How to Use the Slideshow Workflow Feature in FMX for iPadOS

Updated Today · 9 min read

The Slideshow workflow feature turns completed Final Photos from the current event into an animated background on the iPad. Use it to keep guests entertained while an AI result is processing or to show a live photo reel behind a touch-to-start prompt.

Slideshow uses two modes:

Start Slideshow activates or refreshes the background and advances immediately.
Stop Slideshow removes the background and advances immediately.

The layer is non-interactive and sits behind workflow animations. A transparent foreground animation can still receive the guest's touch or wait for an AI Processed trigger while the slideshow continues underneath.

Do not confuse the two iPad slideshow features. This guide covers the Slideshow workflow node, which appears behind the experience on the iPad. Global Settings → Slideshow controls a separate presentation on a connected external display.

What the Workflow Slideshow Displays

FMX reads completed Final Photos stored locally for the selected event on the iPad.

Behavior	What to expect
Media source	Final Photos from the current event
Supported files	JPG, JPEG, and PNG images
Initial order	Newest completed photo first
New photos	Queued to appear after the current photo's hold time
No photos	The layer remains transparent while waiting for the first Final Photo
One photo	The image remains visible without transitioning to itself
Session changes	The layer stays active until Stop Slideshow or the experience closes

Raw Photos, incomplete AI results, GIFs, and videos are not included. A result becomes available to Slideshow only after the workflow saves it as a Final Photo.

Guest privacy: The slideshow can display Final Photos from earlier sessions in the selected event. Confirm that your guest notice, consent process, and event policy allow those images to be shown on the booth screen.

How the Background Layer Works on iPadOS

Start Slideshow creates a full-screen background beneath the normal animation layer and advances to the next node. It does not create a guest-facing button and does not wait for input.

Place a foreground animation with transparent areas above it. For example, use a PNG with a logo and Touch to Start text while leaving most of the image transparent. The guest sees the slideshow through those areas and touches the foreground animation to continue.

A fully opaque image or video hides the slideshow even though playback continues behind it.

The normal pattern is:

Start Slideshow → Transparent foreground animation → Stop Slideshow → Continue the experience

The slideshow survives normal workflow steps and session rotation. Leaving the experience stops and releases it automatically.

Before You Start

Prepare the following:

Requirement	What you need
Current workflow	A Foto Master Cloud workflow assigned to the iPad event
Final Photo output	Each photo path must include Save Final Photo
Foreground asset	A transparent PNG or another asset designed to reveal the background
Wait trigger	Touch, AI Processed, or the required trigger on the foreground animation
Device test	The production iPad in its mounted orientation
Privacy approval	Permission to display photos from previous event sessions

At a new event, no photo may exist yet. The Slideshow layer remains transparent until the first Final Photo is saved. Use a branded experience or Timeless Background below it so the empty-state screen still looks intentional.

Add and Configure Start Slideshow

Open the event workflow in Foto Master Cloud → Workflow Builder.
Select Add Step.
Open Feature and add Slideshow.
Select the node and set Mode to Start. Its label becomes Start Slideshow.
Configure the timing, transitions, motion, and photo fit.
Connect Start Slideshow to the transparent foreground animation that guests will see.

Start Slideshow advances immediately. Configure Touch, AI Processed, or another wait condition on the animation after it.

Start Slideshow settings

Setting	Options	What it controls
Mode	Start or Stop	Activates or removes the workflow slideshow
Photo Duration	1–60 seconds	How long each completed photo remains visible; transition time is additional
Transition Duration	0.1–5 seconds	How long the change between photos takes
Transition Selection	Random or Sequential	Random avoids immediately repeating an effect; Sequential follows the configured order
Transitions	Fade, Slide Left, Slide Right, Slide Up, Slide Down, Zoom In, Zoom Out	The effects available between images
Motion Effect	Ken Burns or None	Adds a subtle pan-and-zoom during each hold or keeps the image static
Photo Fit	Full with Backdrop, Fill, or Fit	How photos fill the iPad screen

A new Start Slideshow node uses a 5-second hold, a 0.8-second transition, Random selection, all transitions, Ken Burns motion, and Fit.

Choose transitions

Random varies the effects and avoids using the same transition twice in a row when more than one is enabled.
Sequential follows the transition-chip order. Drag the chips to create the desired sequence.
Keep at least one transition selected.
Fast slide and zoom effects create energy; Fade is usually calmer for corporate and formal events.

Choose Photo Fit

Full with Backdrop displays the complete image over a blurred, darkened version that fills the screen. It works well with mixed portrait and landscape photos.
Fill fills the entire iPad screen while preserving proportions and cropping image edges when needed.
Fit displays the whole photo without cropping. Unused areas remain transparent so the experience background can show through.

Test the fit in the same iPad orientation used at the event. A portrait-mounted iPad and a landscape iPad can produce very different crops.

Use Slideshow Behind Touch to Start

Build this path at the start of the workflow:

Start Slideshow → Touch-to-start animation → Stop Slideshow → First guest step

Configure the Slideshow node as Start.
Add a Single Animation after it.
Select a transparent PNG containing your branding and touch prompt.
Configure the animation's continuation trigger as Touch.
Add a second Slideshow node and set Mode to Stop.
Connect Stop Slideshow to Live View, a selection screen, or the next guest step.

Slideshow ignores touch input, so gestures reach the workflow layer above it. The Touch trigger belongs to the foreground animation, not the Start Slideshow node.

When the completed workflow loops for the next guest, Start Slideshow activates the attraction screen again. Stopping after the touch prevents the background from appearing behind later transparent screens.

Use Slideshow During AI Processing

Use this workflow order:

Take Photo → AI feature → Start Slideshow → Transparent loading animation → AI Processed → Stop Slideshow → Preview or next result step

Add the required Take Photo and Cloud AI nodes.
Place Start Slideshow after the AI feature has started its request.
Add a transparent loading animation after Start Slideshow. Keep the loading message or logo small enough for event photos to remain visible.
Configure the loading animation's outgoing connection with the AI Processed trigger.
Connect the AI Processed path to Stop Slideshow.
Continue to Preview, Save Final Photo, the next AI step, or another intended result screen.

Important: Start Slideshow does not wait for AI. The AI Processed trigger must be downstream of the AI feature and should control the loading animation's exit.

During the wait, FMX shows completed Final Photos already stored for the event. The current guest's pending AI result does not appear until it is processed and saved as a Final Photo.

Add Stop Slideshow

Add another Slideshow feature node.
Set Mode to Stop. Its label becomes Stop Slideshow.
Route every successful exit from the touch or AI-wait section through it.
Connect Stop Slideshow to the next workflow step.

Stop mode has no presentation fields. It removes the current layer and advances.

Check every branch. Retake, AI error, timeout, and alternate-selection paths can leave the slideshow active if they bypass the Stop node.

Save, Sync, and Test on the iPad

Save the workflow and assign it to the intended experience.
Open FMX on the production iPad and sync the event.
Lock the iPad in the event's mounted orientation.
Start the experience and confirm Start Slideshow advances without displaying its own screen.
Confirm the touch prompt or loading animation reveals the photos and remains interactive.
Let at least two Final Photos rotate and review timing, transition, motion, and crop.
Complete a new session and confirm its Final Photo appears after the current photo's hold.
Test every route through Stop Slideshow.
Exit and restart the experience to confirm that the slideshow tears down and starts cleanly.

Also test the no-photo state at a new event. The underlying background must remain suitable while Slideshow is transparent.

Troubleshooting

The slideshow area is blank

Confirm that the selected event has locally saved Final Photos.
Confirm that the workflow reaches Save Final Photo.
Confirm that Start Slideshow is on the active workflow path.
Sync the latest workflow to the iPad.
Check whether an opaque animation or feature screen covers the slideshow layer.

The layer is intentionally transparent when there are no completed Final Photos.

The touch prompt appears, but no photos are visible

Use a PNG with transparent areas for the foreground animation. A solid image or video covers the background. Also confirm the event contains completed JPG, JPEG, or PNG Final Photos.

Touch does not continue

Configure Touch on the foreground Single Animation or its outgoing connection. The Slideshow node itself has no guest interaction.

The current AI result is missing

Slideshow cannot show a pending AI result. It reads completed Final Photos. Continue to Save Final Photo after processing if that result should become eligible later.

A new Final Photo does not appear instantly

This is expected. FMX queues new photos and changes to them after the active photo completes its hold; it does not interrupt an in-progress transition.

Photos are cropped or have empty areas

Use Fill to cover the iPad screen and accept edge cropping.
Use Fit to preserve the whole photo with transparent unused areas.
Use Full with Backdrop to preserve the whole image over a filled blurred background.

Transition order changes unexpectedly

Choose Sequential and reorder the transition chips. Random intentionally varies the effects while avoiding an immediate repeat.

The slideshow continues after the guest starts

Add Stop Slideshow after the touch animation and ensure every possible branch passes through it.

Videos do not appear

The workflow Slideshow supports JPG, JPEG, and PNG Final Photos only. The external-screen slideshow has different media controls; see FMX for iPad: External Screen and Slideshow if your goal is a separate monitor with photo and video playback.

The external monitor does not match the workflow slideshow

These are separate systems. Configure the connected display under Global Settings → External Screen and Global Settings → Slideshow. The workflow Start and Stop nodes control the background behind the active iPad experience.

See Workflow Builder Overview for FMX for iPad, External Screen and Slideshow, and Save Final Photo in the Step Types Reference for related setup.

Was this helpful?