http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Screen Saver Builder - Pro
HELP MANUAL
Build your own screensavers using photos, logos, captions, and music!
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Contents of Help Manual:
Quick Start Guide ............................................................................................................... 3
Making a Logo Screensaver................................................................................................ 4
Making Your Screensavers ................................................................................................. 5
Step 1 .............................................................................................................................. 5
Selecting Your Image Folder ...................................................................................... 5
Changing The Image Order ........................................................................................ 5
Remove an Image for the List..................................................................................... 5
Preview an Image........................................................................................................ 6
Editing an Image Quickly ........................................................................................... 6
Loading Settings ......................................................................................................... 6
Step 2 .............................................................................................................................. 7
Image Options............................................................................................................. 7
Image Size Suggestions for Stretching Images........................................................... 8
Image Transitions........................................................................................................ 8
Screensaver Locking Options ..................................................................................... 9
Scrolling Messages ..................................................................................................... 9
Music and Sound Effects Files ................................................................................... 9
Step 3 ............................................................................................................................ 11
File Options and Naming.......................................................................................... 11
Additional Branding Options.................................................................................... 11
Extra Options ............................................................................................................ 11
Step 4 ............................................................................................................................ 12
Creating the ScreenSaver .......................................................................................... 12
Creating an Installer Package.................................................................................... 12
Where does my Installation File Go?........................................................................ 13
Installing the screensaver to your computer ............................................................. 13
Additional Information ..................................................................................................... 14
How do I access my Screensaver settings?................................................................... 14
How do I distribute my screensaver to others?............................................................. 14
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Quick Start Guide
Welcome to Screen Saver Builder - Pro. Building your own screensaver is easy with
Screen Saver Builder - Pro software!
To make your first screensaver will take about 2 minutes using some basic options.
Follow the steps here to make your first screensaver:
1. Open Screen Saver Builder - Pro.
2. Click on ‘Select Folder’ and choose the folder where your images are to include
in your screensaver.
3. Click on the image name in the display box to preview the image, click it again to
put a checkmark in the box. Only images with checkmarks will be included in
your screensaver.
4. ‘Step 2’ has some more advanced options that we will skip for this quick start
guide. These options are described later in this manual.
5. Select the ‘Step 3’ tab. Set the title, author, date made (defaults to today’s date),
web site, and file name.
a. The other options on this tab are described later in this manual; we will
skip these for this quick start guide.
6. Select the ‘Step 4’ tab. Select your Output folder. This defaults to your selected
picture folder, but you can change it to your Desktop or any other folder for
convenience.
7. In the ‘Create’ section, click on ‘SCREEN SAVER’ and follow the on-screen
prompts to build your screensaver.
8. In the Output folder, find the file we just made, and double-click it to run the
screensaver.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Making a Logo Screensaver
To make a logo screensaver, follow the instructions in this section:
1. Start Screen Saver Builder - Pro
2. On ‘Step 1’, select the checkbox ‘Select Logo Image Only’. This will load the
logo screen.
3. Select your logo image file.
4. Select the background color to match your logo. Both the logo and the
background color preview on the screen to allow you to easily view the colors.
5. Select any desired options from ‘Step 2’.
6. Select desired options from ‘Step 3’ and enter the Branding Information including
name, author, date, website, and filename.
7. On ‘Step 4’, select your Output Folder and click on ‘Screen Saver’ in the Create
section.
8. In the Output folder, find the file we just made, and double-click it to run the
screensaver.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Making Your Screensavers
Step 1
In Step 1, you can select your main image folder, change the order of your images,
remove unwanted images, preview each image, open a file to edit the image, and load
settings you have previously saved.
To make a Logo Screensaver, please see the section ‘Making a Logo Screensaver’.
Selecting Your Image Folder
To load images and select them for your screensaver, we first must select the folder
where they are saved. To do this, click on the ‘Select Folder’ button.
Changing The Image Order
To change the image order, use the
green arrows to move a selected image up or down.
Remove an Image for the List
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
To remove an image from the list, select the image and click on the ‘Remove’ button.
This will take a single image out of your image list. If you do not want an image in your
screensaver, simply uncheck the box beside the image name.
Preview an Image
To preview an image from your list, simply select the name of the image and the file will
preview on the right side of the screen.
The image properties are also displayed in the lower-right of the screen to assist you in
selecting images that are all the same size (helpful if using transitions described later in
this manual).
Editing an Image Quickly
To quickly open an image in your default program, when the image is being previewed,
simply double-click on the preview image. This will open the file in your default
program for the image and allow you to easily edit the image if needed.
Loading Settings
To load a settings file that you have previously saved, simple click on ‘Load Settings’
and follow the on-screen prompts to load your settings.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Step 2
Step 2 allows for some additional options that will enhance your screensaver. You can
select Image options, Screensaver Locking Options, Scrolling Messages, and Music or
sound effect files to include with your screensaver.
Image Options
Under Image Order and Options, you can select to Follow List Order or to Use a Random
Order. Following the list order will force the screensaver you create to exactly follow
your list of images, in order from top to bottom.
The ‘Stretch image to fit screen’ checkbox is checked by default. This option will take
the images you include in the screensaver and make them properly fill the screen when
the screensaver is running. Removing this checkbox will cause the images to display at
their default size, which may not fully fill the screen; and will be centered on the screen.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Image Size Suggestions for Stretching Images
Some images may be too small to fill an entire screen when stretched. You will notice
this easily because the image will look distorted and ‘blocky’. This happens when an
image is too small and does not have enough information to fill the entire screen due to
it’s smaller image size. This can be corrected by following the chart below for suggested
image sizes.
Screen Size Max Image Size Suggested Min. Image Size
1024 x 768 None. Image will shrink. 800 x 600 pixels
800 x 600 None. Image will shrink. 680 x 400 pixels
The minimum image size is only a suggestion. This information is displayed during Step
1 in the Preview Area for the file information.
Tip:
Digital cameras using a low setting of 1 megapixel photos (approx 270Kb file size
in JPG file format) are sufficient for image quality on a 1024 x 768 screen size. The
higher the image quality, the better the image will stretch. This is because there is more
information in the picture file and allows it to stretch without distortion. (Many digital
cameras have a much higher resolution of 3 to 5 megapixels and will provide extremely
high quality images that will actually be shrunk instead of stretched.)
Image Transitions
The image transitions checkbox is unchecked by default. This will change the way your
images are displayed in the screensaver when it runs. The images will display with no
‘stretch to fit’ and will have various random transitions run when the image changes.
Wipe, fade, blinds, pixilation, scroll, and other transitions are used to move from one
image to the next. This option is best used with images that are uniform in size, and
made for a certain screen resolution. For example: use images that are all 800x600 and
use that in the name of your screensaver so you remember that it is for that screen size.
Image Size Suggestions For Transitions
Screen Size Suggested Min. Image Size
1024 x 768 1124 x 768 pixels
800 x 600 900 x 600 pixels
TIP:
Use your favourite image editing program to make size adjustments to your images,
but make sure you make a backup copy of your images before editing.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Screensaver Locking Options
These options are only available to registered users of Screen Saver Builder - Pro, and is
disabled during the trial period.
There are three options that are great for encouraging users to purchase or register your
screensavers if you distribute them.
1. Use Password to lock screensaver.
a. This will lock the screensaver with a password as you enter it.
Remember
to keep a note of the password and the filename you
create so that you can give the password to your users.
b. Please note that passwords are not recoverable. Do not misplace
your password for a screensaver that you are distributing; it can not
be recovered for you.
2. Set screensaver to expire after x days.
a. This option will lock the screensaver after the number of days you
enter and request that the user enter the password to unlock it. A
really great way to make ‘shareware’ type screensavers as samples.
3. Only show the first x images until unlocked.
a. This option will allow only the number of images you select to be
displayed until the user enters the password to unlock the rest of
the images. Another great way to make ‘shareware’ type
screensavers as samples and to encourage registrations.
Scrolling Messages
You can select to have your scrolling messages Always Show, or Do Not Show When
Unlocked. This provides a great opportunity to include promotional messages in your
screensavers.
When scrolling messages are included with the option to ‘do not show after unlocked’;
ensure you set the password option in the Screensaver Locking Options section in Step 2.
This will remove the messages after the user enters the password on the settings screen.
To add scrolling messages click the ADD button, enter your message. Once added to the
main screen, put a checkbox beside the entry to include it in your screensaver.
Music and Sound Effects Files
You can include music or sound effects files in .wav format for your users if desired. To
add a music file click on ADD, then select the file. Once the file is added to the main
screen, put a checkmark in the box beside the filename to add it to your screensaver.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
In the ‘Loop Playlist’ checkbox, put a checkmark in the box to have the music files loop
and play continuously. Remove the checkmark to have the music list play only one time.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Step 3
On the Step 3 tab, you can enter Basic file information, branding options, and extra
About screen options for your screensaver. This information will be mainly available to
your users through the options of the screensaver properties.
File Options and Naming
Item Description
Title The title is the name of your screensaver. Example: FishingTrip
Author This is where you enter your name or your company name.
Date Made This defaults to the current date, but you can enter any valid date.
Web Site This is the website you wish to display to your users on your settings
screen and the about screen for your screensaver.
File Name This will be the name of the screensaver file when it is created. Using a
logical name is an easy way to remember what the screensaver is.
Example: NiagraFalls800x600
Additional Branding Options
Use the ‘add a button to the screensaver config screen to open this document’ field to add
a document that your users can open. This is a great place to add a product list, web page
that links to your website for advertising space, or anything you wish. The button will
only show to the user if you have included a document.
Additionally, you can include a copyright name and date for your About screen. This
information will be left blank by default, or you can include this to communicate the
copyright to your users.
Extra Options
Item Description
About Text This can be left blank, or enter the text for the ‘About’ section
of your About screen. This is usually a statement about the
program such as: ‘For more great screensavers using high
resolution images see www.MySite.com’.
Additional Message This can be left blank, or it can be used to supply additional
information to your users on your screensaver About screen.
This area will not display if it is left blank.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Step 4
Step 4 is where you select the final options, and create your screensaver, create an
installer package, install the screensaver to your computer, and save your settings.
Creating the ScreenSaver
Once you have completed all additional steps to create your desired settings, images, and
text; select your Output Folder. In the Create section, select the ‘Screen Saver’ button
and follow the on-screen prompts. In the File Information box, your screensaver
information will be displayed as it is created.
Creating an Installer Package
Once you have completed all additional steps to create your desired settings, images, and
text; select your Output Folder, then select an Installer License Agreement file. The
license agreement is usually a notice about copyrights or other important program
information. The license agreement is what your users must agree to before they install
your screensaver program.
In the Create section, select the ‘Installer Package’ button and follow the on-screen
prompts. The software will first build the screensaver and save it to your Output Folder,
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
then prompt you to save the installer file that is built automatically; then the installer
compiler program will run.
A prompt will appear with the installer compiler reminding you to select the Build menu,
then Compile to create your software installer.
Where does my Installation File Go?
You will find your installation file in the folder ‘Output’ in the same location you saved
your installer file to.
It is recommended to save the installer file to your desktop or other easily accessed
location so that your files are easily located while you are working with them.
Installing the screensaver to your computer
Check the box ‘Check this box to install this screensaver on this computer only’ then
click on ‘Screen Saver’ in the Create section. This will build your screensaver and save it
to your Output Folder, and install it to your computer at the same time. Your screensaver
properties will display when the program installs the screensaver so you can configure
your options and confirm the installation.
http://www.master-resale-rights.com
Additional Information
How do I access my Screensaver settings?
To access your screensaver settings, right-click on your desktop and select Properties.
Then select the Screen Saver tab.
The configuration settings are available by selecting the desired screensaver from the
drop-down, then click on ‘Settings’.
How do I distribute my screensaver to others?
To share or sell your screensaver, build an installer for your screensaver (see instructions
under the section ‘Creating an Installer Package’), place the installation file on a website
and link to it so your visitors can download it.
Remember to purchase the full version of the software so that you can use the
Screensaver Locking Options in Step 2 that will help you create ‘shareware like’
screensavers that have limitations until the user enters your password.
An example hyperlink would be as follows:
<a href=http://www.mysite.com/fishingsaver.exe>Fishing Screen Saver File</a>
NOTE:
Please note that we do not support web design or distribution of the files. Please contact
your favourite web designer or programmer to assist with these tasks.
Loading... Please wait...
Search the Knowledgebase
Browse by Category
Print this page
Email this page
Post a comment
Subscribe me
Add to favorites
Remove Highlighting
Edit this Article
