I'm separating a discussion we had in another thread where we were discussing vacation photo tips. Let's talk about setting up a slide show as a screen saver.
We have our travel photos always running as slide shows when the computers aren't in active use, and it is fun to reactivate memories of special times we had in those places.
Roz, how would I do this on my Mac? I'm sure it's easy but I don't know where to begin....
Just go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu) and click on Desktop & Screen Saver. Under the Screen Saver tab, pick the folder which contains the pictures you want to display. If you choose the Pictures folder, it should rotate through all your photos. Also, be sure to click on Options so you can choose things like cropping the picture to fit on the screen and whether you want random rotation, etc.
You can set the idle time before the screen saver starts, and also choose a "Hot Corner" that will start the slide show when you move the cursor there.
You can also choose a Desktop picture from the other tab.
And of course you can generate a slide show (with music) from iPhoto, although then you have to be running iPhoto to make it start.
Roz, I am to you! Next time we see each other, drinks are on me!!
The only thing I didn't quite understand was the HOT CORNER part, I chose the upper left corner but am I supposed to see something to click on? You should work at the Apple store Genius Bar!
Hi Mindy, The hot corner activates when you put your mouse arrow on that corner. I don't like hot corners myself 'cause I always seem to hit it when I don't want it!
I also have (on my mac) a screen saver program of Google maps of Rome. Nice to see where I have been from the satellite view.
Originally posted by Pokey: The only thing I didn't quite understand was the HOT CORNER part, I chose the upper left corner but am I supposed to see something to click on?
No you don't click; it's just when you slide your cursor off the screen at that corner, it will start the slide show, so you don't have to wait for it to kick in automatically.
I moved my dock to the left side of the screen and made my hot corner the bottom right, since I don't often put the cursor down there as there's nothing much there to click on. Note: to move your dock, choose Dock from System Preferences.
I have been using Macs since the very first one in 1984, so I've had plenty of experience!
I get a black screen after 5 min. even though I did a "test" and everything looked fine. and my hot corner doesn't seem to work. oh well. something else to ask about at my next OneToOne session
Mindy
p.s. Nice framed photos Cameron. I wonder how many of us have the same photo of the Ponte Vecchio?
I get a black screen after 5 min. even though I did a "test" and everything looked fine.
Mindy, try restarting your computer and seeing if it works better. I don't know if that will make a difference, but I often find that just rebooting clears up problems that I can't explain.
Another thing I just remembered: Especially if you have a lot of photos, the first time you run the slide show it can take quite a while to get it started. I think the computer is "counting up" all the pictures and calculating the display sequence. After that, it should run more quickly.
I think that is because you have your display set to "sleep" after 5 minutes. Go to your System Preferences panel and click on Energy Saver. Where it says "Put the display to sleep when the computer is inactive for:" you can adjust the time from 1 minute to never. I like to set it for 15 or 20 minutes. I figure that's long enough to see the slides because after 15 minutes or so I've probably left the room.
By the way the hot corners are also handy for not letting the screen saver come on. For instance if you're playing a movie or presentation, you can move your cursor to the corner you've set so that the screen saver doesn't come on.
Slow Travel Talk 
to you! Next time we see each other, drinks are on me!! 
and my hot corner doesn't seem to work. oh well. something else to ask about at my next OneToOne session 
