Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Slide Show On-Line Help Contents

To choose a topic using the mouse, point to an underlined topic and click the mouse button.  To use the keyboard, press Tab to select an underlined topic and press Enter.  For general information on Help, choose "How to use Help" from the Help menu.

For more information, click one of the following category names:

How Slide Show works

Using the Tool Bar

How to display a different collection of images

Changing the settings in the Configuration screen

Advanced Configuration Options

How to Skip Individual Images

How to Un-install Slide Show

How to change the delay between images

How to use Slide Show as a screen saver

Answers to common questions

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To learn more about the artists and photographers and their work...

How to reach Second Nature


How Slide Show works

When you installed the Second Nature software, the INSTALL program placed Slide Show in a new directory called SLIDESHW (or whichever directory you typed in its place).  INSTALL then created subdirectories to hold all of its accompanying images.

If you kept all the default settings, here is what happens:

Slide Show will run automatically each time you start Windows.  (It is installed in your Windows Startup group.)

Slide Show shows a new image once each day.

Slide Show selects images from the files in the "SLIDESHW\IMAGES\new collection" directory.

To begin using Slide Show

You control Slide Show using the Toolbar.  If you have installed the program with all the defaults, the Toolbar should be showing on your screen automatically.

If you don not see the Toolbar, you must start Slide Show manually.  Follow these steps:

1.	In the Program Manager window, open the Startup group or Slide Show group.

2.	Double-click on the Slide Show icon.

You can also use Slide Show as a Windows (3.1 or 95) screen saver.  See the screen saver help section for more information.

See also:

Using the Toolbar

Changing the settings in the Configuration screen

How to use Slide Show as a screen saver


Using the Tool Bar

Press this button...	...to do this:

Pause  	Regardless of the delay setting, the current image remains displayed until you release this button, or until you press "fast-reverse," "reverse," "play" or "fast-forward".

Fast Reverse	Press this button until the title or filename of the image you want to display appears in the Description line.  Slide Show reverts to that image.

Reverse 	Revert to the previous wallpaper image.

Play 	Advance to the next wallpaper image.

Fast Forward	Press this button until the title or filename of the image you want to display appears in the Description line, then release the button.  Slide Show advances to that image.

Select Images	Select another image or collection, and see other collections available from Second Nature, including phone numbers and ordering information.

Catalog	Displays an on-line catalog of other Second Nature Software collections.  This is available only on CD versions, and will require you to insert the CD.

Image Information	Displays information about the image and the artist.

Help	Read this help file.

Configure	Displays the configuration screen.  In that screen, you can change any of these Slide Show settings:

   Placement and special effects of wallpaper and screen saver images
   Effect size
   Delay before changing images
   Image collection
   Pointer and outline styles within Slide Show

See also:

Changing the settings in the Configuration screen


How to display a new collection of samples
How to display a new collection of images

1.	From the Toolbar, press the "Select Image" button.

2.  You will see the following:

3.	Using the combo-box, select the image collection you want to display.  Slide Show will display Second Nature image files (.SNX), Windows bitmap (.BMP) files, and .JPG files.  Then double-click the image you want to appear first.

See also:

How Slide Show works

Changing the settings in the Configuration screen


Changing the settings in the Configuration screen

"On" or "Off"	Turns the wallpaper or screen saver on or off.

"Placement"	Controls the position of the wallpaper or screen saver image on the screen.

Click here for a description of the options

"Special Effects"	Controls the way screen saver images are painted on the screen.

Click here for a description of the options

"Effect size"	Modifies the special effects described above.  A large effect size displays the image faster.  A small effect size displays the images more slowly.

"Display All Collections"	Causes Slide Show to display all the images from every installed collection, instead of displaying only the images found in the currently selected collection.  It will display all the images in the current collection before moving on to the next collection, unless Random Order is selected (see below).

"Random Order"	Displays an image from one collection, then one from the next collection, and so on.  This option has no effect if only one Second Nature image collection is installed.

"Captions"	Displays the image title/caption at the top center of the screen.

"High Quality"	Displays the images using the most appealing dithering algorithm.  If this option is turned off, the images do not display quite as well, but they decompress more quickly.  (Only under Windows 3.1).

"Tile Small Images"	If checked, Slide Show will tile very small images even if the "Placement" field is NOT tiled.

"Hide Minimized Icon"	If checked, the Slide Show icon will be hidden when you minimize the program.  To restore Slide Show when the icon is hidden, simply double-click the Slide Show icon in the "Slide Show" Program Manager group.  This only applies to Windows 3.1.

"Cycle"	Controls the length of time between changes in the wallpaper or screen saver display.  By default, Slide Show displays one new wallpaper image each day.

"Quick Start"	Allows you to quickly activate the screen saver by moving the mouse into the lower left corner (upper left in Windows 95) and leaving it there for two seconds, or by pressing the specified hot-key combination.

See also:

How Slide Show works

How to change the delay between images

How to display a new collection of images


Advanced Configuration Options

"Outline Style"	Sets the style of the borders in this window and the configuration window.

"Pointer Style"	Changes the appearance of the mouse cursor.  The default is a small, simple hand, but you can choose from three other styles.

"No right mouse credits"	Disables the "right mouse click" credits dialog -- when checked, Slide Show will not intercept and process right mouse clicks atop the desktop window.

"No quick help"	Disables the automatic "quick help" (the pale yellow help box that appears whenever you leave the mouse cursor atop one of our special buttons).


How to Skip Images

Press the "Select Image" button (the button with the green bitmap on it) in the Slide Show Toolbar.  The "Select Image" dialog will appear.  Click the right mouse button on the image you want to skip.  The "Edit Caption" dialog will appear.  Check the "Do not show this image" checkbox.  Click OK to return from the "Edit Caption" dialog.  The image slide will be marked with a red "X" (see above).  Click OK again to return from the "Select Image" dialog.


How to Un-install Slide Show

Run the Un-Install program (in the Slide Show group in Window 3.1, or from the Start, then Programs menus in Windows 95).  You will have the option of removing selected collections or all of the Slide Show collections and software.


How to use the Slide Show as a screen saver
How to use Slide Show as a screen saver

You can use the Slide Show toolbar to control the screen saver.  If you would like, you can also control the screen saver using the Windows Control Panel.

To configure Slide Show using the Windows 3.1 control panel:

1.	In the Program Manager window, choose Control Panel.

(Control Panel is usually in a program group called Main.)

2.	Choose Desktop.

3.	Find the Name option in the Screen Saver field.  In the Name option box, choose Second Nature.

4.	Choose OK, then close the Desktop and the Control Panel.

To configure Slide Show using the Windows 95 control panel:

1.	Right-mouse click on the Windows 95 Desktop.

2.	Select Properties.

3.	Select the Screen Saver tab.  You will find two Second Nature Screen Savers listed in the Screen Saver section.  One is the old 16 bit version, and one is the new Windows 95 32-bit version (it is labeled as such).  Normally, you should use the 32-bit version as it supports the new Windows 95 interface and password protection.  The 16 bit version is provided for completeness, only.

4.	Choose OK, to select it as the active screen saver, or Settings to change any of the screen saver settings.  You can also preview the screen saver full screen by clicking on Preview.


Placement Options

"Tiled"	Fills the screen with multiple copies of the image.  Use this option with small images (for example, the .BMP files that come with Windows and reside in your \WINDOWS directory).  Any image that precisely fits your screen will NOT be tiled.

"Best fit"	Attempts to fill as much of the screen as possible with one image (without distorting the image).

"No stretching"	Places one image (actual size) in the center of the screen.


Special Effects Options

"Standard"	Displays the image with one "paint" stroke.

"Mosaic"	Paints the image in a series of randomly placed tiles.

"Vertical curtain"	Begins the image at the sides of the screen and fills in toward the center.

"Horizontal curtain"	Begins the image at the top and bottom of the screen and fills in toward the center.

"Converge"	Begins the image at the edges of the screen and fills in toward the center.

"Reverge"	The opposite of Converge.

"UPC code"	Paints the image in a series of vertical lines filled in at random.

"Puzzle"	Builds the image from randomly placed puzzle pieces.

"Paint Can"	"Paints" the image with dripping paint.

"Chips"	Builds the image from triangular chips.

"Portals"	Paints the image using concentric circles.

 Vertical Blinds	Paints the image as a series of vertical blinds.

Horizontal Blinds	Paints the image as a series of horizontal blinds.

"Random"	Chooses any of the methods described above.


How to change the delay between samples
How to change the delay between images

To change the delay time between images:

1.	From the Toolbar, press the "Configure" button.

2.	Find the Cycle option (for Wallpaper or Screen Saver).

3.	Change the number and unit to a new setting  (5 minutes or 1 day or 3 hours, etc.)

4.	Choose OK to exit the Configuration screen.

See also:

How Slide Show works

Changing the settings in the Configuration screen


To learn more about the artists and their work...
To learn more about the artists and photographers and their work, or how to order more collections...

With many of our collections, you can learn about the artist or photographer who created the collection by clicking on the i (information) button on the Slide Show toolbar.  If information about the artist is unavailable, you will see a dialog describing how you can go about ordering other collections.

If you have ideas for other collections or you know of an artist or photographer you would like to promote, let us know!  Send a few nonreturnable pictures, cards, or other examples of the art.  Include an explanation of why you enjoy the artist or photographer and any information you have about how we could contact them.

Send it all to:
Second Nature Software

Attn:  Dorothy Hitt
1325 Officers Row

Vancouver, WA 98661


How to reach Second Nature

To order other collections by phone, call:

(503)-636-6803 or (888) 263-6287 (toll free)

Have your Visa or MasterCard information ready.

Note:  This number is for placing orders only.  Please use the technical support number (see below) for technical questions.  You are calling a company called The Shipping House.  They are a local shipping company that stocks all our collections, not affiliated with Second Nature Software.

Or, use our Internet WWW page:

www.secondnature.com

We maintain a complete, visual catalog of all our collections.  You may also purchase any collection directly from this site.  You can also download our latest Mac and Windows software, free.

Get technical support by calling:

1-360-737-0214

Note: Technical Support hours are Monday-Friday,

7:00am-4:00pm Pacific Time

To learn more about Second Nature, choose the "About" option in the Slide Show Toolbar system menu (the close box).


Answers to common questions

Q.  How do I make the images look better on the screen?

A.  Make sure you are running Windows in 256-color (or higher) mode.  To do this, your video display driver must support 256 colors, not just 16.

Q.  How do I find out which video driver I am using?  And if it does not support 256 colors, how can I use one that does?

A.   Under Windows 95, right-mouse click on the Windows 95 Desktop, then select Properties.  Click on the Settings tab.  Under Color palette, check to see that the number of colors says 256 Color or greater.

 Q.  What is the name of the screen saver module I need to select in the Windows control panel?

A.  Slide show or Slide Show - 32-bit.  The Slide Show entry is the 16 bit, Windows 3.1 version.  The Slide Show - 32-bit entry is the 32-bit, Windows 95/NT 4.0 version.

Q.  Occasionally, my machine will appear to lock up when Slide Show or the screen saver displays one of the images from a custom collection (a collection I have created from my own images, usually .BMP files).  Eventually the image is displayed, but only after a very long delay.  Why?

A.  This problem typically occurs when Slide Show asks Windows 3.1 (the problem is greatly reduced under Windows 95) to display a 24-bit (true color)  or 16-bit image on an 8-bit (256 color) or 4-bit (16 color) display.  If your display is capable of displaying 24-bit images but is currently set to 256 colors, consider running the Windows system setup application to switch your display driver.

Q:  I changed my video driver to the wrong 256-color driver using Windows 3.1 Setup (probably the "Video Seven 256 Color" driver, and now Windows will not run - all I get is a black screen (possibly with random colored bars or lines).  How do I get Windows to run again?

A:  Start your computer with a DOS formatted and bootable disk in your A: drive.  When you see an A:>, type:

C:

CD \WINDOWS

SETUP

Then use the arrow keys to move up to the "Display" line and select VGA.  Then press enter, then Enter again to accept the current version (it may ask you to insert other Windows disks to get files it needs).  Once you see the C:> again, Windows will now work again.

Then, contact your computer and/or video driver technical support to get information on how to install and select the correct 256-color driver for your system.

Q:  I get a message bar across the top of the screen when the screen saver tries to run saying "Not enough memory to display image".  I think I have plenty of memory.  Why?

A:  Depending upon your screen resolution and # of colors, each image can take up to 2.4 megabytes to display.  If you are using both the wallpaper (Slide Show or other) and screen saver, this can double to 4.8 megabytes, plus a decompression buffer for temporary memory requirements of up to 7.2 megabytes.  Here is a table showing how much memory is needed at various screen resolutions & colors:

Number of Colors

16	256	32-64K	16 Million

Screen Size

  640 X 480	154K	307K	614K	921K

  800 X 600	240K	480K	960K	1.44M

1024 X 768	393K	786K	1.54M	2.31M

1280 X 960	614K	1.22M	2.45M	3.66M

Remember to TRIPLE the above numbers to get the temporary memory requirements if you are running BOTH the screen saver and wallpaper and DOUBLE the above numbers if you are running only the screen saver OR the wallpaper.

In other words, at maximum size (1280 X 960) and 16 million colors, running both the screen saver and wallpaper, you would need to have above 11 megabytes of memory dedicated to your wallpaper and screen saver alone.

Q: What can I do to decrease memory requirements?

A:  You have three options:

1)  Change the "Placement" option in the Slide Show configuration dialog (click the button that looks like a wrench) to "No Stretching" instead of "Best Fit".  This will limit the images to 640X480 (They will be centered on your screen at higher resolutions).

2)  Change your display driver to one that uses fewer colors.  There is often little appreciable image quality improvement in images when using more than 256 colors because they contain highly optimized color palettes.

3)  Don not use both the screen saver and wallpaper.  Turn off whichever option you like least.

Q:  I have Windows 3.1 and my display driver is only 256 colors and I have set the Placement option to "No Stretching" and I still get the "Not enough memory to display image" at the top of the screen or a blank screen when the screen saver tries to run.  What do I do now?

A:  (This answer applies only to Windows 3.1 (not Windows 95).  This problem usually means that you have only 4M (or sometimes 8M) of memory and you do not have a "Swap File" or your swap file is not large enough.  A swap file is a place that Windows keeps programs and data that it does not currently need in order to free up memory for the current program that needs it.  It automatically "swaps" memory in and out of this swap file to keep all the programs you are running happy.

To check and/or change your swap file setting, run the "Control Panel" program (it is usually in the Program Manager "Main" group).  Then click on "386 Enhanced".  On the right side of the dialog box you will see a long button called "Virtual Memory".  Click it.  Next, you will see a dialog box that tells you what type of swap file you currently have and its size and location.  The key item here is the size.  It should be at least 3.5 megabytes.  If it is less than this, you can try to change it by clicking on the "Change" button.  This will "expand" the dialog, showing you a new "recommended size" at the bottom.  If this is larger than the current size, click "OK" to make this change (it will ask you to confirm).  Note that Windows will not use anything larger than its recommended size, so it does NOT help to override it and type in a bigger number.

If the new recommended size is not larger than 3.5 megabytes, then you probably do not have enough space on your hard disk for a larger swap file, or if you do, the free space is fragmented.  You can try running the DOS "Defrag" program (if you are running DOS 6.0 or higher) or the Norton or Central Point defrag programs if you have them, then repeat the above steps.  If that does not help, you will need to free up some space on your drive, or, if you are running Doublespace or Drivespace or Stacker, reduce the size of the stacked drive to free up space in the non-stacked partition for the swap file (it can not be in the compressed partition).  If this sounds like Greek to you, you may wish to ask for help from Microsoft or Stack technical support department or contact your company in-house support if you are lucky enough to have one.

Q:  I get a GP Fault, Insufficient Memory or Call to undefined Dynalink error when I try to run Slide Show.  What does this mean?

A:  Usually, a bad install.  One or more of our program files are corrupted.  This can occur for three reasons:

1)  The install disk was bad.  If this is the case, you would have received an "UNABLE TO READ FROM DRIVE A (or B)" error when doing the install.  You may have been able to continue by pressing "Cancel", but the files would still be bad on your hard disk.  You can get a new disk by returning your original to us addressed to "Technical Support" at 1321 Officers Row, Vancouver, WA 98661.  Let us know that you got this error and want a disk that works.

2)  If you did not receive the above error during install, then the problem is due to one of two things:

1.  Corrupted files on your hard disk (run CHKDSK /F or SCANDISK to fix), then reinstall, or

2.  Your video driver has a bug that will not let it stretch files to full screen.  Try changing our "Placement" option in our Configuration Dialog (press the "wrench" button on the Slide Show Toolbar) to "No Stretching" instead of "Best Fit".


Images

The graphics files that Slide Show displays on your screen.  The images that come with Slide Show are special compressed files (.SNX) that take up very little disk space (usually around 40 Kbytes each).  In addition to the images that came with the program, Slide Show can display bitmap files (*.BMP format) and .JPG files.


Startup Group

A special Windows group in the Program Manager.  Any application in the Startup Group runs automatically whenever you start Windows.


Description line

A line that shows the title or filename of the image Slide Show is currently displaying.


Wallpaper Image

Another name for the graphic images displayed by Slide Show.  Slide Show supports .BMP, .JPG and .SNX file formats.


Configuration

Just a high-tech word for the program's setup or configuration information.


Delay

The time that will elapse before  Slide Show displays a new image.


After Dark

Slide Show supports (but does not require) the After Dark screen saver for Windows.  See the screen saver help section for more information.