Desktop Gallery is a utility designed specifically to work with MacOS 8ﾕs desktop pictures feature, turning it into a continuous, background slide show. Simply point Desktop Gallery to a folder of JPEG and/or PICT files, set the time interval to wait between changes, and then enjoy the show while you use your MacOS computer.
Whatﾕs New in Version 1.1?
Desktop Gallery 1.1 contains a number of new enhancements based on user feedback and suggestions. These enhancements include:
･ A redesigned user interface that better supports MacOS 8ﾕs Appearance Manger
and other UI-enhancing products.
･ Support for subfolders within the main desktop pictures folder.
･ Support for GIF and MacPaint images.
･ The ability to recognize and use position picture settings selected in the
Desktop Pictures control panel.
･ A new option to automatically close the Desktop Pictures control panel after
each change cycle.
Each of these new enhancements is explained in detail in the following sections of this documentation.
System Requirements
Desktop Gallery requires the following to run:
･ MacOS 8 or later
･ AppleScript 1.1.2 or later
･ Desktop Pictures control panel 1.0 or later
･ 1.8 megabytes of available disk space
About This Documentation
If you read nothing else, at least scan this document and read the NOTEﾕs scattered throughout. These notes contain helpful hints and tips for using Desktop Gallery. Also remember that all Desktop Gallery interface options have Balloon Help.
Installation
Double-click the ﾒInstall Desktop Galleryﾓ icon to install the documentation, the Register application, a program alias, and an installer log in a folder called, "Desktop Gallery ﾄ" at a location you specify. The installer puts the Desktop Gallery application into the Control Panels folder of the startup disk, and then installs the file "DTG Tone" in the Preferences folder of the startup disk.
Using Desktop Gallery
After successfully installing Desktop Gallery, you can launch the program by choosing it from Control Panels in the Apple menu. The first time that you use Desktop Gallery, it will ask you to personalize your copy (figure 1). This is an important step since, if you decide to register Desktop Gallery, your unique serial number will be generated from the name that you use to personalize the program.
Figure 1ﾊ
Register/Personalize Dialog
Enter your name in the Name field, and an optional company name in the Company field. This dialog will appear each time that you launch Desktop Gallery until you register the program or the 30 demo expires, whichever comes first.
After you have personalized Desktop Gallery for the first time, it will ask you to locate the folder containing your desktop pictures (figure 2). This folder can contain JPEG, PICT, GIF, and MacPaint files and can be located anywhere on any hard disk attached to your MacOS computer (as long as the folder is available when Desktop Gallery starts up...).
Figure 2ﾊ
Select the
Desktop Pictures
Folder
NOTE: If you just want to try out some sample images, then point Desktop Gallery to the ﾒSample Desktop Picturesﾓ folder inside of the Apple Extras folder that is installed with MacOS 8. Also, if you have the CD-ROM version of MacOS 8, then youﾕll find a folder of ﾒAdditional Desktop Picturesﾓ inside the ﾒCD Extrasﾓ folder on the CD. You can just drag this folder into the desktop pictures folder that youﾕve selected on your hard disk, and Desktop Gallery 1.1 will add those images to the show.
Navigate through the hard disk folder structure in the same way you would with any other dialog, and when the drop down menu at the top of the dialog box shows the correct folder name, click the wide button at the bottom that will be named ﾒChoose ﾒ and the name of the desktop pictures folder. Desktop Gallery stores the path to the folder so you wonﾕt go through this process every time Desktop Gallery starts.
Now that you have personalized Desktop Gallery and have selected a desktop pictures folder, the main Desktop Gallery control panel appears (figure 3) and an initial picture change cycle occurs.
NOTE: During the first picture change cycle, you will probably see the Desktop Pictures control panel open in the background. Desktop Gallery calls Desktop Pictures in order to make the picture changes. Desktop Gallery will hide Desktop Pictures as soon as possible, so it wonﾕt distract you and take up valuable screen real estate. But although it will be hidden, Desktop Pictures will still be open and running, and we recommend that you donﾕt close it. If you close it, Desktop Gallery will reopen it again at the beginning of each change cycle, thus affecting performance. However, if you need to close it after each change cycle to conserve memory, then check the ﾒClose Desktop Pictures after changeﾓ option to have Desktop Gallery do it for you automatically (but Desktop Gallery will still need to reopen Desktop Pictures at the beginning of the next change cycle...).
Figure 3ﾊ
Desktop Gallery
Control Panel
The Desktop Gallery control panel will hide itself whenever you switch to another application. Simply select it from the application menu on the right end of the menubar, or from Control Panels in the Apple menu to show it again.
Note: Desktop Gallery must remain open and running (visible in the Applications menu) in order to make desktop picture changes. Quitting the program disables desktop picture changes. The On/Off buttons are provided as a convenient way to temporarily disable Desktop Gallery while it is open and running.
Desktop Gallery Settings
The following sections explain each of the controls in the Desktop Gallery control panel, but donﾕt forget that the controls will explain themselves for you if you activate Balloon Help from the Help menu.
On/Off
These radio buttons activate/deactivate Desktop Gallery. If you click the Off button, the program will still launch, but will not perform any picture changes until you click On. The on/off buttons are provided to serve as a convenient way to temporarily disable desktop picture changes while you are taking screen shots, or perhaps making a QuickTime movie of your computerﾕs interface. To permanently disable Desktop Gallery, uncheck the ﾒAutomatically launch on startupﾓ option (see below), and then choose Quit from the File menu. Desktop Gallery wonﾕt run again unless you manually launch it.
Change Delay
These controls set the delay interval between picture changes. Click the up/down arrow to increase/decrease the number of hours/minutes that Desktop Gallery will wait before change the desktop pictures again. You can also type numeric amounts directly into these fields.
Change Monitor 1 Desktop Only
Click this button if you want Desktop Gallery to ignore all other monitors attached to your computer except number one. This option is selected automatically if your computer has only one monitor.
Change All Monitor Desktops
Click this button if you have more than one monitor attached to your computer and want Desktop Gallery to switch the pictures on all of them.
Change 1 Monitor Each Cycle
Click this button if you want Desktop Gallery to change only one of the connected monitors on each change cycle. Desktop Gallery changes a different monitor on each cycle.
Random Picture Selection
Check this box if you want Desktop Gallery to randomly select pictures from the desktop pictures folder and any subfolders that it contains. Uncheck it to progress sequentially through the pictures and subfolders within the main folder.
Automatically Launch on Startup
Check this box to create an alias in the Startup Items folder of your computerﾕs System Folder. This ensures that Desktop Gallery will start automatically each time you start your MacOS computer. Uncheck this box to remove the alias.
Sound Tone at Change Time
Check this box to have Desktop Gallery sound a reminder tone at the beginning of each picture change cycle. This is a handy reminder on older, slower MacOS computers that may slow down during change cycles.
Close Desktop Pictures After Change
Check this box if you want Desktop Gallery to close the Desktop Pictures control panel after each change cycle. Desktop Gallery will need to reopen Desktop Pictures at the beginning of the next change cycle.
NOTE: Checking this option will free up about 600K of memory after each change cycle, but will slow down performance of the overall change cycle. In addition, if there is not enough memory to reopen Desktop Pictures during the next change cycle, the Finder will display an error message when Desktop Gallery attempts to open Desktop Pictures, and the picture change will probably not occur; we say ﾒprobablyﾓ because while testing under severely low memory conditions, when the Finder has reported that no memory is available, we have seen Desktop Pictures still manage to open and operate! System 8: you have to love it!
Desktop Pictures Folder
This field shows the path to the currently selected desktop pictures folder. You can select a different folder by clicking the field, navigating to the new folder in the choose folder dialog box that appears, and then clicking the wide ﾒChooseﾓ button at the bottom of the dialog box. Desktop Gallery will recognize any JPEG, PICT, GIF, and MacPaint files contained within the main folder and any of its subfolders.
Change History
Version 1.1 -- 8/8/97
New features: subfolder support, redesigned UI, support for GIF and MacPaint file types, recognize and use Desktop Picture picture position settings, close Desktop Pictures after change option.
Fixes: better error handling for Cancel in choose folder dialog. Better error handling when desktop pictures folder is moved or renamed.
Version 1.0 -- 7/18/97
Basic functionality. No subfolder support.
Desktop Gallery ｩ Copyright 1997, Digital Native. All rights reserved.
Macintosh, MacOS, MacOS 8, QuickTime, and Apple are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
