Web User - UK (2020-01-22)

Magistoletsyouturnyourphotosand

videosintomovieswithmusic

Stop using software

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FEATURE

22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020 43

hasover 600 templatestochoosefrom,
thoughmanyofthemrequirea premium
accounttouse.Togetstarted,choosea
templateorlayoutandaddyourphotos.
Youcanrotate,flipandresizeeach
picture,applyfilters,adjusttheopacity
andexposure,andtweakthebrightness,
contrast,saturationandhue.Finished
collagescanbedownloadedorshared
directlyonTwitter,TumblrorPinterest.

Softwareyounolongerneed:

PhotoPad

EDITYOURVIDEOS
Yourphoneprobablyletsyou
makebasictweaksandeditstovideos
but,if youwanttoturnyourclipsintoa
decentmovie,withoptionalcaptions
anda soundtrack,you’llneedsomething
moreadvanced.
If you’replanningtosharea videoon
YouTube,theserviceoffersitsown
editor,buttherearebetterchoices
available,includingMovieMakerOnline
(moviemakeronline.com). Despitethe
name,thishasnothingatalltodowith
Microsoft’spopularbutdiscontinued
video-editingsoftware.Touseit,you
firstneedtowhitelistthesitein anyad
blockersyouuse(ordisableyourad
blockertemporarily),thendragyour
videostothemainwindow.Youcanadd
music,effectsandtext,andmakecuts
asrequired.

ClipChamp (bit.ly/clipc493) is a less

powerful option but if you want a simple

solution that lets you trim, crop, split,

combine, flip, mirror, rotate, make

adjustments and add text, then it’s ideal.

The downside is that the free version

limits you to 480p (SD) quality. If you

want HD (720p) or Full HD (1080p)

resolution, you’ll need to upgrade to

a paidsubscription,startingfrom$9

(£6.86)a month.

WeVideo(www.wevideo.com) is also

verygoodandoffersallthefeatures

you’dexpecttoseein a similardesktop

tool.Thereare,however,some

restrictionsin thefreeversion:you’re

limitedtojust1GBofonlinestorageand

fiveminutesofvideoa month,and,like

ClipChamp,you’llneedtoupgradetoa

paid-forplan(from$4.99a month)if

youwantbetterthan480pquality.

Finally,if you’rehappywitha basic

editingtool,there’sOnlineVideoCutter

(online-video-cutter.com), whichlets

youtrim,cropandrotateyourclips.

It currentlyonlysupportsfilesupto

500MBin size,butthislimitis duetobe

raisedin thenearfuture.

Softwareyounolongerneed:

AdobePremiere,OpenShot

MAKEVIDEOSFROM

PHOTOSANDAUDIO

Therearea numberofonlinetoolsyou

canusetocreatemoviesfromyour

photosandvideos.LightMV(lightmv

.com) is a relativelynewservicethat

offersa selectionoftemplates(there

arefreeandpaid-foroptions),towhich

youjustaddandarrangephotos,and

customisethemusicandmessage.

Finishedvideoscanbedownloadedor

sharedonallthemainsocial-media

platforms.Therearenomajor

limitationswiththefreeversionand

yourvideocreationswon’tinclude

watermarksorbranding.

Magisto(www.magisto.com) is

anotherimpressivetool,whichcan

transforma selectionofvideoclipsand

photosintomoviesthatyoucanshare

withfriendsandfamily.It’seasytouse:

justuploadyourmedia,picka theme

alongwithsomebackgroundmusicand

giveyourcreationa title.Youcan

uploadupto 10 differentclipsand

fivephotosforfree.

Softwareyounolongerneed:

PhotoStage

CREATE SHAREABLE

CONTENT

If you want to make a simple but

attractive web page, a short video or

some images to share on social media,

then Adobe Spark (spark.adobe.com) is

a great tool for the job. Sign up or sign

in, then choose what you want to create.

You can make an Instagram story or

post, Facebook cover, photo collage or

slideshow, or simply choose one of the

free templates and adapt it as required.

The free Starter Plan has a few

limitations – you can’t change or

customise certain elements and the

finished result will bear a Spark

watermark. Upgrading to the Individual

plan frees you from such restrictions,

but will set you back £10.10 a month.

Kapwing(www.kapwing.com) is a free

toolthatletsyoumake,editorremix

videos,creatememesandmore.The

serviceoffersa paid-fortier(pricedat

$20a month),butyouprobablywon’t

needit becausethefreeversion

You don’t need software to create a photo
collage - use Fotojet instead

WeVideo offers similar features to a

desktop video editor, but not all are free

Movie Maker Online is packed with useful

features for editing your videos

Adobe Spark lets you create all manner of

interesting content to share online