View photos or slideshows on iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV

If you have an iPad or iPhone, or an iPod with a color display, you can view your photos and iPhoto slideshows on it.

If you have an Apple TV, you can use it to view your photos and slideshows on your home theater system. Apple TV (2nd generation) streams your photos and slideshows from iTunes. With Apple TV (1st generation), you can sync your photos to to the device.

To sync (copy) your photos from iPhoto to the device, you use iTunes. You can copy all your photos—depending on how much space you have available on the device—or only selected albums and slideshows.

Before you can add a slideshow to a device, you need to export the slideshow as a QuickTime movie, and sync it to the device as a movie.

You can also view photos on iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch using Photo Stream.

To sync your photos to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad:

  1. Connect the device to your computer, using the cable that came with the device.

    iTunes opens automatically, if it wasn’t open already.

    If you have iOS 5 installed on your device and you’ve turned on Wi-Fi syncing in iTunes, you don’t need to connect the device to your computer, but they both need to be on the same Wi-Fi network, and the computer needs to be on.

  2. In iTunes, click the device’s icon (below Devices), and then click the Photos tab.

  3. Select “Sync photos from” and choose iPhoto from the pop-up menu.

  4. Select the photos you want to sync to the device (all your photos or selected albums, Events, or Faces).

    Note:  If you’re syncing to iPod, you can sync the full-resolution versions. This is a good choice if you plan to move the photos from your iPod to another computer.

    If you use your camera to shoot video, you can sync your video clips by selecting “Include videos.”

  5. When you’re ready, click Sync, and the photos are added to the device.

    When the sync is complete, you see a message at the top of the iTunes window.

  6. In iTunes, click the Eject icon next to your device, and then disconnect the device.

To view your photos using Apple TV (2nd generation):

To view photos using Apple TV (2nd generation), you need to have Home Sharing turned on in iTunes and on your Apple TV, your computer must be on, and iTunes must be open.

For information about turning on Home Sharing, see iTunes Help.

  1. Open iTunes, and choose Advanced > Choose Photos to Share.

  2. In the window that appears, select Share Photos From, and choose a source from the pop-up menu.

  3. Choose “All photos, albums, Events, and Faces” or “Selected albums, Events, and Faces.”

    If you chose “Selected albums, Events, and Faces,” select the albums, Events, and Faces you want to stream.

  4. Click Apply.

  5. Using the Apple Remote that’s paired with your Apple TV, choose Photos from the main Apple TV menu, and then choose My Photos.

    To add music, transitions, and other slideshow effects, select Settings.

For more information, refer to the Apple TV Setup Guide.

To view your photos using Apple TV (1st generation):

  1. Open iTunes.

  2. On the left side of the iTunes window, below Devices, select the Apple TV icon.

    Note:  If you don’t see Apple TV below Devices, you need to set up your Apple TV to sync with your iTunes library. For more information, choose Help > Apple TV Help from within iTunes.

  3. Click the Photos tab.

  4. Select “Sync photos from,” and then choose iPhoto from the pop-up menu.

    You can also choose to sync photos from a folder saved on your computer’s hard disk.

  5. Select the photos you want to sync to the device (all your photos or selected albums, Events, or Faces).

    If you use your camera to shoot video, you can sync your video clips by selecting “Include videos.”

  6. Click Sync.

    iTunes syncs your selected media with Apple TV.

    If you have a large number of movies or TV shows, your Apple TV may not have room to sync your photos. To make more space available, deselect some or all of your movies or TV shows. The bar at the bottom of the iTunes window shows how much space your Apple TV is using for each kind of media.

  7. Using the Apple Remote that’s paired with your Apple TV, choose Photos from the main Apple TV menu, and then choose My Photos.

    To add music, transitions, and other slideshow effects, select Settings.

For more information about iTunes, see iTunes Help.