Ways to Burn Photos to DVD

If you have file after file of digital images that you really want to share, why not share them with those you love on your TV? Imagine scrolling through the pictures on the big screen with calm music playing in the background, rather than crowding around the small computer screen to view them at a snail's pace as someone clicks through each one. By burning your photos to DVD, you can do just that.

Will Your DVD Work?

Not all DVDs can view digital pictures unless the disc is specially formatted. To see if yours can, burn a DVD of images and pop it into the DVD player. If the player starts a slideshow of the images, you are in good shape. Otherwise, you are going to need a specially formatted DVD.

Burning Your Own DVD

If you determine that the DVD player supports digital picture viewing, you can burn your own DVD relatively easily. If you have a computer with a DVD burner and already have your photos digitized, you can do this at home. You can find many free programs that will take all of your photos and put them into AVI file format, which will work for burning a simple DVD. Your computer may already have a free program that can do this, such as Picasa or Windows Movie Maker.

If your DVD player does not view the DVD with the files in AVI format, you will need to convert the images to VOB. This will probably require you to purchase a slideshow application that is capable of burning a DVD in this format, because most of the free programs do not support VOB.

Professional DVD Services

If you need the VOB format and do not wish to pay for a program, consider having a professional service make the DVD for you. Look for a service that offers DVDs that can play on any DVD player. They may not specify the format, since most people will not know the format they need anyway, but you want to be assured that the final product will play anywhere you need it to.

When you have a DVD made by someone else, you can send in the actual images, not just digital files. You can even send in slides and negatives to the service to have them scanned. This makes the process much more simple for you, because you will not have to worry about the file format or getting the images digitized before making the DVD.

Most of these professional companies will add some special effects to your DVD to make it more interesting to watch. For instance, you might be able to have background music added or pick the way the program changes from one slide to the next. You can truly personalize the final viewing experience, so it will be something everyone will enjoy. These DVD some complete with capture menus, titles, and background designs, just like you would expect from a professional DVD. If you need to burn photos to DVD, have it done professionally and save yourself the hassle and headache.