I've tried to make using the AWC as simple and intuitive as possible. The things
you are likely to change most often are presented on the very simple main page.
If you hover your mouse over one of the elements of the screen you will get
a pop-up tooltip that gives a short description of what it does.
You can manage the set of pictures you want to display in two ways. The traditional AWC way is by folder. In this mode you select the folders that contain your images and AWC will select an image at random and display it. You can also switch to by file mode and select your image files individually. This mode lets you pick the files you want, either by clicking the Add button or by dragging them into the list from Windows Explorer, and display them in different sort orders rather than at random.
On the right you can see AWC in folder view. File view is very similar and is shown below.
Folder view is the simplest mode for using AWC: just pick a folder with images in it and click Restart.
Use the Add button to select to the folders you want to use as a source for your pictures. The pictures in these folders will be selected at random for display each time the wallpaper is changed. Tick the check box next to the folder name to include files in subfolders too
Use the up and down arrows to change the amount of time you want to elapse between changes.
You can select one of the option buttons to determine where the picture should be displayed on the screen to best suit your requirements.
Please note that the positioning does not work if you have active desktop enabled AND active content displayed.
There are several buttons on the main screen which allow you to quickly perform the most commonly required functions:
Restart: Restarts the change process by applying any changes you have made to settings and changing the desktop wallpaper immediately. The list of files that will be used in the change process is built at this point. If you add more files to the source folders they will not be displayed unless you restart the process or enable the Check For New option on the preferences screen.
Pause: Stops the timer so that the change process will not be triggered. Clicking again will set the timer going again.
Save: Saves your current settings to the registry. If you save your settings then the next time you open the AWC the change process will begin immediately and the application will be minimised to the system tray. This button is normally disabled. It is enabled when you make changes to the settings. This serves as a reminder that you should save your settings if you want them to be used in your next AWC session. Of course there is an option to save your changes automatically on the preferences screen.
Change: Change the picture immediately (keyboard shortcut = <Control+Alt+G>).
Clear: Clears the desktop (here comes the boss) . By default this just clears your desktop of any wallpaper and just displays the windows background colour. You can change the way the clearing process works in the preferences screen so that the wallpaper that was displayed before AWC started is restored when you select Clear. (keyboard shortcut = <Control+Alt+L>)
Preferences: Opens the preferences screen so you can change the way the images are displayed. This is where the real power of AWC lies and it is worth experimenting with the various settings to get things just how you want them. (keyboard shortcut = <Control+Alt+F2>)
To switch to by File mode open the View menu and select the by File option. The main form will change to show a view that helps you manage the files individually. While similar to the folder view the main list now shows the individual files and other information on which you can sort. There is also a thumbnail view available of the file currently selected in the list
Use the Add button to open a dialogue box that allows you to select one or more files. The dialogue box displays your images as thumbnails to make it easier to identify the ones you want. You can also add image files by dragging them from Windows Explorer and dropping them onto the file list.
You can sort the files into different orders by clicking the different column headings. Clicking the first time sorts in ascending order, clicking again resorts into descending order. To create a random sort order just click the Randomise button.
If you right click on an item in the list a popup menu will appear that allows you to do various things including display the selected image immediately (if you have a multiple monitor system you can can select which monitor you want to display it on).
There are several menus which allow you to access functions that are not available from the buttons on the main screen.
Change Pic
Displays the next picture in the list on the desktop.
Redisplay previous
Redisplays the picture that was displayed prior to the current one.
Delete
Deletes the physical file that is currently displayed on screen.
Clear the desktop
By default this simply removes the desktop picture and resets any positioning that has been set. This ensures that you can use Windows own desktop settings page to set a desktop wallpaper and it will use its own positioning rather than trying to use that previously set by AWC.
You can modify the way this function works so that it redisplays the desktop picture that was displayed before AWC started.
Preferences
Opens the preferences window.
Themes
The Themes menu allows yo to save your current settings (folders or files and preferences), to disk to be loaded up again later.
So, if you've picked folders containing family pictures and you've displayed them with a nice fade effect onto a background image of birthday wrapping paper, you can save that set-up as a theme called Birthday.set. The next time you want to view the theme you just need to load it again and all the pictures and settings will be restored.
Copy Filename
Copies the fully qualified path and file name of the file currently displayed to the clipboard.
Copy Folder List
Copies the set of currently selected folders to the clipboard in a format that can be used when creating your own program shortcuts.
Open For Editing
Opens the file that is currently displayed in the default editor for that file. Note that this requires that the file type has a file association configured for it. You can override this behaviour in the preferences screen, see below.
Rotate Desktops
On a multi-monitor system this moves the images that are currently displayed around on the desktops. So on a two monitor display the images will be swapped around. On a three monitor display the images that are on monitors 1-2-3 will be moved so they are on 2-3-1.
If you have hot keys enabled you can use the combination <CTRL>+<ALT>+<T> to rotate even when AWC is not visible.
By Folder
Switch to folder mode
By File
Switch to file mode
AWC Help
Opens this help file in your browser
About
Displays information about AWC including registered user name or evaluation time remaining.
Get Registration Code
Opens the AWC Registration page in your browser.
Enter Registration Code
Opens the Registration window so that you can enter your registration details.
You need to be logged into Windows as a user with admin rights to register. That's because the registration data needs to be written to an area of the registry that is accessible by all the users of the PC. If you have trouble registering under Vista because UAC is enabled see this support forum post for the solution: http://www.smurphy.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?t=3981.
Check For Newer Version
Logs onto the AWC web site and checks to see if a newer version of the software is available. If there is AWC can automatically open your web browser on the AWC download page. You can tell AWC to check for updates automatically on the General tab of the preferences screen.
Show Quick Start Guide
Pops up the Quick Start guide that was displayed the first time you used AWC. This is a very brief guide to how AWC works.
You can change the way that AWC works by setting your own preferences. The Preferences screen is activated by hitting the <F2> key or by selecting the Preferences option on the File menu.
There are a lot of different settings available here but the most common ones are switched on for you at installation time. To make finding the option you want easier the preferences screen itself is divided into tabbed pages which group similar types of option together.
This page allows you to change the basic options of how AWC should operate.
Dbl-click Icon
Allows you to set which menu option should be executed when you double click the icon in the system tray. Please note that on multi-monitor systems selecting Edit Pic as the option will mean that double clicking always opens the image on monitor number 1.
Program Icon
Allows you to select an icon for use in the system tray. The filename must be of type *.ICO.
Multiple Monitors - Show Different Images
When checked each of your monitor screens will display a different picture. By default this setting is on. if you want to show the same picture on all screens just uncheck the box.
No Repeats
When checked the AWC will ensure that no picture in the list of available pictures is redisplayed until all the pictures in the list have been displayed . The Files remaining indicator will decrease on each picture change until it reaches zero. When all images have been displayed the AWC will be restored to view and the you will be informed that there is nothing left to display. Clicking the Start button will reset the file list and begin the process again.
Preserve File List
Causes the current list of files to be saved to disk when AWC shuts down. Next time the AWC is loaded it will load this list rather than reading the specified folders for files. When combined with the No Repeats option this allows you to ensure that all the files will be displayed, without any repeating, even across sessions. So, if you start out with one hundred files when you click the Start button and have only displayed 25 of them by the time you turn off your PC, setting this option will mean that the next time you run AWC the 75 files that hadn't been displayed yet will be loaded instead of reading everything in the original folder.
Reset If File Not Found
In normal operation AWC will generate a file not found message if one of the files in the list of available pictures is deleted from the source folder after starting the change process and the picture is then selected for display. Restart On Not Found allows you to prevent the error message being displayed by forcing a restart of the change process instead. The current settings are used. Note that a restart will mean that the No Repeats history is reset.
Reset If No More Files
When checked the AWC will reset its file list when there are no files left in the current list. Normally a message is displayed to tell the user that all files have been shown.
Check For New
Enabling this setting will cause the AWC to check your selected source folder for any newly added files on each change of the wallpaper. Use with caution as very large lists of files could have an impact on slower PCs' performance.
Note that Windows stores a number of dates against a file: it is the 'Created date' that is used when checking for new. You can change this to use the 'Modified date' instead by checking the Use file's modified date option on the Filtering/Tiling tab.
Clear Wallpaper on exit
Indicates that the desktop wallpaper should be cleared on exiting from the AWC. When this option is set the AutoWall.bmp bitmap that is used to actually display the wallpaper is deleted from the hard disk when the application is closed.
Pause On Clear
This ensures that if the user clicks on the Clear the desktop menu item, the change process will be paused and will not display another image before the user is ready.
Restore on clear
Causes the desktop wallpaper that was displayed before AWC started to be redisplayed. Also known as here comes the boss mode. Please note that if the previous wallpaper was one that had been set by AWC in a previous session the original wallpaper will not be restored as the original wallpaper file will have been overwritten by the current one.
Confirm Before Change
When checked you will be asked if you want to allow the wallpaper to change when the timer fires.
Enable Hot Keys
Switches on global hot keys for certain actions. These will cause the related actions to operate even if AWC doesn't have the focus on the desktop or is minimised. Available keys are:
CTL+ALT+G : Change picture
CTL+ALT+R : Restore the AWC window
CTL+ALT+L: Clear the desktop picture
CTL+ALT+F2: Open the preferences screenUse EXIF Orientation
The EXIF standard specifies a means of storing additional information about an image in the image file itself. This is typically used by modern digital cameras to record data such as date and time etc. Many of the cameras can also detect their orientation when taking a picture (portrait, landscape etc.) and record it in the EXIF orientation field. Checking this checkbox makes AWC read the orientation field and automatically rotate the image so that it is displayed correctly on screen.
No Change If Locked
Tells AWC not to change the wallpaper if the screen is currently locked. The screen is considered to be locked both when the user explicitly sets it so and when the screen saver is running. Note that for versions of Windows before Windows 2000 the screen saver's Password protected check box must be checked for the screen to register as locked.
If you are going to use the AWC screen saver you should turn this setting off or the screen saver will never change the image.
Detect Screen Change
Tells AWC that the wallpaper should be redisplayed if the screen resolution is changed.
Minimise On Close
When checked the user can click on the close button and the program reacts as if they had clicked on the minimise button instead.
No Confirm On Delete
Normally you are asked to confirm that you want to delete a file and have to click a button to continue. Setting this option means that you are not prompted and the file is simply moved to the Recycle Bin.
Please note that Windows does not use the Recycle Bin when deleting files stored on network drives, it just deletes them permanently. This is a limitation of Windows itself not AWC.
No Hidden Folders
Tells AWC not to check for files in folders that are marked hidden by the operating system.
Run Automatically
Causes AWC to be run automatically when you log into Windows.
Remember Window
Causes AWC's main window's position and size to be remembered and restored next time the program starts.
Allow For Taskbar
If checked then only the area of the screen that is not covered by your taskbar is used when images are resized. The setting does not have any effect if your taskbar is set to auto-hide
Specify external editor
By default, if you select Open for editing from the Edit menu, the current file will be opened in the application associated with the file's extension in Windows. Here you can specify that your preferred editor should be used instead. Note that this override applies to all file extensions.
Refresh desktop after edit
When checked, AWC will redisplay the edited image on the desktop when you have finished editing. The editing session is deemed to be finished when you close the program you used to do the editing. Note that this option is not available if do not specify an image editing program and simply rely on the default association for the file.
This page lets you control how the picture is manipulated before being set as your wallpaper.
Stretching
You can select how pictures that do not fit the screen should be stretched or shrunk to give the fit you want.
When Best fit is selected, any pictures that are larger or smaller than the screen dimensions will be resized to the best fit for the screen, preserving the picture's shape (aspect ratio). Positioning settings are still used.
Full screen will stretch the picture in both dimensions as required to fill the screen completely. Obviously this is likely to distort the picture somewhat.
Worst fit is the opposite of best fit. The aspect ratio is still maintained, so there is no deformation, but the image is resized to fill the screen completely. This usually means that part of the picture will be off screen. Be careful what picture positioning you use or the results may not be what you expect.
If you check the Always shrink large pictures box, pictures that are too large to fit on the screen will be shrunk to fit even if you have selected No stretching otherwise.
Enforce max stretch
Sometimes images that are quite small in comparison to your screen size do not resize well: the stretching process can introduce unsightly jagged edges or a general lack of quality. Enforce max stretch allows you to ensure that no images are resized bigger than a ratio you select. So, if you set the ratio to 200% then no image will be resized to greater than 200% of it's original size.
Stretching Method
You are provided with a number of resizing methods. As you move down the list the picture quality of resized images tends to be better for a corresponding increase in CPU time required to perform the process. Simply choose the one that gives the best results for you.
Bilinear is the default and should provide reasonable stretching and shrinking results on most systems for minimal CPU use. Higher spec PCs (pretty much anything that will run XP) typically benefit from using Catmull-Rom or Lanczos.
Show File Name
Shows the fully qualified path name of the displayed file on the desktop.
Font
Allows you to select the font and letter size to use when the file name is displayed.
Background and Text Colour
Click on the coloured box to change the colours that will be used to display the file name.
Don't show file path / extension
Allows you to suppress display of the file's full path and/or extension.
Position
This drop down list allows you to specify where on the screen you want the file name to appear. As well as the obvious top left, bottom centre etc. there is the option to select the position a "smart" basis. This simply means that the position will depend on the position you have selected to display the image. So, if you select Top Smart and your image is displayed on the right hand side of the screen, the filename will appear at the top of the screen and right justified. If you change the image position the file position will change to reflect that change.
Opacity
This slider lets you set whether the file name is displayed fully opaque or with some level of transparency. You can change it from 100, fully opaque, down to 0 which is completely transparent.
Picture Frame
This option lets you display a frame around your image. A basic frame can be a plain colour or you can select a gradient that darkens or lightens as it gets further from the picture. But you can also use a graphical image as a picture frame. Click here for a full description of graphical picture frames.
Use Background Image
The setting allows you to choose an image to tile onto the screen background before pasting the wallpaper over the top of it. Some simple background images are provided in the \backgrounds folder of your AWC installation. To display a single full screen background image, a landscape for example, just specify a picture big enough to fill the screen.
You can tile the selected image onto the background or stretch it to fit the whole screen.
This tab contains settings to let you change the way the image appears on screen.
Transparency
Using transparency to display your wallpapers can give you some spectacular effects, particularly when you paint your wallpaper over a background image.
Set Picture Opacity
The slider lets you set the opacity with which the wallpaper image is displayed over the background. 100 is fully opaque and 0 is completely transparent.
Fade
Fading uses per-pixel alpha blending to paint the wallpaper image over the background using a gradual fade out to the edges of the image This can produce some stunning effects. For example try setting the background to display a landscape or star field and then display your photograph over the top using a fade effect. See the examples below to get a better idea of what can be achieved.
Click here to see some more examples (Web link).
Brightness/Contrast/Gamma Correction
The three sliders can be used to adjust the image to give you the best results on you particular monitor. Simply slide to the right to increase and to the left to decrease. If you double-click the value label the slider is reset to its default, unadjusted value.
Effects
Allows you to apply a special effect to the image before it is displayed. Click here for examples.
Sharpening
Allows you to apply a sharpening process to the displayed picture to improve image quality. Simply choose the one that works best for the type of pictures you are using. Note that on slow systems the additional time required to apply the filter can be significant.
Normally all pictures in the specified source folders are selected for display. This page allows you to filter the list of files selected based on their file date and/or file name. When you click the OK button after changing your filtering options, the list of files that will be used for display is automatically rebuilt.
Filter By Date
You can filter by a specific date or specify the age of the file.
Remember that the set of files that will be used is determined when you click the Start button. As a result your age setting will become out of date if the program is left running over night.
The Most recent only option has been provided to allow people with web cams to display the most recent capture on their desktops. You should ensure that the Check for new files ... option on the General tab is also checked.
Use File's Modified Date
Normally date filtering uses the created date for the file. Checking this option will cause the filter to use the modified date instead.
Filter By File Name
If you turn on filtering by file name you can refine the set of files that will be selected by providing a file specification that uses the wildcard character * and ?. You can define more than one set of files by separating the file descriptions with a semi-colon. For example using *vargas*.jpg;*hul*.jpg will select all files containing either vargas or hul.
Filter By File Size
This allows you to ensure that small files, such as thumbnails, are excluded when selecting the files to display. Just type in the the smallest file size in bytes that you want. For example, if you only want files larger than 5kB in size just enter 5000.
Tiling
By default the wallpaper picture is normally displayed once, in the position selected. You can have pictures tiled over the desktop instead. Turn on tiling by choosing Tile small pictures and set the picture size that will trigger the tiling process. For example, if you set the height to 500 and the width to 400 any image that is less then or equal to 500 pixels in height OR 400 pixels in width will be tiled. Note that this tiling setting will override Best fit mode: i.e. if switched on then small images will be tiled rather than resized.
Always tile will tile all pictures irrespective of their size. In Best fit mode the image will be resized and then tiled.
In Windows tiling is normally done by placing the first image in the top left corner of the screen and tiling from there. In AWC you have more control as the position settings you select will still be used. So, if you have selected the position Right, the first tile will be centred on the right hand edge and the other tiles placed accordingly.
Mirror Tiles
When checked the tiling process causes adjacent tiles to be mirror images of each other. If the Balanced checkbox is also set then the positioning of the mirrored tiles is adjusted so that they are balanced around the intersection point of the reflected images. Kind of hard to describe but play with it and you'll get the idea.
You can create a shortcut to run AWC that will override your saved settings. If you just want to override the picture folder you normally use then simply include the name of the folder you want to use instead of the saved one immediately after the program name (you need one space after the program name). For example in Windows XP you can put the following in the Target box of the shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\AWC\AWC.EXE" C:\Pics\Space Pics
This will override whatever picture folder you have saved and display pictures from the C:\Pics\Space Pics folder instead. All your other saved settings will still be used.
Note that starting AWC with a command line when there is already an instance of AWC running, will close the earlier instance.
You can take advantage of this functionality in a number of ways:
Simplest is to have a shortcut to AWC on your desktop and just drag and drop a folder onto it from Explorer. The dragged folder will be used as the picture source.
Create a shortcut in your SendTo folder so that it appears in your Send To list in Explorer.
Most sophisticated of all is to create a file association on folders, that adds AWC to a folder's context menu. In XP you do this by opening Explorer and selecting Tools/Folder Options on the menu. I haven't tried it on other versions of Windows. My thanks to Mark Holden for this suggestion which prompted me to modify the program so that the new instance would replace the old. Mark said he had a bit of a problem setting this up under XP: his notes on solving it are here. The upshot is to make sure you create the association on the Folder item and not the File Folder item.
Alternatively you can use a combination of command line switches to override all the saved settings. To use the switches just add them after the program name making sure you put a space between each switch. The basic syntax of each switch is the same: A slash (/) followed by a letter or word representing the option (e.g. D for directory) followed by a colon (:) followed by the setting to be used. For example:
"C:\Program Files\AWC\AWC.EXE" /Period:10M /D:"E:\Space Pics" /S:1
The few exceptions (there's always an exception) to this format are the /SAVE, /NOSPLASH, /NOTRANS and /NOTRAYICON settings which are used without any additional options.
The syntax for each switch is described on the next page >>.
