Importing Pictures from Other Sources

iMovie can easily import photos you've scanned or taken with a digital still cameraor better, images that you've modified in an image-editing program such as Adobe Photoshop (www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/) or GraphicConverter (www.lemkesoft.com). But first, make sure the image is ready to be imported.

To prepare a still picture for import:

1.	Open the picture in your favorite image-editing application.
2.	Size the image so that its dimensions match the format you're working in (Figure 9.16): DV, MPEG-4, and iSight: 655 by 480 pixels DV Widescreen: 874 by 480 pixels HDV 1080i: 1,920 by 1,080 pixels HDV 720p: 1,280 by 720 pixels Figure 9.16. Crop images before importing them into iMovie to ensure that they appear without black bars at the edges (Photoshop shown here).
3.	Save the image as a JPEG file.

To import a still picture:

• Drag an image file from the Desktop to iMovie's Clips pane or Timeline.
  
  

Or

1.	In iMovie, choose Import from the File menu (or press Command-Shift-I).
2.	In the Import File dialog, select the still image you want (Figure 9.17) and click the Open button. The image appears as a clip on the Clips pane, which can be added to your movie like any other clip (Figure 9.18).

Figure 9.17. Using the Import command, you can see a preview of your image before you import it.

Figure 9.18. Come on, did you honestly think I could write an iMovie book and not include a kid's picture?