I learned a lesson the hard way about setting up slideshow presets in Aperture. But thankfully there is a solution to pass along here.

I was making a presentation as part of Aperture’s Education Tour, which makes its way to photo programs across the United States.

Using Aperture as a presentation tool is just one more amazing capability often overlooked. Aperture in full screen mode with the filmstrip visible allowed me to show each photograph big, and see what was coming next to prepare mentally in advance of the next image (which is something I love about Keynote in presenter display mode). The “piece de resistance” for me however, is the slideshow feature which allows me to create an album with all images I want to show in the order I want them to appear. Just add music, “fit to music” and voila, an instant perfect AV presentation.

Aperture’s ability to create slideshow presets means you don’t have to choose a song every time you show that slideshow. You simply select the preset from the pull-down menu and Aperture knows which song will accompany the images. This makes for a much smoother, less distracting presentation.

But it wasn’t working. The presets I had selected were sometimes lost as I went from one show to the next, and I didn’t find out until the show started in a room full of thankfully, patient photographers. The problem had to do with the playlist function in iTunes.

The solution? If you’re planning on showing a series of preset slideshows with music and the “fit to music” variable is selected—make a separate playlist in iTunes for each piece of music that goes with each show.

Then, when you go to select the music to create your Aperture slideshow preset, you click on the playlist you created first, (which contains just one piece of music for that specific show), then click on the song title.

Now your preset will stick with that song and you’ll be confident the right piece of music will be heard with that particular show.

For more on the Aperture Education Tour look here. Come see me in Chicago or Columbus, Ohio.