When you need to share a few digital photos with friends and family then you could just attach them to an email: that's quick, simple and hassle-free.

Some pictures deserve more, though - and that's where MAGIX PhotoStory on DVD 2013 Deluxe comes in. If you've taken great shots of a family wedding or some other event, then import them into the program and it'll help you quickly transform them into a stylish and professional movie, with custom transitions, special effects, a soundtrack and more, before allowing you to share your masterpiece with the world.

This all starts with a simple Slideshow Wizard which walks you through the initial steps. The program will import all the files you need, for instance (unlikely to be a problem as it supports just about every image, video and audio format there is). And you can optionally add background music, or choose the style of slideshow you'd like. But if you're in a hurry then you can just click the "Create Slideshow" button, and MAGIX PhotoStory on DVD 2013 Deluxe will generate the movie for you.

The results are impressive, too, especially as there's so little work involved. The slideshow pans across your photos, fades from one to the other, the soundtrack purrs away in the background - it already looks like something you'd see on TV. But if you need more, the program also provides a host of powerful editing capabilities. You can rearrange the order of the slideshow by dragging and dropping; optimise pictures by tweaking their brightness, colours, sharpness and more; add captions and titles in many different styles; add a slideshow background, customise your effects and transitions, and the list goes on.

And when you're happy with the results, MAGIX PhotoStory on DVD 2013 Deluxe makes it easy to share your project with friends and family. You can save your movie as a video, for instance, or individual images. The program can publish your project directly to YouTube, Flickr or Facebook; a built-in burner will help you share video on a DVD or Blu-ray disc; and you even get options to output your work as a 3D video for viewing on a 3D display, or as an HTML media player which can be included on your own website.

As you might expect, all this functionality means there's a lot to learn. Just right-clicking a slide on the timeline displays a menu which gives you access to move than 50 options, for instance.

The big advantage of MAGIX PhotoStory on DVD 2013 Deluxe, though, is that you don't have to get into this level of detail. So there's plenty of power here if you need it, but if you prefer a simple life, then just accept the default settings and you can create quality slideshows in just a few minutes.