Title Frames:
Creating beautiful and unique title backgrounds for a presentation is much simpler than people realize. (See example at the bottom of this page.) To do this using eZediaMX (www.ezedia.ca ):

1. Look through your digitized photo collection. (That means you've got it on a computer, disk, or cd somewhere).
2. Select the photo that might work to capture the sense of your presentation.
3. Check the photo properties - how big is the file? Even a digital camera can produce very large file sizes, especially with the new megapixel cameras. If your photo is large, try to resample/resize your photo so that it has dimensions of around 640 x 480 and is somewhere between 50 kb and 100 kb.
Remember: Your computer may only have a limited amount of memory so asking it to handle an immense photo could slow things down quite a bit! Resizing ahead of time will make your presentation run smoother.
4. In eZediaMX, start a new document and then click on the graphic icon and browse to where you have your photo. Select the photo and then click okay.
5. When it appears in your frame, click, hold, and drag it into position so that it covers your entire frame. You might have to use the handles that appear on the photo when it is selected to adjust the dimensions somewhat to make it fit. Position it in the top left-hand corner first and then move it from there.
6. Now, don't skip this next step!!!
7. Once you've got your photo in position, open up a new document well by clicking on File, New, Document Well. An empty well will appear to the right of your frame. Hold down the CTRL key and click, hold, and drag, your photo into the well. You'll see the well will get a gold border around it. When you see that, let go. A small square will appear in the well showing your background image. Make sure you save the well.
Why do this? Experience tells me that at some point, if you're like me, you are going to want that original photo back for use in the project in a different way. Once we add the photo to the background (our next step), the alteration options we have for the photo diminish, so we will want to have the original photo close at hand. Of course, we'll be in a hurry at the time we need to do this and we won't be able to remember where we got it from. It happens all the time. The use of the wells allows you to be organized in a whole new way that is incredibly handy. Don't skip this step.
8. Adding the photo to the background
You dragged your photo into place on your frame. It covers the entire frame just the way you want it. Now, click on Objects, Add to Background. This will cement your photo in place so you don't accidentally move it later. It also makes other objects that you will add to the frame easier to work with later on and it reduces file size. All sorts of good stuff!!
9. Now, repeat step 7. Hold down the CTRL key and click, hold, and drag your background into the well. Save the well. This will also speed up production of a project later on as you won't have to resize and position on the frame. You can just drag it back in from the well instead if you ever need your background again!
10. Adding your title
Choose a contrasting color in the picture and create the text boxes for your frame/presentation title. I like to create one text box in black to act as a shadow for another text box I'll create in a brighter color. Don't re-type your text and re-format it. Once you've got the one text box the way you like it, click once on the outline of the box and hold down the CTRL key and press the letter "D." This will duplicate the box. All you have to do then is highlight/select the text and right click to choose text color from the menu that will appear. Also, once you've got your text boxes created, make sure you drag both of them into the well and save the well.
11. Position your text boxes on the frame the way you want them. Check out the look of your design by saving your project and previewing the frame.
12. Final touches
If you use a unique font for your title text boxes that might not be on another computer (that happens all the time - even in word processors!!), then you have to decide if you're going to add your text boxes to the background or convert them into graphics and then add them to the background. Adding your title to the background will ensure two things - (1) your presentation will look the same on all computers; and, (2) there won't be any hesitation with the title appearing on the frame even on older computers. Remember: once you've added something to the background, it can't be undone. If you've been saving things in the well, you won't have any panic whatsoever if you make a mistake. It will take you all of two seconds to drag in your background again and your text boxes. 

If you click on the thumbnail I've provided, you'll see how I took one of the photos from the "Sky" collection (check out the photos link) and turned it into a background for a title frame. Of course, the frame still needs navigation, but I thought you'd like to see how easy it is to get a unique look without browsing through 500,000 clip art or photo images. This picture came from right outside our front door. Your students will find hundreds of images that will convey their particular environment and perspective given the opportunity.

Click here to download the eZediaMX Evening Sky project (570 KB zipped) file.
Click here to download the eZediaMX Evening Sky well (572 kb zipped file) that will allow you to just drag the parts and pieces in to create your own. (This is the option I'd choose.)
Click here to download both the Zoi (project) file and the well at the same time (1.14 mb zipped file).