gPhotoShow Pro - FAQ
3. gPhotoShow does not rotate my pictures
5. How can I display a text over my images ?
6. How do I control how long a specific photo is displayed ?
7. How do I set the order of slides ?
8. How do I make the slide show end after all the slides are shown ?
9. Which is the quickest way to display a slide show with my pictures ?
12. Is it possible to create my own frames ? How ?
16. Is it possible to display two different slideshows on a dual screen system ?
17. How is it possible to configure gPhotoShow to display 4 pictures at a time ?
22. Is it possible to display all video with VLC Media Player (VideoLan) ?
25. Is it possible to display images following a specified order without renaming all files ?
26. Is it possible to add a pause between audio files ?
35. I created a standalone screensaver that I am distributing on my web site, when users launch the installer they get a security warning message that lists the "Publisher" as "Unknown Publisher". How do I set the Publisher to be my company?
36. How do I digitally sign a standalone screensaver or slideshow ?
1. I configured gPhotoShow Pro with some folders but when it starts I only see a black screen, why ? How can I fix the problem ?
gPhotoShow displays a black screen ast startup while it is building the files list or when it can't load any file. The first thing to do is to check the folders you entered in the gPhotoShow folders list, for example make sure they contain at list some images with jpg file extension, then click on the "Count" button, gPhotoShow will scan the configured folders and will display the number files found. If the number stays at 0 it means gPhotoShow doesn't find any file with the supported file extensions.
If your folders are located on a slow device (USB or network) and you have a huge number of files it is possible gPhotoShow takes several minutes to scan all folders, during this time the screen stays black. To improve startup time enable the option "Background files list synchronization" in the "Files Options" section, when it is enabled gPhotoShow uses a files list saved locally and after the first run it will start within few seconds.
2. gPhotoShow does not rotate my pictures correctly. Pictures rotated with the windows xp picture viewer are not shown correctly.
The problem is not in gPhotoShow but in Windows XP viewer, it ignores the exif header and doesn't reset the orientation flag so when gPhotoShow loads the picture it thinks the picture needs to be rotated. The same happens with other programs. If you manually rotate your pictures it's better to leave the gPhotoShow rotation flag disabled.
3. gPhotoShow does not rotate my pictures
When the checkbox "Automatically rotate images..." is enabled gPhotoShow rotates images accordingly with the info in the exif header, but some digital cameras (and most scanners) don't set this flag so gPhotoShow doesn't know how to rotate them.
EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format, and is a standard for storing interchange information in image files, especially those using JPEG compression. Most digital cameras now use the EXIF format to store additional information about the images.
5. How can I display a text over my images ?
gPhotoShow can get the text to display over your images from different sources.
1) "Description" field of the Exif header
2) DESCRIPT.ION file
3) .gprop file (gPhotoShow Image Properties file)
You should choose the method which better suits your workflow. For example if
you edit all your images and your editor is able to set the
"Description" field in the exif header, your could simply set your
text there and set the gPhotoShow option "Exif - Description Data" in
the "Image Options" section.
If you wish to display a text on some images but you don't wish to edit them,
you can use gPhotoShow Image Properties:
1) Set all your preferred options for the slide show
2) In the "Advanced Options" section, enable the option "Use configured keys to..."
3) Click on the "Keys..." button and set a key for "Open Image Property" action.
4) Start the slide show (or the screen saver)
5) When you see a pictures where you wish to add a description press the key you configured in step (3)
6) Now a dialog is open, enable the option "Edit Description", insert your description and click on the "Save" button
gPhotoShow will create a file with the same name as your image but a .gprop file extension.
You can edit this file with gPhotoShow in two ways:
- Start the slide show (or screen saver) again
- Wait for the picture to be displayed and press the key you configured in step (3) before
or
- Locate the .gprop file for the picture your wish to change by using windows explorer
- Double click on it
6. How do I control how long a specific photo is displayed ?
If you wish to change the display time for a specific image you must use gPhotoShow Image Properties:
1) Set all your preferred options for the slide show
2) In the "Advanced Options" section, enable the option "Use configured keys to..."
3) Click on the "Keys..." button and set a key for "Open Image Property" action.
4) Start the slide show (or the screen saver)
5) When you see the pictures where you wish to change the duration time press the key you configured in step (3)
6) Now a dialog is open, enable the option "Custom Duration", insert the time in seconds and click on the "Save" button
gPhotoShow will create a file with the same name as your image but a .gprop file extension.
7. How do I set the order of slides ?
gPhotoShow can order images by file name or by date/time. If you wish to show your images in a specific sequence, you must set the "Sort by File Name" option in the "Slideshow Option" section . Then your must rename your images to give them the wished sequence (for example the first image could be renamed to "001.jpg", the second "002.jpg" and so on)
8. How do I make the slide show end after all the slides are shown ?
Just set the option "Image List Empty" in the "Advanced Options" section of the gPhotoShow configuration dialog
9. Which is the quickest way to display a slide show with my pictures ?
Open Windows explorer, find the folder where you stored your pictures, click with the right mouse button on the folder and choose "Start SlideShow with gPhotoShow" from the context menu.
10. How can I change the options of the slide show started from the directory context menu (I click with the right mouse button on a directory and choose "Start SlideShow with gPhotoShow") ?
Open Windows Explorer, find the directory where gPhotoShow is installed (usually c:\program files\gPhotoShow) right click on the file gPhotoShow.gss and choose "Edit Slideshow".
11. After installing gPhotoShow I right-clicked on a directory in windows explorer and in the context menu I see the entry "Start Slideshow with gPhotoShow". I don't want this item how can I remove it ?
Removing that context menu item is very easy, from the windows start menu run "gPhotoShow SlideShow Maker" then click on the button "Tools" and from the menu choose: "Folders Context Menu" -> "Remove item Start Slideshow with gPhotoShow"
11. I divided my pictures in categories, each category is stored in a folder, it works fine but every time I wish to change category in the screen saver I need to open the gPhotoShow configuration window and enable/disable the folders. Is there an easier way ?
Starting from v2.5.0 gPhotoShow installs a custom version of ControlSS, this ControlSS version can change the gPhotoShow Screen Saver configuration either automatically or manually. The first thing to do is to create a .gss file for each of your category and put them in a folder. Then, after you have installed v2.5.0 or later, you must configure ControlSS to use that folder. To do this open the ControlSS menu and select "gPhotoShow Settings" -> "Configure", in the window that opens set the folder where you stored the gss files and set the automatic change options (if you like them). After you close the window all the gss files you created are listed under the "gPhotoShow Settings" menu and you can now easily change category either manually or automatically.
12. Is it possible to create my own frames ? How ?
Bitmapped frames are simple jpeg files together with a small text files that tells to gPhotoShow where to display the image. To create your own frames is very easy:
1) Save your frame as jpeg file in the folder "Frames" under the
gPhotoShow folder (usually c:\program files\gPhotoShow)
2) Find the coordinates of the rectangle inside the frame where the image should
be displayed and write them in a text file with the same name as the jpeg file
but with a .fsd file extension. The fsd file is a text file with this format:
[Frame]
Left=50
Top=50
Right=974
Bottom=718
FillBkg=1
Where Left, Top, Right, Bottom are the coordinates of the rectangle where gPhotoShow will display the image. FillBkg can 0 or 1, when 1 gPhotoShow will file that rectangle with the background color, when 0 gPhotoShow will not fill the background.
13. I have some panoramic images saved as jpeg, I tried to insert them in the "Web Pages and Panoramas" section but they looks weird. Is there a way to see these images moving on the screen ?
The "Web Pages and Panoramas" section is only for 360x180 degrees spheric panoramas. Panoramas saved as .mov can also have different settings but jpeg can only be full spheric panoramas. For simple rectilinear panoramas you must use the Panoramic Images section, files in this section are scrolled automatically on the screen.
14. I have just few panoramic images mixed together with other pictures, is there a way in gPhotoShow to scroll automatically these panoramic images without moving them to another folder ?
To do it you need to edit Image Properties for your panoramas:
1) Set all your preferred options for the slide show
2) In the "Advanced Options" section, enable the option "Use configured keys to..."
3) Click on the "Keys..." button and set a key for "Open Image Property" action.
4) Start the slide show (or the screen saver)
5) When you see the panorama you would like to see scrolling on the screen press the key you configured in step (3)
6) Now a dialog is open, enable the option "Auto Scroll", choose the direction, duration time and click on the "Save" button
The next time you will see that picture it will move on the screen and you will enjoy your panorama !
15. When you add images to a folder that is already in the folder list in gPhotoShow, how do gPhotoShow updates the files list so that the images added to the folder will be included in the screensaver?
If you add images when gPhotoShow is not running it will automatically detect them on next startup and restarts the slideshow from beginning. If you add images while gPhotoShow is running it will detect and use them when all current images are displayed but only if you enabled the option "At the end of the show rebuilds the full file list" in the "Files Options" section. When this option is checked images list is updated when the slideshow finishes (ie. all images has been displayed).
Another option is to configure a hotkey for the action "Restart from beginning" (restart will also rebuild the list) so after copying the new images just press the restart key to start displaying the slideshow with the updated images.
16. Is it possible to display two different slideshows on a dual screen system ?
By default gPhotoShow Pro doesn't allow to display a different slideshow on each monitor but there are some command line switches which allows to run more than one instance of gPhotoShow Pro. Each instance can work only on the specified monitor, in this way you can run a different slideshow on each monitor.
/mX
Where X is the number of the monitor used for the slideshow. This option also disables the multiple instance check and allows more than one copy of
gPhotoShow to run.
To start gPhotoShow Pro on monitor #1
gPhotoShow.exe /m1 /s mygss.gss
To start gPhotoShow Pro on monitor #2
gPhotoShow.exe /m2 /s mygss.gss
/qX
Closes gPhotoShow Pro instance that display a slideshow on monitor X
To close gPhotoShow Pro on monitor #1
gPhotoShow.exe /q1
To close gPhotoShow Pro on monitor #2
gPhotoShow.exe /q2
A full path name for gPhotoShow.exe and for the slideshow must be used !
For example to start 2 slideshows you could create a simple batch file. Create a text file with notepad,enter the following 2 lines:
start "" "c:\program files\gPhotoShow\gPhotoShow.exe" /m1 /s
c:\pictures\myslide1.gss
start "" "c:\program files\gPhotoShow\gPhotoShow.exe" /m2 /s
c:\pictures\myslide2.gss
Save the file with .BAT file extension and double click on it to run the
command.
17. How is it possible to configure gPhotoShow to display 4 pictures at a time ?
This feature is called "Split Screen" and is available only when gPhotoShow Pro is used on a single monitor system. To enable it open the "Multiple Monitors" section of the configuration window and change the setting labeled "Split Screen" by choosing "Horizontal and Vertical"
18. Sometimes ControlSS disables the Screensaver and displays a red circle with a line through it. For example when Screensaver activates and you move your mouse, which obviously cuts off the Screensaver, then ControlSS disables the screensaver for some time. Why ?
The behavior you noticed is caused by Windows Vista itself, Microsoft decided to disable the screen saver for some time when it is interrupted within few seconds and ControlSS is simply showing you what is happening. Also other programs may disable the screen saver, for example media players or CD/DVD burning programs often do it for obvious reasons.
ControlSS never disable or enable the screen saver by itself, it simply displays the screen saver activation flag.
19. Periodically gPhotoShow stops working, it doesn't start automatically when my computer is idle. I have to open the windows display applet, configure the screen saver first to none then to gPhotoShow again. Is there a way to fix this ?
On windows screen savers never start by themselves. It is Windows itself who detects when the system is idle for the specified amount of time and starts the configured screen saver so this is basically a windows issue. There are several possible causes for this behavior, some wireless mouses and keyboards prevent the system from being idle so when they are connected the screen saver never starts. Windows Vista and 7 disable the screen saver for some time when it is interrupted within few seconds. Other programs may disable the screen saver as well, for example media players or CD/DVD burning programs often do it for obvious reasons. You could run the ControlSS utility installed by gPhotoShow, it display the screen saver status with an icon in the tray bar so you can see when it gets disabled and enable it again with the ControlSS menu.
20. I have troubles playing avi files from gPhotoShow, I hear sounds but there is no video. Is there a way to fix this issue ?
21. I have troubles playing mov files from gPhotoShow, often the program crashes or hangs while playing video. Is there a way to fix this issue ?
22. Is it possible to display all video with VLC Media Player (VideoLan) ?
By default gPhotoShow plays avi,wmv and mpg files by using Windows Media Player ActiveX. Mov files with Apple QuickTime ActiveX. On some systems for unknown reasons these components don't work correctly with third party programs. A way to work around the problem is to install the free media player VLC (VideoLan). gPhotoShow has a tight integration with this player and it should work better than Media Player and QuickTime. Here is how to play all video files with VLC:
1) Download and install VLC
2) Open the gPhotoShow configuration window
3) Choose the "Video and Animations" section
4) Click on the button "Configure Video File Types..."
5) On gPhotoShow Pro v5.0 and newer simply choose the option "All files format specified above"
6) Click on OK and now gPhotoShow is ready to use VLC.
On older gPhotoShow Pro versions:
1) Uncheck the item "Include Windows Media files"
2) Uncheck the item "Include Mpeg files"
3) Check the item "Others" and enter the text "avi;wmv,mpg" (without quotes !)
4) Click on OK and now gPhotoShow is ready to use VLC.
23. Is it possible to configure gPhotoShow to display 3gp, m2ts video files (or any other video file format) ?
gPhotoShow can play almost any video file format by using the free media player VLC (VideoLan). Here is how to add additional file extensions to the gPhotoShow configuration:
1) Download and install VLC
2) Open the gPhotoShow configuration window
3) Choose the "Video and Animations" section
4) Click on the button "Configure Video File Types..."
5) Tick the option "Others", then add all file extensions you wish to display with gPhotoShow separated by semicolon or comma (see picture)
25. When using VLC to play video gPhotoShow displays file title for some seconds, is it possible to disable this feature ?
Yes it is possible but it must be done from the VLC main window. Run VLC and open the menu Tools->Preferences
then click on "Subtitle & OSD" and remove the tick from the option labeled "Show media title on video start".
24. I upgraded my monitor to a widescreen one but now there are black bars on both sides of my images. Is there a way to avoid them ?
It is very easy to remove the black bars by configuring gPhotoShow to stretch ( or crop ) your pictures. Open the gPhotoShow Pro configuration window then select the section "Images->Display Options". Here you can choose either "Stretch image to fit the screen" or "Crop image to fit the screen".
Depending on the aspect ratio of your images and your monitor it is possible you need to change the value in the field "Limit for image stretching/cropping:". If the default value doesn't work (ie. images are not stretched/cropped) try raising it, here are some typical values for the Limit field:
18 : Allows to stretch/crop images with 16:10 aspect ratio
28 : Allows to stretch/crop images with 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratio
45 : Allows to
stretch/crop images with 16:10, 3:2 or 4:3 aspect ratio
25. Is it possible to display images following a specified order without renaming all files ?
Yes, it's is very easy. You can provide to gPhotoShow one or more lists of files ordered in the way you wish. Simply create a text file with a filename (with full path) on each line then save it with .glst file extension. Save it in a folder scanned by gPhotoShow (and different from the folder where the images are stored) and remove any other image from that folder, set sequential display with no sort and gPhotoShow will display images exactly as they are ordered in the text file. As last thing make sure the option "Include shortcuts to files and folders (*.lnk) and files lists (*.glst)" in the "Files Options" section is ticked.
26. Is it possible to add a pause between audio files ?
Yes, it's possible. Simply create a wav or mp3 file with the duration you wish and save it as pause.mp3 (or pause.wav) inside the gPhotoShow installation folder (usually c:\program files\gPhotoShow)
27. When I start gPhotoShow Pro I get a message saying that DirectX 9 is not installed or some files are missing. My brand new computer was pre-installed with Windows 7 which includes DirectX 11. When I run the dxdiag utility, it shows DirectX 11 is installed correctly. How can I correct this situation so I can use Pan and Zoom ?
It doesn't matter what dxdiag utility reports, if gPhotoShow gives that message it means at least one file is missing. This is normal (on a brand new computer too) because even if DirectX are already installed with Window 7 or Vista some key files are missing and Microsoft doesn't allow to distribute these files alone, the only solution is to download and run the DirectX web installer. It checks your DirectX installation and downloads all missing files, here is the link to Microsoft web site where the installer can be downloaded:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en
30. Where does gPhotoShow saves the error log file and other temporary files ?
The error log and files list caches are usually saved inside the user profile directory: c:\users\your-user-name\AppData\Roaming\gPhotoShow
However if gPhotoShow runs as logon screen saver that location is usually not available so gPhotoShow saves them in the windows temp folder: c:\windows\temp\gPhotoShow
28. I configured gPhotoShow Pro as logon screen saver but when it starts I only see a black screen, why ?
gPhotoShow displays a black screen when it can't load any file. When started as logon screen saver gPhotoShow runs under a very limited user account so it is possible this user hasn't the rights to read the configured folders. Try to add some pictures in a folder created directly under the root of the C drive (c:\mypics), add this folder to gPhotoShow and set it again as logon screen saver. If these pictures are displayed it means the other folders you have configured can't be accessed by that limited user, you have to check permissions of those folders and make sure "everyone" has read permission.
29. On my computer Pan and Zoom is not smooth, movement is jerky and I need to set at least 16 seconds as delay to have a good pan and zoom.
For a number of
reasons gPhotoShow is not designed to pan&zoom across an image at high
speed like a video game. It is designed to slowly perform the animation,
if images are big 16 seconds can be a too short time. Optimum times are
between 20 and 40 seconds, it mostly depends on image size and with big
images you could try with a higher time.
The frame rate is set at about 25 fps, this allows gPhotoShow to run on
most computer without loading cpu too much but with this frame rate it can't move images
around at high speed with a smooth animation. Cpu load is important for several reasons, on
servers a screen saver can't take all cpu because there are important
programs running in background and a cpu running at high speed consumes
much more electricity, this is important for a program that runs for hours.
There is another possible cause for jerky animations, when it is run as screen saver gPhotoShow
runs at the lowest priority so if you have
any other program (for example antivirus or disk defragger) that
starts working when the screen saver is active this could steal all cpu from gPhotoShow and cause slowdowns and jerky animations.
30. On my computer Pan and Zoom is not smooth even if I set rather high delay between images, I also tried DirectX cross fade but it is jerky and when performing transitions gPhotoShow has 100% cpu load.
Pan&Zoom and DirectX cross fade require DirectX 9 and a display adapter that
has hardware support for DirectX 9. All display adapters that are able
to run the windows Aero interface should be OK. Older display adapter
may or may not work, more likely they work but with an awful slowness
taking 100% cpu time during alphablend operations (when images are mixed
together). As a reference on a low end laptop with with a dual core CPU and 2 monitors connected gPhotoShow takes less than 20% of cpu when performing Pan&Zoom and
about 1-2% during DirectX cross fade transitions.
If you are sure your hardware is OK and supports at least DirectX 9 (DirectX 11 is OK) then it is possible the problem is caused by outdated drivers or by some kind of problem with DirectX installation, run DxDiag to diagnose and fix DirectX problems.
34. Can gPhotoShow Pro display private photos from my Flickr photostream ?
Yes, by using the Flickr plugin gPhotoShow Pro can download and display public and private photos from Flickr photostreams, groups and sets (how to create a Flickr screen saver with gPhotoShow Pro)
35. Can gPhotoShow Pro display raw files of digital cameras ?
gPhotoShow Pro uses Microsoft WIC to load images, WIC architecture allows manufacturers to provide codecs for their proprietary raw file formats. Nikon, Canon, Sony and Pentax provide such codecs, search on their web sites for "RAW codec", download it and install. After you have successfully installed the new codec gPhotoShow will be able to load raw files of your camera, open gPhotoShow configuration window and add the file extension of your raw in the field labeled: "Additional file extensions"
31. Is it possible to display on primary monitor files from one folder and on the second monitor files from another folder?
Yes, it is possible by using filters. In the Filters section of the configuration window select monitor #1, enable the options Include and Full File Name Contains then in the text box enter an expression to identify your folder, for example if folder name is folder1 enter: *\\folder1\\*
Do the same for monitor #2 but enter the name of the second folder: *\\folder2\\*
32. I am currently in the process of upgrading my computer and I need to transfer this application over to the new computer, is there an easy way to copy all gPhotoShow settings from my old computer to the new one ?
Screen saver settings can be exported/imported very easily. Run gPhotoShow by using the shortcut "gPhotoShow SlideShow Maker" now click on the Load button, from the menu choose "Load from Registry" then click on the button Save, choose "Save to file as..." and save to a file of your choice. Then move this file to the new computer and do the opposite. "Load from file" and "Save to Registry"
33. My computer has an ATI Radeon display adapter, when using DirectX Pan and Zoom or crossfade pictures are not sharp, they look blurred/pixelated as they were low resolution pictures. Is there a fix for this issue ?
This is a common issue with some ATI display adapters, the drivers use low quality textures in order to improve performances. To fix the issue open the Catalyst Control Center, 3D Options, open the "AA Mode" or "Anti-Alias" section (the exact name depends on the display adapter) and move the settings towards "Quality".
34. I purchased a license of gPhotoShow Pro for my laptop. Can I install it on my desktop with the same registration key, or do I need to purchase a separate license ?
You can use the same registration on both your computers. The gPhotoShow license allows you to install the program on more than one computer provided you use the computers personally. In other words you can install and register it on all computer you wish provided ONLY ONE copy is used at any time. If the computers are used by different persons you need a license for each computer. Here is the gPhotoShow License Agreement
35. I created a standalone screensaver that I am distributing on my web site, when users launch the installer they get a security warning message that lists the "Publisher" as "Unknown Publisher". How do I set the Publisher to be my company?
36. How do I digitally sign a standalone screensaver or slideshow ?
To avoid unknown publisher warning screens when your screensaver is downloaded or installed, you must add your digital signature to the screensaver setup file generated by gPhotoShow Pro. This is called code signing.
Please note that before gPhotoShow Pro version 6.4 you can not sign screensaver SCR files directly. You can only sign the screensaver setup program. Starting from gPhotoShow Pro 6.4 you can also sign the scr file (exe in case of slideshow) created by gPhotoShow.
Step 1 - Obtain your code signing certificate
To sign files, you need to have your own code signing certificate. Obtain your code signing certificate from one of the certificate issuing authorities such as Verisign, Thawte or Comodo. Cheap code signing certificates can be purchased from K Software
Step 2 - Sign your files using code signing software
Once you have obtained your code signing certificate files, use any code signing software to sign your screensaver setup package using your code signing certificate files. The most popular way is to use SignTool.exe which is available as a part of the Microsoft Windows SDK. A good alternative is kSign a free utility created by k Software