I'm having a problem resizing certain photos for my first slideshow. When I try to make some of the photos 720 x 480, they become stretched. To counter this, in Photoshop, I use the fit image command to constrain the photo to 720 x 480, then adjust the canvas size to the same size. This creates a black border on the left and right size and keeps the photo from becoming stretched.

I'm just wondering if the boarders will make the slideshow appear to be amateurish? Is there a better way to resize the photos in photoshop?

Make them 655x480 instead. Then they will be the proper aspect since video pixels aren't square.

Try sizing your pix in Photoshop at 720x540. This is 4x3 aspect ratio and when you import to the nle, they will likely remain that way at PAR of 1.0

I use photoshop cs, so I can set the photos to the proper pixel aspect ratio and just use the normal frame size.

I'm having the problem with the little wallet sized portrait photos. They become squished. I'm scanning them a little larger than I need so that there's enough resolution to touch them up and then downsample.

So far the black border is the only way I've been able to keep it looking normal.

...but always be mindful that the extra size of a photo gives you many more options instead of just filling the screen. My preference is 1440x1080 for the import to nle so there is much room for motion.

As for portrait orientation, the black bars left and right are fine... often retaining the tattered edges of the pix looks nice and vintage...