JPEG Saver 5.42
Published
Apart from fixing quite a few bugs, JPEG Saver 5.42 actually adds something new.
Make a splash
The first new thing in this version is a splash screen. Of course it is optional, and you can choose what it looks like, but it is just a splash screen. I added this because I was asked if I could add an option to specify the first image shown. This isn't quite the same as that, but it got me thinking that a splash screen could be useful, so here it is.
If you just enable the splash screen and don't choose an image JPEG Saver will display its built-in preview image. If you do choose your own image, JPEG Saver will not do any processing to it, just display it centred on the screen as-is. This just supports static images though, so no videos.
If you have multiple screens, the splash screen is displayed on all of them.
Wallpaper changer?
Quite a while ago someone asked me if I could get JPEG Saver to update the desktop wallpaper every time it exits. That sounded more annoying than useful to me, but I was recently asked for the same thing by someone else so I've done it and added it as an option in the interactive dialog.
And just to confirm, I do find it annoying. I probably start and stop JPEG Saver a lot more than the average user, but I'll be leaving that option switched off for my PC.
Fixes and tweaks
There are several bug fixes and minor improvements, so here's a list:
- I've added an option to clear the file cache from the file menu. This isn't something you should need to do often, and is most likely to be useful after upgrading if I change how the cache works. So if you upgrade and some images seem weird, try clearing the cache.
- I've added a shortcut to save a screenshot, like the desktop wallpaper only not set as the wallpaper. This is because the normal Windows screenshot key combinations don't work on the screensaver desktop. The file is saved as a BMP in your Pictures/Screenshots folder (the same place that Windows saves them). The default key combination for this is Shift-F10.
- The logo item dialog now previews an image from the folder in folder mode, whereas before it was using the JPEG Saver built-in image for a preview.
- I fixed a crash in the cache loader when the cache index file cannot be loaded. I haven't experienced this myself so I don't know why the index file wasn't loaded, but JPEG Saver will run without the cache if this happens again.
- The gradient background was returning an incorrect value in the rendering pipeline that prevented the main image loading. JPEG Saver would just keep trying to load images and not actually display any.
- The image pile background was not piling, just drawing over the same background image repeatedly.
- Logo item alpha channels were not being used. Fixing this meant changing how the file cache works a bit, though probably not enough to make a 'Clear cache' mandatory.
- The scheduled dimmer now starts fully dim during dim hours, instead of starting at full brightness and immediately dimming gradually.
- The help screen is now toggled with the 'H' key instead of fading out after ten seconds.
There are a few small internal updates too, but they were more about tidying things up than anything that will have any external effect.
Download
The installer can be found on the downloads page.