Copyright: WWPlus32 3.2© 1992-1997 Don Bradner


Getting Started

Double-click the WWPlus32 icon to start the program.  The first time that the program starts it will be a full program window. Click the "folder" icon at the left end of the icon bar, and then browse for image files to add to the wallpaper queue.  There will normally be images in your Windows directory, and you may have others which you have obtained.  If the images are small ones which you would like to have "tiled," check that option in the dialog (you can also change the tiling later).  After you have selected OK in the dialog, you will see the files listed in the queue.  Double-Click one and see it become your wallpaper.

In later sessions, once images have been added, the program will be minimized in the taskbar.  By default you will have a normal icon, but you may choose instead to place one or more function icons in the Taskbar Tray (by the clock in the taskbar).  For more information on this options, see Icon Type

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the program elements on screen.  If you press the F1 key, this help file will be displayed, with information about the part of the program you are using.

When you move your mouse pointer across the toolbar icons and some other screen elements a small "Tool Tip" will appear to give you a better idea about what the element does.  You may turn these captions off if you wish, via the Preferences menu.

Many options are available for the display of individual images, with separate default settings.  Default options will be displayed when no image is selected in the queue list, while the individual file’s properties will display when a single image is selected.  Those properties may be visibly seen in the preview window as well, so long as the Preferences Preview Type is set to Screen.  When more than one image is selected, no properties will be displayed.  Instead you may set all of the selected images to a particular setting.

There are a number of items in the Wallpaper, and Preferences menus that affect the way the program operates.  Several of these are duplicated in the context menu which is activated by a right-button click on a queue listing.


Program Description

WWPlus32 is a program that provides various tools to manage Windows Wallpaper.  Wallpaper files are maintained in convenient “Queues” that allow easy manual or automatic changing.

Users gain substantial disk space by using compressed image formats as Windows wallpaper.  Individual wallpapers may be positioned on the screen, and the program will "remember" their positions for future display.  Images may be resized on-the-fly to full screen or user-set limits.  A preview screen shows what will happen as different options are selected.

WWPlus32 will automatically reduce the colors in a 256-color image to 16 for VGA display, and True-Color (16 million colors) images to 256 (or 16) colors.

There is also a Thumbnail function, which will display a small copy of all the images in a queue for easy selection.

Multiple "queues" (configuration files) may be maintained, each saved under a distinctive name


Thumbnail Display

Small images of each of the bitmaps in your Wallpaper Queue are shown when you select the "View image thumbnails" option in the File menu.  Depending on your computer speed and the number of images, it may take quite a while to load all of the images until they have been built once.  See Dynamic Thumbnailing for more information about how thumbnails are built.  Subsequent displays will be much faster.  You may stop the load at any time by pressing the "Cancel Load" menu option (only visible while the images are loading), or pressing the Escape key, either of which will erase the Thumbnail screen.

The display of images is coordinated with the Wallpaper Queue list.  The image listed at the top of the queue will be found in the top row of the resulting display.  It may not be the first image, since the thumbnail screen works in sets of 5.

You can make an image the current wallpaper by double-clicking it or by clicking it once and then choosing “Make Current Wallpaper” in the File menu.  If you want to know the file name and path for a displayed image, press the left mouse button down while the mouse cursor is over the image.  The window caption will change to display the file name.  When you select an image, the border of that image will turn blue.


ASP Ombudsman Statement

This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send a Compuserve message via Compuserve Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536


Dynamic Thumbnailing

WWPlus32 creates a small thumbnail image for each of the files in a queue.  Because it takes time to read a file and make the small thumbnail, the program does not create the thumbnail when the image is first added to the queue.  Instead, it waits until the file is being read for another purpose and then makes the thumbnail and stores it in the ..QU2 database file.

There are three circumstances when a thumbnail will be created: When the image becomes a wallpaper; when the thumbnail screen is invoked (see ThumbNail Display); and when the image is individually selected in the queue to set or see its properties.

If an image is changed by editing, the program will detect that a change has occurred and rebuild the thumbnail when one of the three circumstances next occurs.


Speed vs. File Size

There is a tradeoff between program speed and the amount of compression used on images.  Uncompressed .BMP files will display far more rapidly than the most compressed .GIF or PNG files, with .PCX between for both speed and compression.  .TIF and .TGA are normally used for pictures containing 32,000 or more colors; neither offers significant compression over .BMP, and both are slower.  For 24-bit (16-million color) images, WWPlus32 can use .JPG format, which offers great compression, but is very slow and will cause some loss of image quality.

Speed is of less concern when changes are made by the system.  .GIF. PNG and JPG files are read in the “background” during timer-initiated changes, to reduce the impact on foreground operations.

Note for users of compressed disk programs (Stacker, DOS 6 DoubleSpace, etc.):  There is no space advantage to using compressed file formats with compressed drives (other than JPEG - see File Formats). You will lose the speed without gaining space, since your compression program cannot further compress a .GIF file.  Use .BMP in this case.

If you have chosen a wallpaper file with more colors than your display can show there will be additional delay while the program changes the color depth.

For more information about the pros and cons of the file types, see File Formats.


Display Order

The Display Order option in the Preferences submenu of the Wallpaper menu or on the toolbar allows you to choose Random or Sequential display.  Random display will cycle through the list of wallpapers in no apparent order.  Sequential will display them in the order in which they are listed in the Wallpaper Queue.  When changing from random to sequential, the display will continue from the currently displayed wallpaper.  Sequential order is good for slide show effects.


Up and Down Buttons

WWPlus32 offers a choice between alphabetically sorting files in a queue, or listing them in the order in which they were added - see Sort Image Files for more details - and also allows unsorted queues to be manipulated by the up and down buttons.  These buttons will not be enabled for sorted queues.

Use these buttons to organize the files in a queue in a desired order (for sequential display, or simply to manage the files better).  The buttons will only be visible when one or more files are selected in the queue.  If several non-contiguous files are selected and an up or down arrow is repeatedly clicked or held down, the files will maintain their separation until reaching the top or bottom of the list, at which point they will bunch together until all are contiguous at the beginning or end.


Sort Image Files

This File menu item has two options in a sub-menu: Sort by Name, or UnSorted.  The first is an alphabetical sort that also will include the drive and path when those are showing (see List Details).  When new image files are added, they will be placed immediately in their proper place.

UnSorted queues will list files in the order in which they were added.  New files will always add to the end of the list.  You may select one or more files in an unsorted list and manually move them with the Up and Down Buttons.  You may switch back-and-forth between the two sort modes at will.  When WWPlus32 starts it will be in the last used mode.  The mode for each .QU2 file is kept with the file, and does not affect other queues.


List Details

This File menu item has two options in a sub-menu: File Name Only and Full Path and File Name.  File Name Only will remove drive and path information, while Full Path will include all directory/subdirectory information for each file.  In the latter case, the file name may be scrolled off to the right of the queue with deeply-nested directories, making the entries difficult to read.


Add Button

The "Add" Button is used to add a new image to the Wallpaper Queue.  Pressing this button is the same as choosing "Add Image File" from the File menu; the keyboard shortcut is CTRL-A.  Pressing this button will cause a dialog box to appear for browsing through drives and directories looking for bitmap files which can be selected for addition to the queue.  Files can have ,BMP, .RLE, .GIF, .PNG, .PCX, .TIF, .ICO, .TGA, or .JPG extensions.  You may use the tiling option buttons to turn tiling on or off for the added files - the default will be the condition of the Tiling on/off Option at the time the Add Button was pressed.  You may change the tiling for a file or files later, by first clicking on the filename(s) in the Wallpaper Queue and then changing the Tiling on/off Option. The image will be positioned according to the setting of the default origin point.

You may add an image to the queue more than once to increase its display frequency.


Queue Menu Options
Queue File Menu Options

WWPlus32 allows multiple configuration file called "queues," which are maintained in files with a QU2 extension (.QUE was used with the 16-bit version of WWPlus, and the formats are not compatible).  Wallpaper files may appear in many different queues.  When a queue is loaded, its name will appear in the status line at the lower left of the WWPlus32 screen.  Clicking on this name will pop up a list of all .QU2 files that are in the same directory, for immediate change.

There are five menu options in the File menu for use with queues: "Start New Queue File," "Change Queue File," “Clear Queue File,” "Save Queue File As” and “Delete Queue File.”  The Change Queue File option may be used to change to queues that are not located in the same directory as the current queue.

Normally, WWPlus32 will start with the last used queue.  You may, however, specify a queue on the command line.  An example would be “C:\WWPLUS32\WWPLUS32.EXE C:\WWPLUS32\SCENERY.QU2,” which would start the program with a scenery.queue loaded.   If you associate the .QU2 extension with WWPlus32, you may start a queue by double-clicking a .QU2 file in Explorer, or you may setup different icons with different queues.

If you start a second instance of WWPlus32 with a queue specified on the command line, the program will prompt you to see if you want to end the previous instance.  You may not have two copies of WWPlus32 running at the same time.

Each image file will use about 5K of disk space in the .QU2 file.  If you delete an image this space is not recovered, although it does get used when a new file is added (before any more space is used at the end of the file).  Using the Clear Queue File option will remove all of the file information and reduce the .QU2 file size to a minimum.  Use this option when you want to start over adding a new list of files.

Delete Queue File means to remove the .QU2 file from your hard drive.  Both commands will prompt for confirmation, and the latter command will follow with a dialog to select a new queue.  If that operation is canceled, the queue will become “Untitled.”  If an “Untitled” queue actually exists in your WWPlus32 directory it will become the active queue.

Save Queue File As will make a new copy of the existing .QU2 file under a new name which you select.  It will not delete the previous named queue file.  If you are using the function to rename a queue you should change back to the previous queue and delete it, or delete it using Explorer functions.


Delete Button
Delete

The "Delete" menu options (File menu or context menu) will be disabled (grayed) unless an entry has been selected in the Wallpaper Queue.  The keyboard shortcut is CTRL-D or the Delete key.  If a selection has been made, it will be deleted.

The program will offer two choices: delete from queue only or from the queue and your hard drive.  The latter will delete the file itself, and is not reversible.  This will not affect the current visibility of the image if it is showing on the desktop.  If the wallpaper is listed more than once, only the selected occurrence will be deleted.  In that case, if the file was deleted, a warning message will occur when the program attempts to display the image from the other entry.

Multiple file selections are allowed in the queue list.  The chosen action (Delete from queue only, or Delete from hard drive) will be performed on all selected files.


Change Wallpaper Button

The "Change Wallpaper" Button functions differently depending on whether an image has been selected in the Wallpaper Queue.  Pressing this button when an image is selected is the same as choosing "Make Change" from the Wallpaper menu (keyboard shortcut: CTRL-M), or the “Wallpaper Now” option in the right-button context menu.  Any of them will make the selection the current wallpaper and display it on the desktop immediately.  The timer will reset automatically.  If multiple files are selected, the first image in the list will be used.

When there is no image selected in the queue, this button will cause a change of wallpaper exactly as if the timer had cycled.  The next image will be either randomly or sequentially selected depending on the setting of the Display Order option in the preferences menu.


Clear Screen Button

The Clear Screen button will clear any wallpaper showing from the screen.  Pressing this button is the same as choosing "Clear Screen" from the Wallpaper menu; the keyboard shortcut is CTRL-C.  Close the program or turn the timer off to keep a wallpaper from being displayed when the timer cycles.


Wallpaper Queue
The Wallpaper Queue

The "Wallpaper Queue" is a list of bitmaps that you wish to use as wallpapers.  You can show all of the images in the queue in "Thumbnail" form by choosing View Image Thumbnails from the Images menu.  You can add any appropriate bitmap image to the list via the Add Button.  You can make a specific image occur more often by adding it to the queue more than once.  You may also add images to the queue by means of “ Drag and Drop” from Explorer.

The maximum number of files which may be in a queue is 6000.  Queue performance deteriorates, particularly load time, with the size of the queue.  Most queues will perform best if they have 500 or fewer images in them.

A small icon appears to the left of each queue entry.  This icon is a visual indicator of the files resize status.  When a file is first placed in the queue, the icon will be a question mark, meaning that until the image has been accessed its resizing is unknown.  Once the image has been accessed, the icon will be one of four:  A blank square, which means the image does not resize, a four-headed green arrow, meaning it does resize, a dark blue cross-hatch, meaning the image is tiled but not resized, or a dark green cross-hatch, meaning tiled and resized.  Select an image to see detail information on how the image will be resized.

For the following actions you must first select a wallpaper in the queue.  This means that you must click once on a file name, then perform the action.

Delete

Resize Wallpaper (except to change the global defaults)

Tiling on/off (except to change the queue default).

Position Wallpaper

Use Sound with Image (except to change the queue default)

The first three of these options will work on multiple files at once, if they are selected. The queue list is an “Extended Selection” list box; holding the shift key down while clicking another will select all that are in-between; holding the control key down will allow selecting multiple individual files.

Selections may also be made using the keyboard up and down arrows, holding the shift key down to make continuous selection or holding the control key down and using the space bar for selection.

The Change Wallpaper Button.  is a special case where the function will change depending on whether a selection is current in the queue.


Timer Panel
Timer Button

The Timer button in the toolbar at the upper left of the WWPlus32 screen indicates whether the wallpaper change timer is on or off.  The timer will toggle on/off by clicking the button with the mouse.  When off, the button displays in red, and when on is green.  Next to the button is a panel which displays the time left to the next change, and an example would be : “1.5” which would mean the next wallpaper change would occur in 1 and 1/2 minutes.  Set the amount of time between changes by clicking this panel, or with the “Wallpaper Change Time” menu item in the Wallpaper menu.  The panel displays “Off” if the timer is not on.


Centered/Tiled Option
Tiling on/off Option

Wallpapers may be displayed either Tiled or not.  The Tiling Off option means that the wallpaper will be shown once at the origin point (see Adjusting wallpaper placement on screen).  With Tiling on, wallpaper that is smaller than the screen size will be shown in multiple images to fill the entire screen.  The condition of the default setting when a new wallpaper is added to the queue will determine the initial setting for that wallpaper.  Using this option is the same as choosing the Tiling menu item in the Wallpaper menu.

To change a wallpaper's setting, select it in the queue and then change the switch.  You may choose multiple images in the queue and apply a setting to all of them at once.

If you have Resizing enabled, tiling will not override it.  Resized images may be tiled as well.  This is a change that occurred with version 3.2 of WWPlus32 - in earlier versions, tiling overrode resizing.  Note that an a tiled image resized to full screen will appear only once.


Registration

Don Bradner

Arcata Pet

600 F Street

Arcata,CA 95521-6301

WWPlus32 copyright ©1992-1997 by Don Bradner.  WWPlus32 is Shareware.  Click here to print a Registration Form and send it with $29.95 to the author at the above address.  There is also an OnLine order form (Secure) at www.arcatapet.com.  California residents please add $2.17 for state sales tax, and Non-US users please add $3.00 for Air Mail service. See Author Support for information on contacting the author

CompuServe members may register on-line.  Go SWREG, the program registration number is 13355.  Regardless of the method of registration, you will receive a copy of the most recent version of WWPlus32 and a registration key that will eliminate the startup screen. This registration key will work for all future versions of WWPlus32 as well.  See Upgrading to new versions.

Other goodies: you may include 2 photos or slides of your own for free scanning.  The photos will be returned along with JPG scans for your use.  WWPlus32 registrants are also “cross-registered” for WWSaver32, a screen saver that uses WWPlus32 queues.  Simply download a copy from www.arcatapet.com and copy the registration key to the WWSaver32 folder.

Commercial use:  WWPlus32 may be used commercially, as long as there is a registered copy for each computer/terminal that is using it.  Site licensing programs are also available.


Author Support

The author is very interested in supporting registered users of this program, and reasonable support is also available to unregistered users with problems.  Feel free to contact him in any of the following ways:

Mail:

Don Bradner

Arcata Pet

600 F Street

Arcata, CA 95521-6301

Phone: (707) 822-6417.  This phone is normally answered by the author, or by a machine if the author is not available.  Calls will be returned in the US - leave your name/number and best times to call..

Compuserve: 76130,1007

Internet mail: dbirdman@arcatapet.com

Home Page: http://www.arcatapet.com


Current Wallpaper

The Current Wallpaper area at the bottom of the WWPlus32 screen displays the complete path for the currently displayed bitmap.  If there is no wallpaper displayed, the listing will be "(None)"


Load File dialog box

The Load file dialog is shown when the Add button is clicked.  You may browse through your directories to find any image file which WWPlus32 recognizes.  A handy preview function is included.  Select a file and click the Preview button.  A small "thumbnail" version of the file will appear in the box above the button.  When you have found an image that you wish to load, click OK.  To exit the dialog without making a selection, click Cancel.

Multiple file selection is allowed.  If the files are not contiguous in the directory, hold down the CTRL key while clicking each file.  To select a large number at once, click the first one and then scroll to the last one; hold down the Shift key and click the last one.  The maximum number of files which may be in a queue is 6000.  Queue performance deteriorates, particularly load time, with the size of the queue.  Most queues will perform best if they have 500 or fewer images in them.


Wallpaper Menu
File Menu

The File menu contains items for adding and deleting files from the queue.  It also contains items for creating and deleting queue files themselves, as well as items which control the display of the files in the queue (sort and list details).

Menu items include:

Add Image File

Edit Image File

ReLink Image File

View Image Thumbnails

Delete Image File

Sort Image Files

List Details

Start New Queue File

ChangeQueueFile

Clear Queue File

Save Queue File As

Delete Queue File


Preferences
Preferences Menu

This menu contains items that affect the way WWPlus32 works.  It allows you to change a number of defaults to customize the program to your own liking.  Click any of the topics below to get information on that topic.

Default Resize Options

Resize Selected Images

Default Sound

Sounds for Selected Images

Display Order

Start With First Image

Set Default Origins

Position Selected Images

Taskbar Tray Icons

Correct Screen Gamma

Preview Type

Temporary Wallpaper Folder

Use ToolTips


Change Wallpaper at Start

By default, WWPlus32 does not change your wallpaper when the program is started.  If you want it to do so, check this option.  If WWPlus32 is in your Program Manager Startup Group, you will get a new wallpaper whenever you start a Windows session.  You will also get a new wallpaper whenever you change to a queue which has this option.  This option will slow the loading of Windows.


Remove Wallpaper at Exit

When this option is enabled, WWPlus32 will clear any wallpaper when the program ends.  This can be useful if you normally have WWPlus32 running all of the time, and the only time it exits is when you exit Windows.  With this option, there will be no wallpaper when you next start Windows, resulting in a quicker load time.


Start With First Image

When this option is enabled, Sequential queues will always start with the first image in the queue.  Otherwise it will begin where the last session ended.  This option has no effect when Random Display is chosen.


IconType
Taskbar Tray Icons

WWPlus32 allows two options for displaying the icon of the minimized program, normal, and taskbar tray icon.  The default is a normal icon, but the taskbar tray option may be chosen by selecting the Taskbar Tray Icons item in the Preferences menu.

A normal icon is the one which displays by default in the taskbar.  This may be replaced by up to 4 icons in the tray, which allow immediate access to some functions. See Using the Taskbar tray for additional information.

The available icons have the following functions:  The “windshield wiper” icon will immediately clear the screen of any wallpaper.  The clock will toggle the timer on and off; it will have a green edge when on and red when off.  The “lightning bolt” image will cause an immediate wallpaper change, and the remaining icon enables a screen saver hot corner option on and off.  It will be yellow with the word “on” when on, and gray with “off” when off.  It’s tooltip will also provide the name of the selected screen saver, if any.


Set Default Origins

This item in the Preferences sub-menu sets the default location for each newly added wallpaper image.  You may change the individual setting later - see Adjusting wallpaper placement on screen


Help Menu

The Help Menu provides two options: Help Topics, which leads to the normal topics three-tab dialog (contents, index, and find), and About, which provides current version information for WWPlus32.  The help icon (question mark) is the same thing as Help Topics.


File Formats

Information on the file formats supported by WWPlus32:

.BMP and .RLE

Files with .BMP extensions are bitmapped images created by tools like Windows Paintbrush.  .BMP is the native format for Windows wallpaper.  There are a few .BMP files distributed with Windows specifically for use as wallpaper.

This is the fastest format available, but requires the most disk space.  It does not require any conversion or decompression by WWPlus32, so the only time required to display a new wallpaper is the time it takes to read the image from the disk.  Excellent for small images that are "tiled" (displayed as multiple images to cover the desktop space).  This format is usable for all color levels from 16 to 16-million.  .RLE is a compressed form of .BMP.

.GIF

The Compuserve Graphics Interchange Format, pronounced "Jiff," offers great compression of images up to 256 colors without loss of quality.  It is not usable for images with more colors.  This format is generally the best choice when disk space is limited and the image has no more than 256 colors.  There is a noticable delay while WWPlus32 decompresses the image and converts it to .BMP for display, although the faster the computer the shorter the delay.  The .GIF format contains compression technology that is patented by the Unisys corporation, and as of 1/1/95 became liable for royalty  payments by software developers.  See the full statement in the README.TXT file.

.ICO

These are Windows icon files, 32x32 pixels and 16 colors.  You may use these as tiled wallpaper with WWPlus32.  The temporary .BMP file that WWPlus32 creates will have a color depth equal to the maximum number of colors that your monitor will support. WWPlus32 will load them, but does not have the facilities to create or save .ICO files.

.JPG

Files with .JPG extensions are "JPEG" compressed.  JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Committee.  This format is only suitable for 24-bit (16-million color) images, although WWPlus32 will allow you to save 256 color images.  It is also "lossy," which means that the compression involves some loss of quality.  The resulting file size is quite small, but takes a long time to decompress and display. JPEG is particularly unsuited for images with large areas of solid colors and sharp edges.

JPEG does a very good job of compression, and with most pictures the resulting image is comparable to the original.   There is a variable amount of compression available, with greater loss of quality as the image is further compressed. Whenever the File SaveAs dialog is invoked and .JPG is selected as the file type, there will be a field visible which allows you to change your quality factor.  WWPlus32 will store your setting in its global configuration, so you if you establish a standard quality factor for your needs it will be the future default.  When WWPlus32 does not find a previously selected setting, the default is 75.  WWPlus32 allows a quality setting of 5 to 95, with 5 being the most compressed and 95 being the least compressed.  A 622,134 byte test file produced sizes of 5,381 bytes at a setting of 5, and 75,809 bytes at a setting of 95.  The image was very deteriorated at the lower setting, while it was indistinguishable from the original at 95.  Further testing for this image showed very acceptable results at a setting of 75, with a file size of 25,554 bytes.

There are many non-standard forms of JPEG.  WWPlus32 should read any JPEG image conforming to the JFIF standard, but may not be able to read images produced by non-standard programs.  An example would be GIF2JPG, which can produce a proprietary JPEG file called HSI.  Older versions of the program did this by default; newer versions produce JFIF compatible files by default.

.PCX

.PCX is a format developed by the Z-Soft corporation for their line of PC Paintbrush programs.  Windows Paintbrush is also able to read and save this format.  It provides some compression for images with color levels up to 256 when compared to ,BMP files, but not as much as a ,GIF.  Like .GIF, .PCX can not be used as a native wallpaper format, but WWPlus32 will take care of the translation.  There is less noticeable delay when using .PCX than with .GIF. The .PCX format can use color levels up to 16 million, but file size actually increases when 24-bit files are used.

.TIF and .TGA

.TIF is the extension used with Tagged Information File Format (TIFF) files  .TGA is called "Targa."  Both are primarily formats for storing 24-bit (true-color) 16-million color images and gray-scale images in desktop publishing.  WWPlus32 can read the formats, and use them as wallpapers, but there is no space advantage and they will load slower than .BMP.  Tiff files may contain more than one picture.  If that is the case, WWPlus32 will only read the first image. .TIF is usable for all color levels, 16 to 16-million, while .TGA is usable from 256 to 16-million.

.PNG

.PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a new format designed as a successor to .GIF.  Unlike .GIF, it is not burdened by LZW-compression licensing requirements.  It also takes advantage of newer compression techniques to make a file size generally smaller than .GIF at 256-colors.  Unlike .GIF, the format may also be used to produce loss-less 16-million color images.  These images will be far larger than .JPG images, but will be somewhat smaller than .BMP, .PCX, .TGA and .TIF uncompressed images.


Editing Wallpaper Images

The author of WWPlus32 also produces a 32-bit graphics viewer/editor/printer called ImgViewer/32.  When ImgViewer/32 is installed, WWPlus32 will recognize it and add a File Menu item for easy access to the editor.  When a file is highlighted and the Edit option is selected, that file will automatically be loaded into the editor as it is opened.  You can use the editor to convert file formats, or to alter the brightness/contrast/gamma; cropping is also available.

ImgViewer/32 can be found in most on-line sites where WWPlus32 is found.  Like WWPlus32, it is uncrippled shareware.


Wallpaper

Wallpaper is the term used to describe an image being displayed on the Windows desktop as a background.  It can be a small image that is repeated many times (tiled), or a single image of any size up to the full screen size.

Obtaining Wallpaper Files

Graphics images suitable for use as wallpaper are abundant from most online sources.  These files will usually be in .GIF or .JPG format.  If you have access to a scanner, you can turn your own photos into wallpaper.  A number of the author's scans are available to internet users at www.arcatapet.com.


The Author


Bitmaps

A bitmap is an image stored as a pattern of dots.  These images can be stored in a number of graphics formats, but the only formats which can be used as wallpaper directly by Windows are .BMP and .RLE.  With WWPlus32, you may use .GIF, .PCX, .BMP, RLE, ICO, TIF, .TGA, .PNG, and .JPG as wallpaper, and the program will interpret the files as necessary for use by Windows.

Where to get bitmaps

Several .BMP files are included with Windows for use as wallpaper.  Additionally, you can draw your own bitmaps with Windows Paintbrush.  If you have a scanner, you can scan images and store them as bitmaps.  Many computer stores and printing businesses offer custom scanning to order.  On-line services have thousands of files which can be used as wallpaper.  Most of these files will be in .GIF format, which cannot directly be used as wallpaper except with this program.

If desired, the author of WWPlus32 will provide two free scans when registering the program.   See the Registration Form for more details.

A number photos are available from the author's internet home page: http://www.arcatapet.com


Files
Files and Uninstalling

When WWPlus32 is installed, a program (UNINSTAL.EXE) and a data file (INSTALL.LOG) are placed in the WWPlus32 directory.  The following information is provided to aid in removing the program in case those files are lost or damaged.

Files distributed with WWPlus32

WWPSETUP.EXE This file contains all of the program files.  Running it will install the files where they belong, and will also produce a record and program that can be used to uninstall this package.

README.TXT is a text file that explains the program.  It is placed outside the main install program so that it is readable before the program is installed.

VENDINFO.DIZ, FILEID.DIZ Information files for shareware distributors and online services.  These explain distribution rights and allowable methods.

Files installed by WWPlus32

Main Program directory files

WWPLUS32.EXE, WWPLUS32.HLP, WWPLUS32.CNT, GAMMA.PCX, README.TXT, UNINSTAL.EXE, INSTALL.LOG.

Windows\System directory files

COMCTL32.OCX, IK32.OCX, MFC40.DLL, MSVCRT40.DLL, MSVCRT.DLL, MSVCIRT.DLL, WININET.DLL, OLEPRO32.DLL, OLEAUT32.DLL, COMCAT.DLL, MSVBVM50.DLL.

Registered users will have one additional file: WWP_REG.KEY.  This file must be in your WWPLUS32 directory, and will keep the startup shareware screen from appearing.  If you upgrade to a new version of WWPlus32, do not delete this file - it will work with all future versions.

Files created by WWPlus32

WWPLUS32.BMP  This is a "temporary" file that WWPlus32 uses to translate non-standard images so that they can be used by Windows.  It is destroyed and recreated each time the wallpaper changes and the new image is not a .BMP file.  It is located in the directory identified by your TEMP variable or you may override this location with the Temporary Wallpaper Folder item in the Preferences menu..

*.QU2 These are queue files used to store information about images in a queue.  They do not have to be in any particular directory, but the default is your WWPLUS32 folder.  There is an advantage to keeping them in one folder.  When you click on the current queue at the bottom left of the program dialog you will see a list of all queues in the same folder, for easy selection.

WWPlus32 also creates some other temporary files with .TMP extensions.  Under normal use, the program will clean these up when it exits.  If the program crashes, it will clean them up the next time it is run and then exited normally.

Uninstalling WWPlus32

If the UNINSTAL.EXE program and INSTALL.LOG file have been left intact in the WWPlus32 directory, running the program will remove all files that were installed with WWPlus32.  The uninstaller does not know anything about the .QU2 files and others created by the program, so those require manual deletion.  If the program is manually added to the Startup group rather than via the installer, you must remove it manually.  If the UNINSTAL program has been removed, use the file list above to determine which files to remove.


Distribution

WWPlus32 is shareware and may be freely distributed as long as all of the files are included and no fee is charged beyond a reasonable fee for distribution.  Registered users note:  Do not distribute your WWP_REG.KEY file.

All rights are reserved by the author (see Registration).


Troubleshooting

If your difficulties are related to slow operations with specific images, see Speed vs. File Size

Other difficulties running the program may be associated with a missing file, or a file that needs to be in the Windows or Windows\System directory but isn't.  See Files for details.  Another problem is a corrupted .QU2 file.  Try starting the program with a different queue (See Changing Queues.), specified from the command line.  If this solves the problem, delete the offending queue.  This will not delete any of your wallpapers, just the queue listing

If you have an image that WWPlus32 will not display, it may be in a format that cannot be used.  There are some variations of .GIF and .PCX that are known to make problems for WWPlus32.  There are many non-standard versions of JPEG that will cause problems.  If you can load them into another image editing program you may be able to save it in a usable format.

WWPlus32 expects image file names to match their formats.  If you have a .BMP image but give it a .GIF name, the program will not be able to read it.


Saving Disk Space
Adjusting wallpaper placement on screen

Changing the wallpaper's location

By default, there are only two ways to display a wallpaper in Windows: Tiled, or single/centered.  Tiled wallpapers are repeated as necessary to cover all of the screen background.  With tiling off, wallpapers are displayed just once on the screen, normally in the center.  If the Wallpaper is the same size as the screen, tiled and centered will look exactly the same.  WWPlus32 contains options which allow you to change the position of a wallpaper by setting the wallpaper origin (upper left corner position).

Combining this option with the option to confine an image to a specific size (see Resizing Wallpaper) allows many different looks to be achieved.

Setting the wallpaper origin

For all of the following, remember that a setting of 0 (zero) for X or Y coordinates will center a wallpaper on that axis.  You cannot set the upper left corner of a wallpaper to 0,0; use 1,1 instead.

First, select a default origin.  Click the Wallpaper menu on the main program screen, click Preferences, and then click Set Default Origins.  A dialog box will prompt you for settings and take care of the details.  The next wallpaper change will incorporate the new settings unless a specific origin is set for that wallpaper.

To select a specific origin for a wallpaper, directly position the wallpaper, or change the settings. In either case, first select the file in the Wallpaper Queue. Choose Position Wallpaper in the Wallpaper menu.  The program screen will be replaced by the image, which you may move by pressing and holding down your left mouse button.  When you have the image positioned where you want it, release the mouse button.  Double-click on the image or press the Enter key to "fix" the placement.  Press the escape key to exit without setting a new position.  Alternatively, you may enter the numbers directly in the X and Y coordinate boxes after selecting the file in the queue.  If either of the coordinates end up being zero, the box will read "centered" to remind you that it is not a true zero.


Registration Form
WWPlus32 Version 3.2

Order Form

To Print this form, use the Print button, above.

To edit in WordPad or a word processor, use the Options button and copy this form to the clipboard, then paste it into the word processor of your choice.  Edit and then print.

Price is US$29.95, including postage within the US.

With a credit card you may order toll-free in North America: (800) 822-9085

Outside of North America, or for technical support, please call: (707) 822-6417

FAX orders accepted at (707) 822-6570

You may order OnLine at www.arcatapet.com (Secure) if you wish.  Keys may be e-mailed, in which case there will be no added shipping charges.

By mail, with check, credit card, or money order in US Dollars to:

Don Bradner/Arcata Pet

600 F Street

Arcata, CA 95521-6301

Compuserve members may order on-line:  GO SWREG, program number is 13355.

Number of copies desired ____x 29.95 =            	$___________

California residents add $2.17/copy sales tax       	____________

Non-US add $3.00/copy for air mail                           ____________

       Total	____________

Check here to have registration key e-mailed.  With this option, no disks will be sent,  and no non-US air mail fees need be paid.  You must include a valid e-mail address, below, and your e-mail software has to be able to decode a binary attachment.  Otherwise, software will be sent on 1.44 meg 3-1/2 inch disks.

Your Name:              	____________________________________________________

Mailing Address:      	____________________________________________________

City/State/ZIP/Country: ___________________________________________________

Daytime phone number (______)____________________ E-Mail address, if any ___________

If paying with a credit card: Card type  VISA    MasterCard   AMEX    Discover

       Card Number:  ________________________________ Expiration Date: ________

       Signature to authorize charge: ________________________________________

(optional) Where did you get WWPlus32?

BBS or other on-line service. .  Which one? ______________________

Software/Shareware Service.  Which one? ______________________

Shareware CD-ROM.  Which one?__________________________

Internet.  What site? __________________________________________

Friend    Other _________________________________________

You are welcome to include 2 prints or slides for free scanning if you would like.  Originals will be returned with your disk.  Please Specify the resolution desired (Maximum Horizontal/Vertical):

 __640x480  __800x600  __1024x768  __Other:_________

If none marked, image will fit 640x480.  image will be a 24-bit JPEG

Comments to the author are welcome.  Tell me what you like, or would like changed or added.

Thank you for ordering!


What Is Shareware?

Shareware distribution means “try before you buy.”  If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, the author expects to be compensated for his efforts to produce the program.  Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period.  With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed material.  With WWPlus32, you get the latest version plus a registration key that disables the startup shareware message.

Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality.  (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!)  Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, with the copyright holder retaining all rights, with the exception that the shareware author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group, while copying of commercial software is generally prohibited.

Because the overhead is low, prices are low also.  Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.


Queue Title

The Queue Title is the file name for the queue currently in use.  See Changing Queues for general information on this topic.


Tool Tips

Tool Tips are small black-on-yellow labels that give a text caption for an icon.  When you position your mouse pointer over various of the WWPlus32 screen elements a caption will pop up that describes the element.  Once you are familiar with the screen you may want to turn these captions off, which you can do in the preferences menu.


Drag and Drop

WWPlus32 supports Drag and Drop of files to the queue.  The program must be running when this is done.  Select image files in Explorer and drag them by holding the left mouse button down until you are over the WWPlus32 window.  Release the mouse button, and the files will be added to the queue.  If you drop files that do not have extensions recognized by WWPlus32, those will be ignored without harm.


Resize Wallpaper to fit screen
Resize Wallpaper

There are two Preference menu items which allow great flexibility in the resizing of images.  The first menu item establishes global defaults, while the second menu item is only available when an image or images are selected in the queue; they provide an override for the defaults.

The global resize menu item allows separate options for images larger or smaller than a threshold level.  If either vertical or horizontal dimension is less than the threshold, the smaller option will be in effect.  You can specify that non-tiled images will be resized to full screen or to an alternative size.  Alternative sizes allowed range from a minimum of 32x32 (icon sized) to a maximum of twice the current screen size.

You may also choose to have the image's aspect ratio maintained (Proportional) or have the image stretched to occupy the full area chosen (Stretch).

After selecting an image or images in the queue you may use the Resize Selected Images menu item to choose something other than the default for those images.  Right-clicking an image name and choosing resize or properties are other ways to change the individual resize options.

To keep images confined to a specific area of the screen, first use this option to specify the maximum image size.  Then use the position options to set the position of the image.  See the information on setting origin points.

Using the Resize option will slightly increase the time it takes to wallpaper, with faster computers being least affected.


Correct Screen Gamma

This option, available from the Preferences menu, allows all displayed images to be automatically adjusted for gamma, or midtone.  When this option is selected, a dialog will be displayed which contains an adjustment “target,” along with a slider bar to adjust the gamma level.  For the target to show up, there must be a file called gamma.pcx (included with WWPlus32) in your WWPLUS32 directory.  This target contains an area of neutral gray surrounded by an area of alternating black and white pixels.  Slide the bar until the center area appears to be the same shade as the surrounding area, then click OK.  Displayed images will now be gamma corrected before display, either as wallpaper or as screen savers.  If, after observing the results you feel that the images are under or over-corrected, reopen the dialog (unselect the menu item, and then re-select it) and make a small adjustment.  Smaller numbers will result in darker images.


ReLinking Files

When files are moved to new directories, their “link” to WWPlus32 will be broken.  Any attempt to use the file from the queue will result in an error, as the program will not be able to find the file.  In this case, select all affected files in the queue, and then choose “ReLink Image File” from the File Menu.  You will see a dialog that prompts you to browse for the proper directory.  After you have chosen a directory, the queue will be updated to reflect this new location for the files.  If you accidentally choose an incorrect directory it will not hurt anything, but the files will continue to produce a “File not found” error.

Hint: Choose “List Details - Full Path and File Name,” and “Sort Image Files - Sort by Name,” both in the File Menu, before selecting files to relink.  This will place all files from a particular directory together in the list and make multiple selection easier.


Wallpaper Menu

The Wallpaper menu has options controlling the use of images in the queue as wallpaper.  Using the Alt-W key combination will pop up the wallpaper menu, and then you may select an option by pressing the letter underlined in that option or using the arrow keys to move to the option.  Some options also have "hotkey" combinations that are shown to the right of the option.  For example, holding down the control key and pressing 'C' will have the same result as selecting "Clear Screen."

Menu items include:

Make Change

Wallpaper Change Time

Clear Screen

Show File Errors

Tiling On/Off

Change Wallpaper at Startup

RemoveWallpaper at Exit


Wallpaper Change Time

This item in the Wallpaper menu is used to set the interval between wallpaper changes when the wallpaper timer is on.  Allowable range is 0.1 minutes through 999.9 minutes.  You may also access the wallpaper timer change dialog by clicking on the time counter in the program’s toolbar.


Show File Errors

This item in the Wallpaper menu is used to control whether WWPlus32 displays errors when encountered during wallpaper display.  By default WWPlus32 will display an error message if a file is unreadable or cannot be found when its turn comes up in the queue.  If this menu item is unchecked, the program will ignore errors and restart the timer countdown without a wallpaper change occurring.  The time between changes will be set to ½ normal, so the total time will be 1-1/2 normal.


Using the taskbar tray

A feature of the Explorer Shell interface used with Windows 95 (and NT 4) is the “Taskbar,” where iconized programs reside along with the “Start” button.  One element of the Taskbar is a “Tray” where other applications may place icons for various functions.  By default, the tray contains a clock.  Systems with sound cards will have a speaker volume setting there, and when a print job is under way there will be an icon for the Print Manager.

When WWPlus32 identifies the presence of a tray, it will enable an option to place any of four functions in the tray: Clear Screen, Change Wallpaper, Wallpaper Timer On/Off, and Screen Saver On/Off.  The latter will have a tooltip that gives the screen saver filename, or (None) if there is not a screen saver set.  Use the Control Panel to select a screen saver.

When there are function icons in the tray, they have 3 available mouse actions.  Clicking with the left mouse button will perform the function. Clicking with the right mouse button will pop up a menu of choices, and Double-Clicking with the left mouse button will restore the main WWPlus32 program screen.  The program “remembers” where the main screen was the last time, and returns to that location.

Configure WWPlus32 to use the tray by invoking the taskbar tray dialog.  Either click the icon next the Help Question Mark or choose Taskbar Tray Icons in the Preferences menu.  Another option on the taskbar tray dialog will enable a hot corner to start your screen saver.


Screen Saver Hot Corner

Because WWPlus is normally running in the background anyway, it is an ideal program to monitor cursor position and enable a “Hot Corner” that will activate your screen saver.  Activate this option by invoking the taskbar tray dialog, either via the Taskbar Tray Icons item in the Preferences menu or by clicking the icon next to the help icon.  At the bottom of the dialog is an option to enable the hot corner and a button for configuration.  The configuration dialog allows you to choose a corner of the screen by clicking in the equivalent corner of a representative square.


Upgrading to new versions

New versions of WWPlus32 appear regularly.  Users provide good ideas for new features, and old features are always being improved.  When a new version is released, it is uploaded to at least the following locations:

CompuServe: Numerous forums, including WINSHARE, WINAV, GRAPHSUP, PHOTOFORUM and EFORUM.  File name is WWPL32.ZIP

internet:

Jumps to the WWPlus32 files are available from the WWPlus32 home page:

http://www.arcatapet.com/wwplus32.html

Registered users are not required to re-register the program or pay additional fees to upgrade.  Future versions will use the same registration key as the current version.  Registered users without access to one of the above sites may request disk copies from the author for a fee of $5 ($7 for non-US).

Registrants will always receive the most current version.

If you are pleased with WWPlus32, you may also be interested in other programs by the same author:

WWSaver32 is a custom screen saver that uses the same queues as WWPlus32.  WWPlus32 and WWSaver32 are “cross-registered” programs; registrants for either program are also registered for the other.  It can be downloaded from http://www.arcatapet.com/wwsaver32.html.  After installing registered users should copy the registration key file from the WWPlus32 folder to the WWSaver32 folder to make the registration effective.

ImgViewer/32 is a graphics viewing/editing/printing program that is a great companion for WWPlus32.  When WWPlus32 finds ImgViewer/32 present it will enable editing functions for images selected in a queue.  It works great when associated with file types, which you can do from within the program.  You can find ImgViewer/32 in the same places where WWPlus32 is found, usually with a file name beginning with IV32 or IMGV32.  On the author's site it will be found at http://www.arcatapet.com/imgv32.html.


Using Sounds

Sound files, in .WAV format, may be used at the time of image changes.  Two configuration items control this option.  Default Sound, in the Preferences menu, controls a global choice for sound usage, while the global default may be overridden by choosing Sounds for Selected Images in the Preferences menu, or from the image’s properties frame that appears when that image is individually selected.


The Image Properties Dialog
The Image Properties Frame

One of the simplest ways to change the way an image is displayed is through the image’s properties frame.  To see the frame, select an image name in the queue.  The frame will be filled with image-specific information, and a thumbnail of the image will also be displayed.  By default, the image will be shown as it would be seen on the main screen - resized, positioned, tiled, etc.  If you would rather simply see a single representation of the image, Change the Preview Type in the Preferences menu to Image Preview.  From the properties frame it is easy to set options for resizing, tiling, position, and sound.