JPEG Saver's config dialog — Background tab

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The background tab is where you choose what is displayed on the screen around and behind the main image. The background is redrawn with each image, and the whole screen including the background is updated with the transitions.

If you have a multi-monitor system, each screen has its background drawn separately.

JPEG Saver's Background tab

Which of these controls are enabled or disabled depends on the background mode chosen.

Background mode

The “Mode” drop-down box at the top of the dialog allow you to choose from all these different types of background:

Single colour
The background will be the colour shown in “Colour 1”.
Random colour
The background will be a random colour that is somewhere between “Colour 1” and “Colour 2”. A new colour is picked each time an image is loaded.
Gradient - Vertical
Displays a vertical gradient as the background, with “Colour 1” at the top and “Colour 2” at the bottom.
Gradient - Horizontal
Displays a horizontal gradient as the background, with “Colour 1” on the left and “Colour 2” on the right.
Image - Tiled
The chosen image is tiled across the screen. No resizing takes place.
Image - Fit to screen
The chosen image is stretched in both directions to fit the whole screen.
Image folder - Tiled
An image is loaded from the selected folder and tiled across the screen. A new image is loaded from the folder each time the main image is changed.
Image folder - Fit to screen
An image is loaded from the selected folder and stretched horizontally and vertically to fit the screen. A new image is loaded from the folder each time the main image is changed.
Desktop
A snapshot of the desktop is taken when the screen saver starts, and this is used as the background image.
Noise
A random noise pattern is generated using “Colour 1” and “Colour 2”, and stretched to fill the screen. A new pattern is created each time the main image is changed.
Image Copy - Tiled
A copy of the main image is tiled across the screen as the background.
Image Copy - Fit to screen
A copy of the main image is resized to fill the whole screen.
Pile
The whole of the previous screen is used as the background, including the main image, any border items and any other items that have the “Allow piling” option enabled. “Colour 1” is used to fill the background at the bottom of the pile.
Pile mode works best when the images are smaller than the screen and when random image positioning is chosen.
Desktop Pile
Similar to the “Pile” option, except that the initial background is the desktop snapshot.
Image average V1 / V2
The background is filled with a solid colour chosen by averaging all the pixels in the foreground image. The V1 and V2 variants use a slightly different algorithm to calculate the average colour, with V2 using the saturation and brightness.
Image edge average V1 / V2
The background is filled with a solid colour chosen by averaging the pixels in two rows and columns at each of the left, right, top and bottom edges of the foreground image. The same two averaging algorithms are available here.
Image quadrant average V1 / V2
Each quarter of the background is filled with the average colour from the corresonding quarter of the image. This is also available with both averaging algorithms.
Image Pile - Tiled
The selected image is used as a background, with all the foreground images piling on top.
Image Pile - Fit to screen
The selected image is used as a pile background, this time scaled up to fill the screen.

Mirror X

This checkbox is enabled for tiled image-based modes. When checked, images will alternate between being the right way around and flipped horizontally. The background image behind the main image will be the right way around, the images to the left and right of it will be mirrored, etc.

Mirror Y

This checkbox is enabled for tiled image-based modes. When checked, images will alternate between being the right way up and flipped vertically. The background image behind the main image will be the right way up, the images above and below it will be upside-down, etc.

Colour 1

Colour 1 is always enabled. As well as being used in the colour, gradient and noise modes, it can be mixed with the other modes using the “Alpha” slider.

Colour 2

Colour 2 is enabled for the random colour, gradient and noise modes.

Image / folder

This input is the path to an image file for the image modes, and switches to a folder path for the image folder modes. The “Browse” opens a file or folder browser dialog depending on the mode selected.

Desaturate

This option is enabled for the image-based, desktop, image copy and piled modes. When checked, the background image is converted to grey-scale before any colour mixing is applied.

Keep aspect ratio

This checkbox is enabled when one of the image “fit to screen” modes is selected. When the box is checked, the image is scaled to fill the screen without distorting its shape. The image will be centred and cropped at either the top and bottom or both sides, depending on its shape and the shape of the screen.

Subdirectories

The “+ Subdirs” checkbox is enabled for the image folder modes. When checked, any subdirectories of the selected folder will be searched for background images as well as the main folder.

Blur

This drop-down is enabled for modes that use images, and applies a blur to the background. The option specifies the blur method and radius.

Vignette

This option is enabled for full-screen modes that use images, and draws a shading effect around the edges of the screen using “Colour 1”. The different strength values affect the intensity of the effect.

Alpha

The alpha slider specifies the amount of mixing between “Colour 1” and the background image (in any of the image, desktop or pile modes). An alpha value of 255 is 100% colour, and an alpha of 0 is 100% image.

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