High-quality photographic screen savers for Windows® 95/98/ME/2000/XP
High-quality photographic screen savers for Windows® 95/98/ME/2000/XP
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
|
About Our Screen Savers Requirements:
All of our screen savers use high-quality images, typically 1024x768 resolution with low compression. The 1024x768 resolution means that they are plenty "large" enough to fit most computer screens without stretching, which often results in a jagged/blurry look. Of course if your screen is lower resolution (800x600 is very common), then they will automatically be shrunk to fit and still look good. In addition, some of our screen savers have special 800x600 versions which are tailored to show the best image possible on this more common screen format. This allows you to download smaller files if your system won't benefit from the larger version anyway. More important than resolution is the compression quality. Most screen savers that you download will use a high compression so that it's a smaller file to download. This results in a blurry or distorted-looking image even if it's high resolution. We prefer to use minimal compression so that the photo shows all of the stunning detail that it should, even up close. While that does mean larger files, we think it's worth it for the quality of images that we use (and disk space is cheap these days). As a general rule, if a screen saver is smaller than 150K per photo (eg. less than 3MB for 20 photos), then it's going to be very poor quality even if they claim 1024x768 resolution. There are a few exceptions (eg. images that are very "plain" like space and sky will compress better without sacrificing quality), but in general look for at least 200K per photo at 1024x768 resolution.
Screen Saver Features: Our screen savers are simple to install (just run the downloaded file), and integrate into Windows just like other screen savers (see below if you are new to screen savers). Complete support for Uninstall so if you change your mind, your system is not cluttered with leftover files. The screen saver engine (the program that cycles the photos on your screen) is loaded with great features. Configuration Features:
Configuration Screen Shots: The Main Settings Screen shows thumbnails of all of the images in the screen saver, and lets you start the show at any point or pick any image to export as your desktop wallpaper. Other options include a preview (start the screen saver right away), advanced settings (see below), jumping to our web site and viewing more information about the screen saver (photo credits, technical details, etc.). 
The Screen Saver Settings page allows you to adjust the details of how the images are shown. The Effects tab lets you select the transition effects (fade-ins, etc.) that you like, or all of them at random. 
The Wallpaper Settings gives you some options when selecting an image for wallpaper, and lets you set it to change your wallpaper every hour, day, or week. 
Purchasing Screen Savers: We offer a 30-day unconditional money back guarantee -- if you're not satisfied, just let us know and you'll get a complete refund, including shipping costs if applicable. Ordering our screen savers is simple and safe through our secure server, or you may order by phone, FAX, or mail. Most screen savers are available both as an instantly-downloaded file and as a physical CD-ROM (great for gifts). You decide whether you are comfortable with downloading your purchase or whether you prefer to have a CD-ROM copy for your software library or as a gift. See our order page for details. Free Lite Versions: Most screen savers also have Lite versions available for you to download and try out. The Lite versions are identical to the retail versions except that they include only a few photos (typicaly 4 or 5), plus a screen with small versions of many other photos found in the retail version. This allows you to try out the screen saver and see the quality of the photos before buying it. This is often termed trialware, or "try-before-you-buy". However, our Lite versions have no time limits or other limitations in the software, so you can use it as long as you like. From time to time we will also make Free screen savers available that have more than just a few photos and have no retail versions available. These are full-featured screen savers that are offered free either for promotional purposes or because we do not feel that the number or quality of photos available are enough to warrant charging for it. How To Use Your Screen Saver: After running the screen saver installation program, the new screen saver will immediately be activated (selected as your default screen saver) and the Settings window will open so that you can see more information, change the options, and test it out. In most cases, you don't need to do anything else but Close the window and the screen saver will activate afer your computer is idle for a specific amount of time. However, you should know how to change this time period, change the settings later, and change or deactivate a screen saver. To access these functions, minimize or close all open applications and right-click on a "blank" area of your desktop. A menu should appear, and the bottom selection should be "Properties". Select Properties, and a "Display Properties" window should appear. One of the "tabs" along the top should be "Screen Saver". Click on that tab, and you can select the Screen Saver to be used, change the "Wait" before it shows up, set a password, change the screen saver Settings, and Preview the screen saver. How To Change Screen Savers: If you install more than one screen saver, you need to know how to switch between them, since Windows will only activate one at a time. For our screen savers, this can be done through the Start/Programs menu -- select the desired screen saver folder and select the "Screen Saver Settings" icon/function. The settings window will open, and this screen saver will automatically be the new default (active) screen saver. You can then just close the Settings window, or you can use the other functions including the Preview to see the slide show immediately. The alternate way to change to other screen savers is through the Desktop Properties. Minimize or close all open applications and right-click on a "blank" area of your desktop. A menu should appear, and the bottom selection should be "Properties". Select Properties, and a "Display Properties" window should appear. One of the "tabs" along the top should be "Screen Saver". Click on that tab, and you can select the Screen Saver to be used from the drop-down list. Then click OK or Close to finalize the selection. Color Settings (technical info): To get the best photo quality out of your screen saver, you should be using at least 16-bit color, or 24-bit color if possible. 256 colors is just not high enough for it to look good. To check or change your color settings, right-click on your desktop and select "Properties" to get the Display Properties window. Then click on the "Settings" tab, usually in the upper right corner. There you can select the "Colors" to be High Color (16 bit) or True Color (24 bit). Select the highest one that your video card will support at the desired resolution ("Screen Area"). |
||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2005 by Cottonwood Software All Rights Reserved. |
|||||||||||||||||||
Information