by SuperJerk (designed by Mad_Mike)

NOTE: This program requires Windows 2000 or Windows XP, and your desktop must be set to 32-bit color mode.

iMage-in allows you to place an "image in" your Windows 2000/XP desktop. These pictures appear on top of your wallpaper and icons. You can have the images change on a set interval to create mini-slideshows, use them as desktop shortcuts, make them transparent, have them overlapping, or just cover up that link to the Pokémon website so your friends don't see it.

Any image can be used as a slideshow. You can have each cycle forward, backward, or choose randomly among all the supported graphic files in a folder (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, and TIF formats). You decide how often each picture is updated. For example, you can have one image cycle forward through folder A every minute, one be chosen randomly from folder B every hour, and one not change at all.

You can use windows of nearly any size, and the aspect ratio of each image will be maintained. You can also set a specific image window size and have pictures stretch to fit into those dimensions.

Your settings are saved between sessions. (Erase the "iMage-in.dat" file in the program folder if you want to start over.) In other words, if you shutdown your computer, the same image windows will be created the next time you run the program.

Memory usage has been streamlined as much as possible. Still, the greatest memory savings are achieved by copying the images you intend to use into a new folder, then shrinking them all down to the dimensions you want iMage-in to use. The more image windows you create and the bigger the filesize of those images, the more memory ANY program of this nature will require. (Tip: Sometimes quitting and restarting iMage-in reduces the amount of memory it uses, because the settings dialog is not loaded until it is needed.)

Version 0.2 introduced a Group feature, which allows you to move several images at once. You can also specify Internet addresses to load pictures from, which makes the program useful for webcams, sites with a "Picture of the Day," and weather radar maps.

Also included in version 0.2 and higher are three icons: one from InsaniSoft, another from Internet artist mephisto, and one from the Oxygen Network's very own amnesia. If you see them around, please thank them for their contributions to this project!

NEW! Version 0.3 allows you to change the current image using the scroll wheel on your mouse. This is a handy way to cycle through all the pictures in a folder without wasting a single pixel on things like menus and window titlebars. (This feature may not work with all scrollwheels, particularly the newer kinds which don't "click" when you scroll.)

Version 0.3 also adds droplet support to the desktop shortcut feature. This means you can use an image as a shortcut to a program like Photoshop, then drag a graphic file out of Windows Explorer and drop it onto the image to launch Photoshop and open the picture in one step!

PROGRAM USAGE

When you start the program, it will create an "image in" your desktop (hence the program name). Have a little fun by dragging it around with the mouse. Keep holding down the mouse button while you press the arrow keys to position the image. Start holding down Ctrl, and the arrow keys will move it one pixel at a time. We would have added even more movement options but we were running out of fingers. :)

Once you have the image where you want it, right click on it and choose "Pin to desktop." This locks it in place so you won't move it by accident.

Right click on an image and choose "Always on top" or "Always on bottom" to keep it behind all other windows, or in front of all other windows, respectively. If neither of these is checked, the image will be treated as a normal window.

When you want to give the little guy someone to play with, right click on him and choose "Duplicate image." This will create a clone in the center of the screen. (As of version 0.2 you can give him up to 63 friends, but in real life he doesn't even have one. It's not because he's insane; it's just that when he eats, all the chewed food falls out his no-neck.)

To remove an image, right click on it and choose "Close image." The image will disappear from your desktop, and so will any shortcut settings you applied to it! Therefore, you should use this menu item with caution. If you close the final image window, the program will end. To exit the program without closing each image, use the "Quit" button (see below).

Drag a graphics file (BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, or TIF) out of Windows Explorer and drop it onto an image window to use that picture. You can also change the image to the next or previous one in the current folder by using the scrollwheel on your mouse (this feature does not work with all scrollwheels).

To change any other setting for an image, right click on it and choose "Properties." This will cause the following dialog to open:

Click on the image thumbnail to browse for a new picture file.

In the Group section, enter something like "no friends" for several images, and you can move all of them at the same time. Since the Cancel button only discards the changes you make to the dialog window, and not changes to the screen position of the image, you can easily move one image in a group without affecting the others. Here's how:

Right click on the image you want to move and choose "Properties." Change the group name temporarily (don't click on anything yet). Now you can move the picture around independently. When you click Cancel, the change you made to the group setting will be erased, and all of the images will move together again.

Click the "Shortcut" button to choose what action iMage-in should take when you double click the current picture. A new window will open where you choose the "Target" (the program to run, like Explorer.exe), the "Parameters" (you can leave this blank or enter something like /n to make Explorer.exe open in single-paned view), and the "Start in" folder. If you want every file that you drop on this image to be opened by the target program, check the box marked "Send all dropped files to this shortcut." Note that if you check this box, you will not be able to change the image by dropping a graphic file onto it (but you can still change it by right clicking and choosing Properties). If this box is NOT checked, graphic files that are dropped onto the image will change it, and all other dropped files will be ignored.

Here is an example of how to use the Anchor setting: Let's say you are using a square image of Britney Spears' face, and you have the view size set to 25% to hide her unsightly eye wrinkles. You choose the lower right anchor point, then load a rectangular image (oddly enough, it's also a picture of Britney Spears' face). Although one picture is a square and the other is a rectangle, the bottom right corner of the new image will still be in the same position on your screen, because that corner is "anchored" in place. (By the way, Britney Spears pictures are not included in the download file. We wanted to save something for a retail version.)

Another way to use the anchor setting is to select a view size (for example, 50%) and place an image in the center of your screen. Choose the center anchor point and start a slideshow. No matter what image is used, it will automatically be centered on the screen.

If you add pictures to a folder that is being used in a running slideshow, those pictures won't show up until you manually change the image. That's because the program keeps a list of pictures in memory so it won't have to scan the same folder over and over (and over). If you drag a graphic file onto a running slideshow, the slideshow will begin using pictures from the new image's folder.

Upon starting, iMage-in restores the images that were shown the last time you exited the program. However, if an image's slideshow setting is "Random," the program will instead choose a random picture when it starts up. This is so you can set the delay to something high like 99 hours and only see a new image every time you reboot, or every time you play Everquest for 99 straight hours.

Picture windows in iMage-in version 0.2 or higher can update from the Internet, and the Shortcut feature allows you to double click an image to visit the corresponding website. Just check the box next to "URL" and paste the full address (for instance, http://www.weatherpictureoftheday.com/days/images-halfsize/today.jpg) in the space provided, then set up the Shortcut (continuing the example, enter http://www.weatherpictureoftheday.com in the "Target" box).

If an image window changes to a red square, it means the program was unable to read the picture file because it is improperly formatted, no longer in the folder or on the website, corrupt, etc. Either that or you are pointing it to a picture of a red square. :)

If you set up an Internet slideshow and an error occurs while downloading, the image will stay the same until the next scheduled update.

INSTALLATION

1. If you have Windows 2000, make sure you have the following file in your Windows\System32 folder (this system file will be downloaded from the Microsoft website and is required by many programs; Windows XP users should already have this file):

• GDIplus.dll
  Download the EXE and run it. Extract the file to your Windows\System32 folder.

2. Download iMage-in (353K). Remember, by clicking the link you are agreeing to accept any and all associated risks.

3. Open the downloaded file. It will prompt you for a destination folder. You can use any folder you wish.

4. Create a shortcut to iMage-in.exe in your Startup folder, on your desktop, etc.

UNINSTALLATION

1. Delete the folder you created during the installation.

2. Delete any shortcuts you created.

3. The system file you installed (GDIplus.dll) is used by many other programs, so there is no need to delete it.

FEEDBACK

Comments should be posted in this topic at Aqua-Soft (free membership is required).

If you do not wish to join this friendly Aqua community, you can contact us by e-mail. Our address is InsaniSoft followed by the @ sign followed by excite dot com.

The possible uses for this program are limited only by your iMage-in-ation!