Photo slideshow maker with music · Mac & Windows

Their story, told in photos and song.

Porchlight Slideshow makes a beautiful slideshow for a memorial or celebration of life, a wedding or anniversary, a milestone birthday, a graduation or a reunion. Drag in the photos, add the songs they loved, and it plays full screen on any TV or projector, straight from a USB stick.

Free to download and try · $39 once to share your slideshow · No account, no subscription

How it works

Ready in an evening, not a weekend

No video editing, no timelines. Porchlight does the timing for you.

1

Drag in the photos

From your computer or the Photos app. Sort them by the date they were taken with one click, or arrange them by hand.

2

Add the music

Add their favorite songs. Porchlight fits the photos to the music, so the last photo fades out as the last note ends.

3

Play it anywhere

Put it on a USB stick with the free Player, or save it as a video. It plays full screen on any Mac or PC, TV or projector.

For every occasion

A slideshow for every chapter of life

From a first birthday to a farewell. Plans, tips and music ideas for each:

Funerals & memorialsA tribute for the service, the visitation or the reception afterward.Ideas and tips → Celebrations of lifeAn upbeat look back at a life well lived, for a gathering of family and friends.Ideas and tips → Pet memorialsRemember a dog, cat or horse who was part of the family.Ideas and tips → WeddingsGrowing up, how they met, and the road to the altar.Ideas and tips → Anniversaries25th, 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries: decades of a marriage.Ideas and tips → Milestone birthdays30th to 100th birthdays: a look back at the life of the guest of honor.Ideas and tips → Baby's first yearMonth by month, from newborn to first birthday.Ideas and tips → GraduationsKindergarten to cap and gown, for the grad party or senior night.Ideas and tips → Bar & bat mitzvahsA montage for the party, and a candle-lighting slideshow.Ideas and tips → Quinceañeras & sweet 16sFifteen or sixteen years of photos for her big celebration.Ideas and tips → RetirementsA career, the colleagues, and the adventures still to come.Ideas and tips → Family & class reunionsGenerations of family photos, or then-and-now with classmates.Ideas and tips → Christmas & holidaysThe family's year in review for Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Year's.Ideas and tips → Parties & other occasionsEngagements, baby showers, going-away parties, homecomings and more.Ideas and tips → Sports banquets & senior nightsThe season, the team and the seniors, for the end-of-season banquet.Ideas and tips →

A look inside

Everything on one calm screen

Your photos in order, the music above them, and the timing worked out for you.

Porchlight Slideshow showing the photos of the scene The Early Years, with its song above them
A song open on its waveform, trimmed to the part that plays
Just the part of the song you want. Drag the handles to trim it; it fades out gently.
Editing the Intro Screen: a name, dates and a line of text in elegant fonts
Words that look right. Names, dates and poems, placed wherever you like.

Features

Everything a tribute needs, nothing it doesn't

Words on screen

Titles, poems and names in elegant fonts, placed wherever you like.

Music that flows

Trim songs to the part you want, and let them blend gently into each other.

Chapters of a life

Split the show into scenes, each with its own music: growing up, family, later years.

In the order they happened

Photos from phones and cameras sort by the day they were taken. See where each was taken, too.

Save it as a video

Export in HD or 4K to play on a smart TV, send to family, or share online.

Made for the big screen

Opens on the projector or TV automatically. Press Tab to move it to another screen.

Plays anywhere

Hand it over on a USB stick

Publishing puts the slideshow and the free Porchlight Player side by side. At the funeral home, church or hall, open the stick and double-click. Nothing to install, no internet needed.

  • ✓
    Mac and WindowsInclude the Player for either, or both.
  • ✓
    Starts where it shouldIt waits on the opening title until you press Space.
  • ✓
    Or a single video fileFor TVs, tablets and family far away.

Your photos stay yours

Porchlight works entirely on your own computer. Nothing is uploaded, there's no account to make, and it works without the internet. The only copies of your family's photos are the ones you choose to make.

Pricing

Try it free. Pay once, when it's ready to share.

No subscription. The Player is always free for everyone who watches.

Free

$0

Build and preview a slideshow

  • Photos, text slides and fonts
  • Preview it full screen
  • Sort photos by date
  • 1 scene, 2 songs, up to 99 slides
  • Songs play whole (no trimming)
  • No publishing or video export
Download free
Most families

Porchlight Slideshow

$39 one time

Everything, on up to [3] of your computers

  • Unlimited photos, songs and scenes
  • Trim and blend songs
  • Choose how long any photo stays up
  • Publish to a USB stick or zip file
  • Export video in HD and 4K
  • Photo locations and map links
  • Free updates for version 1
Buy for $39

Questions

Good to know

Do the people watching need to buy anything?

No. Porchlight Player is free, and it goes on the USB stick with the slideshow. Anyone can play it on a Mac or a Windows PC without installing anything.

How long does it take?

Most people finish a slideshow of a hundred or so photos in an evening. Porchlight works out the timing for you, so there's no editing timeline to fiddle with.

Can I use photos from my phone?

Yes. Drag them from the Photos app or any folder. Photos from phones and cameras can be sorted by the date they were taken.

Can I use any song?

You can use MP3, WAV and FLAC files you have. Playing music at a private service is usually fine; if you plan to post the video online, check that you have the rights to the song.

Does it need the internet?

No. Everything happens on your computer, which also means your photos are never uploaded anywhere.

What do I need to run it?

[A Mac with macOS 11 or later (Apple silicon or Intel), or a PC with Windows 10 or 11.]

What if it doesn't work for me?

Write to us within [30] days of buying and we'll refund you. [support email]

Draft — not published