Add Images to iMovie
By adding still images to iMovie you can create a personalized still images reel filled with image effects, sound effects, and professional editing. This also makes it easier to organize your photos by dates, events, or vacations. You can also add still images to your iMovie projects that use video clips, creating a customized iMovie reel.
Contents
Steps
- Open your iMovie program and select either a previous iMovie project you would like to add still images to or create a new iMovie project.
- To create a new iMovie project, go to the "File" tab located along the top menu pane of the iMovie window. Select "New Project"; this will bring up a dialog box prompting you to name your project. Type in a name for your project in the "Project Name" field then select the "Aspect Ratio" option you want to create your iMovie project in. Click "Create."
- Click on the "Photos" button designated by a camera icon located along the far right side of the middle menu pane. This will bring up a window displaying all of your still images in the bottom right hand corner of the iMovie window. The drop-down menu at the top of this display window allows you to sort through you photos by displaying through options such as "Last 12 Months," "Events," "Photo Albums," by date, by photo program, or by viewing all the photos in your computer's library. You can also search for specific images by using the search field located at the bottom of the photo display window.
- Select the images you want to add to your iMovie project by clicking on the image to highlight it. To drag more than 1 image at a time, click on an image, then hold down the "Shift" key on you computer's keyboard and either using your keyboard's arrows to highlight more than 1 image or click on each image you want to add simultaneously.
- Click on 1 of your highlighted images and drag it into the clip editing/viewing timeline screen to the left diagonal of the photo display screen. If you have selected more than 1 image to add, all of the highlighted images will drag at the same time.
- Release your mouse button to drop these images into the timeline screen. If you are placing still images in specific spots within your iMovie project, be sure to drag and drop them where you want them to play within your other iMovie images or clips. These images will now display in the preview screen to the right of the timeline screen and are ready for editing.
Click and Dragging Images into iMovie
- Open your iPhoto program (or supplementary photo program where the photos your want to import into iMovie reside). An icon including a tropical picture with a camera in front of it designates the iPhoto program.
- Scroll through your photos and select the photo(s) you want to import to your iMovie project. To select multiple still images to add, hold down the "Shift" key on your keyboard while clicking on the specific images you want to add.
- Continue to hold down the mouse button as you drag the still images from iPhoto into the iMovie project window.
- Drop the still images by releasing the mouse button when the images are over the clip editing/viewing timeline area of your iMovie project window. These images you have added will now show up in your clip timeline as well as display in the preview screen directly to the right of the timeline window. You can now edit and add effects to your still image iMovie project with the iMovie program features.
Tips
- When you add images into iMovie, the program will automatically add the "Ken Burns" effect to your image project. You image will display on the screen for 4 seconds before zooming and panning (as per the Ken Burns effect). You can change the duration of the Ken Burns effect by selecting the "Crop" option along the middle menu pane of the iMovie window, select the "Ken Burns" button, select the clip that the effect is on, then slide the duration slider located at the bottom of the editing/viewing clip timeline window.
- This only works in some versions of iMovie. It may not work in newer updates.
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