Funeral Slideshow

How many photos you need

Each photo should stay on screen for 3 to 5 seconds. Four seconds is a comfortable middle: long enough to recognize faces, short enough to keep the pace. That works out to about 15 photos per minute.

Length	Photos at about 4 seconds each	Roughly
3 minutes	45	One song
5 minutes	75	One or two songs
7 minutes	105	Two songs
10 minutes	150	Three songs
15 minutes	225	Four songs
20 minutes	300	A loop for the visitation

Most songs run 3 to 4 minutes, so plan the slideshow around the number of songs you want: about 45 to 60 photos per song. Group photos with several faces can stay up a second or two longer than a close-up portrait.

If the slideshow plays during the service, keep it to about 10 minutes or less. A slideshow that loops in the background at the visitation or reception can run longer, because people drift in and out and nobody watches from start to finish.

Collecting the photos

The quickest way to gather photos from a family is to ask everyone at once, with a clear deadline. Send one message to relatives and close friends, and say what you need and by when.

We’re putting together a slideshow for Mom’s service on Saturday. Please send any photos you have of her by Wednesday evening. Old prints are fine; just bring them to the house and we’ll scan them.
Could you look through your phone for photos of Dad? We’d love ones from the lake, the shop and holidays. Please add them to the shared album by Thursday.
If you have photos of Grandpa from before 1980, I’m collecting prints this week and will return every one.

A shared album makes this easier. Google Photos and Apple’s iCloud shared albums both let several people add photos to one place from their phones. If some relatives aren’t comfortable with that, ask them to send photos by email or text, or to bring prints in an envelope with their name on it.

Ask one person to be in charge of collecting. They track who has sent photos, follow up, and keep the prints safe and returned.

Scanning old prints

Prints, slides and photo albums need to be scanned before they can go in a slideshow.

A flatbed scanner gives the cleanest results. Scan standard prints at 300 dpi, and small or old prints at 600 dpi so you can crop in.
A phone scanning app, such as Google PhotoScan, works well for prints in albums or frames that you can’t take out.
Taking a photo of a print with your phone camera works in a pinch. Lay the print flat in daylight near a window, hold the phone straight above it, and avoid glare.
Many pharmacies, photo labs and print shops scan prints, slides and negatives, often within a day or two. Call to ask how fast they can turn them around.
Write the year and the names on a sticky note on the back of each print as you go, so you can sort them later.

Choosing and ordering the photos

Gather more than you need, then cut. A good slideshow has variety: different ages, places, people and moods. Remove near-duplicates, blurry shots and photos where the person is hard to find in a crowd.

Chronological or by theme

There are two common ways to order a slideshow.

A chronological slideshow runs from childhood to the most recent photos. It’s the easiest order to build and the easiest for guests to follow, and it fits a service where the slideshow follows the life story. If you don’t know the exact year of a photo, an approximate decade is enough.

A themed slideshow groups photos by part of their life: family, work, travel, hobbies, friends, holidays. It suits someone whose life had a few big passions, and you can match a song to each theme.

Many families mix the two: chronological overall, with a short run of fishing photos or garden photos in the middle.

Tips for a smoother slideshow

Start and end on a portrait of the person on their own, so the first and last image people see is them.
Put photos in landscape orientation where you can. Tall portrait photos will show with black bars on a widescreen TV, which is fine, but a run of them looks uneven.
Include photos of them with as many of the guests as you can: siblings, old friends, coworkers, neighbors.
Leave out any photo someone in the close family would find hard to see, such as photos from a last illness.
Add a title slide with their name and dates, and an ending slide with a short line such as “Forever in our hearts”.
Keep transitions simple. A short fade between photos is calmer than spins or wipes.

Choosing songs

Pick music they listened to, even if it isn’t what you’d think of as funeral music. Choose songs first and photos second, because the songs set the length. Two or three songs is typical for a slideshow during the service.

These are songs families often choose, with a note on why. Listen to the whole song before you choose it, so there are no surprises in the second verse.

Gentle and reflective

“What a Wonderful World”, Louis Armstrong. Warm and simple, about noticing everyday beauty. It suits nearly any age and any family.
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World”, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. A soft ukulele medley that many families find comforting without being heavy.
“In My Life”, The Beatles. Short and looks back on the people and places that mattered, which fits a chronological slideshow.
“Unforgettable”, Nat King Cole. Often chosen by a husband or wife, for a love that lasted decades.
“Wind Beneath My Wings”, Bette Midler. A thank-you to someone who held the family up, often chosen for a mother or father.
“The Dance”, Garth Brooks. About being glad for the time you had, even knowing how it ended. Popular with country fans.

For someone who lived their own way

“My Way”, Frank Sinatra. A classic for someone independent and proud of the life they made.
“Here Comes the Sun”, The Beatles. Bright and hopeful, good for the last song or a celebration of life.
“Three Little Birds”, Bob Marley. Easygoing and reassuring, for someone who told everyone not to worry.

Faith and hymns

“Amazing Grace”. A traditional hymn with many recordings, from bagpipes to gospel choirs.
“How Great Thou Art”. A traditional hymn often sung at Protestant funerals. Choose a recording in the style their church used.
“I Can Only Imagine”, MercyMe. A Christian song about imagining heaven, often chosen by evangelical families.
“Go Rest High on That Mountain”, Vince Gill. A country gospel song Gill wrote while grieving, often played for a person of faith.

For a child or a younger person

“Tears in Heaven”, Eric Clapton. Written after the death of his young son, and often chosen by parents.
“See You Again”, Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth. A farewell song from a film soundtrack, often chosen for a young man or a close friend.
“Supermarket Flowers”, Ed Sheeran. Written about his grandmother’s death, from a family member’s point of view, and often chosen for a mother or grandmother.

Instrumental

Music without words works well for a slideshow that loops at a visitation, since people talk over it. Families often choose “Clair de Lune” by Debussy, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, a piano album they liked, or a recording of the instrument they played. A traditional air such as “Danny Boy” played on piano or fiddle suits an Irish family.

For readings and poems to go with the service, see funeral poems.

Free tools for making the slideshow

You don’t need special software. Each of these makes a simple slideshow with music and can export a video file. Their menus change often, so look for options called “movie”, “slideshow” or “video” in the current version.

Whichever tool you use, export the finished slideshow as an MP4 video file at 1080p. A video plays the same way on any device, so nothing shifts or stops if the venue’s computer is different from yours.

Google Photos (phone or web)

You can select photos from an album and make a simple movie with music. It’s the quickest choice if the photos are already in a shared Google album.

Apple Photos (iPhone, iPad and Mac)

Photos makes automatic “Memories” from an album, which you can edit and set to music, and the Mac version can also play an album as a slideshow.

iMovie (iPhone, iPad and Mac)

iMovie is free from Apple and gives you more control: you can set how long each photo stays up, add a slow pan and zoom across each photo, add titles and lay songs along a timeline.

Clipchamp (Windows)

Clipchamp is Microsoft’s video editor and comes with Windows 11. Drag photos onto a timeline, add music and titles, and export a video.

PowerPoint or Keynote

Put one photo on each slide, set the slides to advance automatically, and add music that plays across all the slides. Both can export the presentation as a video file, which is safer to play at the venue than the presentation itself.

Canva (web and phone)

Canva has slideshow and video templates you can drop photos into, and the free plan covers a basic slideshow with music.

YouTube, Facebook and other sites often mute or block videos that use commercial recordings, even when the same songs played without trouble at the service. If you plan to share it with relatives who couldn’t come, make a second version with music the site offers for free, or send the file privately by a link.

Setting up at the venue

Call the funeral home, church or venue a few days ahead and ask how they play slideshows. Every venue is different, and these questions cover most of what can go wrong.

Do you have a TV, a projector or both, and where is the screen in the room?
Can it play a video from a USB drive, or do we need to connect a laptop?
What connection does the screen use? Most use HDMI. If your laptop only has USB-C, bring a USB-C to HDMI adapter.
Does the sound go through the room’s speakers, or only the TV’s?
Will someone from your staff run it, or should we bring someone?
Can we test it the day before, or arrive an hour early to test it?
Do you need the file sent ahead, and in what format?

On the day, don’t rely on the venue’s Wi-Fi or on streaming. Bring the MP4 file on a USB drive and on the laptop, and keep a third copy on your phone or in cloud storage. Turn off the laptop’s sleep mode and notifications so nothing pops up over a photo. If the room has big windows, check that the screen is readable in daylight, and ask for the blinds to be lowered if not.

Ask a friend or a staff member to start and stop the slideshow, so the close family can sit and watch. Give them the order of service with the slideshow marked, so they know when to press play. In a printed program, the line usually reads “Photo slideshow” or gives it a title, such as “Seventy-five years in pictures”.

Timeline

A slideshow takes most families 4 to 8 hours spread over several days. This timeline assumes the service is about a week away. If you have less time, use fewer photos and keep the same steps.

When	What to do
As soon as the date is set	Ask the funeral home or venue what they can play. Choose who is in charge of photos.
6 to 7 days before	Send one message to family and friends asking for photos, with a deadline. Set up a shared album.
4 to 5 days before	Collect prints and start scanning. Choose the songs, which sets the length.
3 days before	Photo deadline. Sort, cut and put the photos in order.
2 days before	Build the slideshow. Show it to one or two family members and fix anything they spot.
The day before	Export as MP4, copy to a USB drive, and test it at the venue if you can.
The day of the service	Arrive an hour early, test the picture and sound, and hand it to the person running it.
After the service	Return every print to its owner, and share the file with family.

Slideshow checklist

Ask the venue about the screen, the connection, the sound and who will run it
Decide the length and choose two or three songs
Ask family and friends for photos, with a deadline
Scan prints at 300 dpi, or 600 dpi for small ones
Choose about 15 photos per minute of music
Put them in order, chronological or by theme
Add a title slide with the name and dates, and an ending slide
Start and end with a portrait of the person on their own
Show it to someone in the family before the service
Export as an MP4 at 1080p
Copy it to a USB drive and keep a backup on a phone or in the cloud
Bring an HDMI adapter if your laptop needs one
Test the picture and the sound at the venue
Add the slideshow to the printed order of service
Return every borrowed print afterward

For more ways to make the gathering feel like them, see celebration of life ideas. To put the slideshow in the printed order of service, see funeral program: what it includes or the celebration of life program guide.

Memorial service program wording and orders of service

Funeral guest book

Questions people ask

How long should a funeral slideshow be?

Five to ten minutes is common when it plays during the service, which is two or three songs. A slideshow that loops during the visitation or reception can be longer, since people watch it in passing.

How many photos do I need for a funeral slideshow?

About 15 photos per minute, at 3 to 5 seconds each. A 5-minute slideshow needs about 75 photos, and a 10-minute slideshow about 150.

Can the funeral home make the slideshow?

Many funeral homes offer to make one from photos you bring or upload, sometimes as part of a package and sometimes for a fee. Ask what they charge, how many photos they allow and when they need them.

Can I post the funeral slideshow online afterward?

Yes, but sites such as YouTube and Facebook may mute or block a video that uses commercial recordings. If you plan to share it, use music the site offers for free, or upload a version with no music.

What format should the slideshow file be?

An MP4 video file plays on almost any TV, laptop or projector. Export it at 1080p, and bring it on a USB drive as well as on the laptop.