Copyright: Stamper Help Copyright © 1994 Paul Sobolik
Citation: Stamper Help Copyright © 1994 Paul Sobolik


Contents
 STAMPER

♦	Overview

♦	Setup

♦	Copyright, License and Warranty Disclaimer

♦	Technical Information

Questions, comments, compliments? E-mail the author at psobolik@aol.com.


Overview
STAMPER OVERVIEW

Stamper is a screen saver for Microsoft®  Windows™  3.1. Refer to your Windows documentation if you don't understand the purpose and use of screen savers. (Launch the Desktop applet from the Windows Control Panel application and press the Help button there.)

When you haven't used your mouse or keyboard for a given amount of time, Stamper kicks in to make your computer's display dynamic by repeatedly "stamping" a picture all over it. You can specify that a password must be entered before Stamper will be deactivated.  Stamper uses the same password as other screen savers.

Stamper's novelty is that you can designate any Windows bitmap file as the picture to be stamped. Also, you can designate one color as a "transparent" color, and another as an "inverse" color. When a transparent color is set, no part of the bitmap that is in that color will show on the screen. Instead, whatever is already on the screen will show through there. Similarly, the contents of the screen will appear reversed wherever the inverse color appears in the bitmap. Using this feature, you can stamp seemingly arbitrarily shaped pictures with special effects. The effect is very much like an icon, although the bitmap can be any size.

Creating your own picture and seeing it stamped all over the screen can be a lot of fun.


Technical Info
TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Stamper was written by Paul Sobolik in December 1994. It was written in C and compiled with the Borland C++ compiler. This help file was written using ForeHelp.  Much of the program's functionality comes from the Microsoft Screen Saver Library (SCRNSAV.LIB) and Paul Sobolik's Bitmap Stamp library (STAMP.DLL).


Setup
STAMPER SETUP

When you press the Setup... button in the Windows Control Panel's Desktop applet, the following window appears:

Click on the various elements of this window to get more information about them.


License
COPYRIGHT, LICENSE AND WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

The Stamper screen saver program and accompanying documentation are copyright © 1994 by Paul Sobolik. All rights are reserved.

This program and documentation are distributed as "freeware," which means that license to use and distribute them for any non-commercial purpose is free of charge, provided the following conditions are met:

♦	Only the archive file, STAMPER.ZIP, is distributed.

♦	STAMPER.ZIP and its contents are distributed intact and unaltered in any way.

♦	No charge is made for the software, beyond a nominal copying fee.

This program and its documentation are provided without any warranty of any kind; Use them at your own risk.


Transparent Color
Choose the Transparent Color from this list. See Special Effects for more information.


Transparent Checkbox
When the Transparent color check box is checked, the background screen will show through any part of the bitmap that is in the transparent color. Otherwise, no part of the bitmap will appear to be transparent. See Special Effects for details.


FileName
This is the name of the bitmap file that Stamper will use. This field cannot be directly edited; Use the Choose... button to select a different file.


Inverse Checkbox
When the Inverse color check box is checked, the screen will be inverted where the inverse color appears in the bitmap. Otherwise, no area will be inverted. See Special Effects for details.


Inverse Color
Choose the Inverse Color from this list. See Special Effects for more information.


Blank Screen Checkbox
Use the Blank screen check box to indicate whether Stamper should blank the screen before filling it with pictures.

If this box is checked, Stamper will make the screen solid black before it begins stamping the picture on it. If it is not checked, the picture will be stamped over whatever happens to be already on the screen.


Speed
You can set the speed at which the picture is stamped on the screen with the Speed scroll bar. There are ten different settings, all of which seem pretty much the same.


Password Checkbox
When the Password Protected check box is selected, password protection is enabled for the Stamper screen saver. Then when Stamper is running, it will require that the correct password be entered before it will give up its hold on the screen.


Set Password Button
Use the Set Password... button to set the password for Stamper and any other password protected Windows screen savers. When password protection is enabled, the password must be entered before Stamper will return the screen to you.


Choose Button
Use the Choose... button to select a bitmap file for Stamper to use. A standard Open File window is used to select the bitmap file from a disk. The bitmap file can be any Windows device independent bitmap file, even a compressed (RLE) bitmap.


Preview Button
The Preview button opens a window that shows how the current bitmap will display given the current transparent and inverse color settings. This window has a hatched background so you can clearly see the effect of the different settings.

The preview is dynamically updated as options are changed.

If the selected file is not a valid bitmap file, the preview window will be empty.


About Button
The About... button displays Stamper's copyright.


Help Button
Use the Help button to open this help file from within the Stamper setup window.


OK Button
Use the OK button to write the current settings to CONTROL.INI and close the Stamper Setup window.


Cancel Button
Use the Cancel button to cancel any changes you have made and close the Stamper Setup window.


SPECIAL EFFECTS

You can create special effects in the way Stamper displays a bitmap by indicating a transparent and/or inverse color in the Setup window. Using a transparent color allows a bitmap to appear arbitrarily shaped, instead of rectangular. Using an inverse color can add additional visual interest to the Stamper display.

Enable the use of a transparent color by checking the Transparent color check box. Then choose a color from the list below it. Now, the bitmap will be transparent wherever that color appears. When Stamper stamps the picture onto the screen, instead of that color appearing on the screen, the screen's current contents will show through.

An inverse color is set up the same way. Enable the use of an inverse color by checking the Inverse color check box. Then choose a color from the list below it. Now, the bitmap will not show that color on the screen but will instead allow the screen's current contents to show through. Unlike the transparent color, though, the background colors will show up reversed from their normal colors.

It is a good idea to open the Preview window while you adjust these settings. That way you can immediately see the effect of your changes.