to eight hours spread over a day or two: gathering and scanning photos is the longest part, then ordering, timing, music, and export. Rushing it the night before the service is the most common regret.
What order should photos go in a funeral slideshow?
Roughly chronological — childhood, youth, family years, recent — opening with one strong portrait and closing with the warmest recent photo. Group similar photos together within each era rather than strictly by date.
What should the title slides say?
The opening card carries their full name and years — "In Loving Memory, Margaret Anne Sullivan, 1948–2026". The closing card is a short warm line; something specific to the person lands better than a stock phrase.
If you would rather not build it yourself
Or hand it to us: photos in, and a finished slideshow — restored, timed, deduplicated, and tested — comes back within 24 hours, with one round of changes included.