Photo Screensaver

The Photo Screensaver uses GDI+ and renders images in Polaroid-style. It can scan a directory, or find images anywhere using Windows Search. Can be run on multiple monitors, and even supports stand-alone mode for other purposes (DJ, party).

Everyone loves screensavers! Photo screensavers are fun because you can show off your own photos in creative ways. This project will step you through creating a Windows screensaver to show off your photo collection. Learn about GDI+ and what it takes to build a custom screensaver.

As a screensaver (.scr extension) it's pretty straight-forward. Copy it to your Windows folder and it will show up in your screensaver list. If you run it with the /c extension, you'll get the configuration window. This is how Windows shows screensaver settings. I should point out that this screensaver only works on one monitor.

If you use the .exe extension, it will run in stand-alone (party) mode. This means, that moving the mouse won't exit it. You'll need to press Escape to kill it. This is handy to show images on the screen during a party. Here's the cool thing: if you are monitoring a folder and images are moved into that folder while it's running, they'll be added to the mix.

A DJ in England used this mode to allow guests to send cameraphone pictures via Bluetooth where they got copied to the folder and showed up on the screen soon after! If you have more than one monitor, stand-alone mode lets you choose the monitor when it starts up. This lets you keep your music software (or other stuff) on one screen, and the images on another (perhaps projected).