Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Before Using Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

Screen Saver Fundamentals

Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver by Dialog Box

Commonly Asked Questions

De-Installing Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

Trouble Shooting

About Thomas Kinkade

About Willow Road Software

For Help on Help, Press F1


Screen Saver - Settings

This brings the user to the screen saver control panel.

Click on the portion of the Control Panel for which you desire information.


Commonly Asked Questions

Q. The colors of my images look wrong.  What could be the trouble?

A. You might not have the colors for your display adjusted right.  Check the Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver User's Guide to see what the monitor's color settings should be to make the screen saver run efficiently.

Q. Can I create my own collection of images to display with the Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver?

A. Yes, you can!  Just follow these simple steps:

1. Create a directory in the C:\KINKADE\IMAGES sub-directory* with whatever name you desire.

2. Copy your image files into the above directory.  We support many formats such as BMP, TIF, or GIF as well as JPEG.

3. Rename the file suffixes to *.JPG if they already do not have the *.JPG suffix. (The program uses the suffix to determine if the file in the sub directory is an image file or a collateral file.)

The following steps can be skipped if you do not want titles, thumbnails, or descriptions:

4. Create a file called IMAGES.BMP with column of 80 x 60 pixel image thumbnails appended to one another.  The 80 x 60 images in this file are the thumbnails that appear in the Select Wallpaper dialog box.  Any popular graphics package should be able to create IMAGES.BMP.

5. Create an IMAGES.INI file in the sub directory that will contain all the description information.  Use the same format in the IMAGES.INI file found in the classic sub directory.

After completing at least steps 1-3, you will be able to select your new collection in the "Select Image..." dialog box and then display your images.  If possible, we suggest that you use the JPEG format to save space.  Many copy shops like Kinko's have scanners that you can use to scan photographs in.

Q. My "Preview" button does not seem to work.  What am I doing wrong?

A. The "Preview" button in the Screen Saver Configure dialog works just like the "Test" button on the Control Panel's Desktop Application.  They both start the screen saver and allow it to run until a mouse or keystroke is detected.  You may be moving the mouse right after clicking the button, not giving the screen saver enough time to start.

Q. After Dark is launched whenever Windows starts even though After Dark is not in the StartUp Group.  How do I prevent After Dark from being launched every time Windows starts?

A. Unfortunately, After Dark does not use the StartUp group like most modern Windows applications do.  During the installation of After Dark, After Dark is placed in the LOAD line of the WIN.INI file and must be removed to prevent it from being launched when Windows starts.  You can remove it from the load line by editing  the WIN.INI file with the SYSEDIT program.  To execute SYSEDIT,  enter SYSEDIT in the run dialog found by clicking on the "Run..." menu item in the "File" menu of the Program Manager or File Manager.

Q. The screen saver makes my mouse pointer invisible, how can that be fixed?

A. Check the settings on your computer to see if you have the sleep mode enabled.  It is possible that your computer was programmed to require the user to touch the keyboard or the mouse to make the pointer visible again after the screen saver was enabled.

Q.  The Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver comes on when my kids are playing video games on the computer, especially ones that require a joystick.  How do I prevent this from happening?

A. Turn your screen saver settings to "Off" before playing video games requiring joysticks.  The screen saver doesn't recognize them as an activity happening on your computer screen and the screen saver will come on during the video game.


Screen Saver Settings Dialog Box

The "Screen Saver Settings" dialog box opens when you select the "Settings..." button from the Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver dialog box.

From this dialog box you can accomplish the following things:

Image:

•	Choose which collection of Thomas Kinkade paintings you wish to run from the "Collections" option.

•	Choose what special effects you want to use to paint the screen saver image by selecting the "Special Effects" option.

•	Customize how many minutes you wish to elapse between the initial screen saver activation and subsequent images being displayed by selecting and configuring the "Image Rotation" option.

Quick Start:

The Image Manager must be running for Quick Start to be operable.  This function gives you the following options:

•	Manually activate the screen saver to kick in by either checking the "Start By Typing..." check box and then customizing the control and keystroke you prefer.  (The default is set as Shift + Ctrl + S.)

•	Or you may choose to activate the screen saver by moving the mouse to the lower left hand screen corner by checking the check box.

Password:

You may also choose to protect your work by setting a password.

•	Check the "Enable Password Protection" box and then type in your preferred password by selecting the "Set Password" button.

You can also:

•	Run the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver with the current settings by selecting "OK."

•	Exit the dialog box by selecting "Cancel."

•	Get on-line help by selecting "Help."

•	Read about Thomas Kinkade by selecting "About Thomas Kinkade."


Pick Image Dialog Box

From the Pick Image dialog box you can do the following things:

•	Browse through the Thomas Kinkade collection.  To activate the browse mode,  click on the scroll bar to the right of the column of paintings displayed.

•	Preview and then choose which image you want to be your Wallpaper.  To see a full screen version of an image, simply double click on the bitmap itself.  To choose any picture to be your Wallpaper, highlight your preference then click on the "Use as Wallpaper" button below.

•	Read and learn about the real and imaginary landscapes portrayed in the paintings.  To reveal the text and accompanying information, highlight an image then click on the "Commentary on Selected Paintings" button below.

•	Run the Wallpaper option you have chosen by making your selection and clicking on "Use as Wallpaper."

•	Exit from the Image Selection dialog box by selecting "Cancel."


Decompression Dialog Box

When an image is decompressing the "Status Bar" dialog box informs you of:

•	the title of the next image which will appear.

•	what percentage of the up coming image has been painted to the screen.

If you need to delay or stop the image from changing, click on the "Cancel" button to halt activation of the next image in the cycle.


Ways Of Changing Wallpaper Image

You change the image that is currently the wallpaper of your computer by:

1. Selecting "Next Image..." menu item in the system menu.

2. Clicking on the next image push button "(>>)" or previous image push button "(<<)" on the Main Control Panel.

3. Selecting an image thumbnail in the "Pick Image..." dialog box.

4. Letting the screen saver change it.

*The system menu is the menu that appears when clicking on an application minimized to an icon.


System Requirements

For the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver to run and to get the best picture, you will need:

A computer with 8 MB of RAM and 8 MB of hard disk space.

Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows NT.

SVGA Display with 256 colors*

* The images will appear with 16 colors, but  will look unappealing.


Choosing a Background Color

The size of each image is 640 x 480 pixels.  If your monitor is larger or runs in higher resolution, the image will not completely fill the background and the image will be centered in the screen with the background color framing the image.  We suggest setting your background color to gray to best show off the images.


About Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade is widely regarded as one of the foremost living painters of light. Every subject he puts his hand to, whether cottage or countryside, small town America or bustling city, seems infused with a  radiant quality. It is almost as though a special moment has been captured on canvas and rendered timeless by the warm light of nostalgic memory. His complex technique bears great kinship to a little known group of nineteenth century American painters known as the Luminists.  As Kinkade puts it, "Like the Luminists, I strive for three visual aspects in my work: soft edges, a warm palette, and an overall sense of light." Kinkade's mastery of these three seemingly simple aspects gives his paintings the warm glow and idyllic softness for which he is known a glow Michael Raffety described in Southwest Art magazine as "A carefully crafted display of luminosity…"

This special "Kinkade glow" might help explain Thomas Kinkade's enormous popularity as an internationally published artist. Virtually everything Kinkade paints gets reproduced in one or more forms including hand signed lithographs, canvas prints, books, posters, calendars, magazine covers, cards, collector plates, figurines and gift items. Perhaps no American artist since Norman Rockwell has received such broad exposure and popular acceptance. The following generated by this immense exposure has brought five digit sums for Kinkade's original paintings and an ever widening list of prestigious collectors including many well known leaders in the areas of politics, business and entertainment.

Thomas Kinkade was born in 1958 and grew up in the foot hills of the Sierra mountains. From the age of four his calling as an artist was evident.  By age 16 he was an accomplished painter in oil under the apprenticeship of well known California painter Glenn Wessels.  After studying at the University of California Berkeley, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Kinkade began work for the motion picture industry at age 22. He personally created over 600 background paintings for the animated feature film, Fire and Ice. The intensive period of work for the movie business may well have been the genesis of Kinkade's master of pictorial lighting effects. While at work on Fire and Ice, Kinkade and fellow artist James Gurney adventured across America aboard boxcars recording their experiences in sketches. Kinkade and Gurney subsequently authored a best selling art instructional book based on their adventures entitled The Artist's Guide to Sketching (Watson/Guptill, New York).

In 1983 Thomas Kinkade left the film industry to pursue his vision as a painter of light-filled landscapes. Since then his career has been documented in feature articles and/or editorial exposure in such well known magazines as Architectural Digest, American Artist, Lively Arts and Leisure, Worldwide Challenge, U.S. Art, Southwest Art, and Weekend. He is a regular guest on radio talk shows and has even made a guest appearance on ABC's popular network show, Home, starring Gary Collins.

Kinkade's impressive list of honors includes: two Certificates of Merit from the New York Society of Illustrators, two Founder's Awards from the National Parks Academy for the Arts (the first artist ever to receive this award twice), a two-man show at the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana and over 10 one-man shows. Furthermore, Kinkade was chosen as the official artist for the 1989 National Parks Collector's Print and the 1990 Commemorative Press Collector's Print honoring Rotary International.


Before Using Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver Use Restrictions

System Requirements

Choosing a Background Color


Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver by Dialog Box

Main Control Panel Dialog Box

Pick Image Dialog Box

Screen Saver Settings Dialog Box

Decompression Dialog Box

Slide Show Configuration Dialog Box

Commentary on Selected Paintings

Wallpaper Viewer Dialog Box


Starting The Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

You can start theThomas Kinkade Screen Saver the same way you start any other Windows application.  You can start it by clicking on the Thomas Kinkade icon in Program Manager.  If you want to have the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver start when Windows does, put it in the StartUp group and check the "run minimized" box.


Reading Descriptions of Paintings

You can read a short description of an image by selecting the "Describe Image..." menu item in the system menu* or by pressing the "Commentary on Selected Paintings" push button in the "Pick Image..." dialog box. This button describes the current selected thumbnail or, if no thumbnail is selected, the current wallpaper.

The description will also include the size of the canvas, and the medium used to paint the picture.

*The system menu is the menu that appears when clicking on an application minimized to an icon in Windows 3.1.  In Windows 95 it's the menu that appears when you right mouse click on the application's icon in the task bar.


Trouble Shooting

The Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver  may have problems in the following situations:

Not Enough Memory Is Available:

Your system may not have enough available memory to display our images. Symptoms  that your system does not have enough RAM for the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver to run include:

•	Wallpaper does not appear

•	Screen saver is only gray; has no image

•	Thumbnails in the Select Image dialog box do not appear

•	Special effects on the screen saver do not  work

Ways to increase the amount of available RAM:

•	Close applications that  you are not using

•	Increase the size of your TEMP directory by at least 2 Meg

•	If you use a RAMDrive as your TEMP directory, use the following settings:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 2048 /E

Conflicts with Communication Programs:

If your communication package (such as fax software) has problems running when the screen saver is running, turn the screen saver off.  The communication package and the screen saver require system resources and your system may not have enough for both to run simultaneously.

Screen Saver does not activate when running a DOS program full screen:

Like most Windows screen savers, the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver does not activate when a DOS program is running full screen.  For your screen saver to work, run the DOS application in a window.   You can also use the mouse quickstart to activate the screen saver.

System Requirements


Screen Saver Fundamentals

Starting The Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

Ways Of Changing Wallpaper Image

Reading Descriptions of Paintings


Main Control Panel Dialog Box

From the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver main control panel you can choose to do the following things:

Screen Saver Slide Show:

•	Start the screen saver slide show immediately with pre-configured settings.

•	Choose the "Configure" button.  This takes you to the "Slide Show Configuration" dialog box.  Here you can choose special effects for the slide show, customize the speed at which slide show images rotate, whether you wish the painting to fill your whole screen, whether you wish the slide show to rotate the wallpaper, preview your selections, cancel, or get Help.

Show Inspirational Message:

•	Choose to display the title of each painting and inspirational message complementing the image by activating the "Show Inspirational Message" check box.  By checking this option, titles and messages will appear in your wallpaper, screen saver and in the thumbnails in the "Pick Image" dialog box.

Wallpaper:

•	Turn the wallpaper on or off by selecting the "On/Off" button.

•	Click the "Pick Image" button to take you to the "Pick Image" dialog box where

you can browse through thumbnail sized images contained in the screen saver.

•	Launch the Wallpaper Viewer (see wallpaper viewer Help info.).

•	Click on the forwards and backwards arrows to either side of the "Pick Image" button to select the next image or the previous image.

•	Run the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver with the current settings

•	Exit the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver.

•	Get on-line Help.

Screen Saver:

•	Turn the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver on or off by selecting the "On/Off" buttons.

•	Decide the length of time you want to elapse before the screen saver activates itself by selecting the "Start After x Number of Min." option.

•	Customize your screen saver settings by selecting the "Settings" button.

•	Decide if you want the screen saver to replace the current wallpaper with the latest image used in the screen saver.

About Thomas Kinkade:

You can also double click on the Painter of Light bitmap to the left of the dialog box to learn more about the painter, Thomas Kinkade.


Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver Use Restrictions

The software and paintings contained in the Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver product ("product") are protected by copyright law.

1997 Thomas Kinkade, Media Arts Group, Inc., San Jose, CA., and Willow Road Software Products, LLC, Menlo Park, CA


De-Installing Thomas Kinkade Inspirational Screen Saver

Click on the "De-install" icon in the Thomas Kinkade Screen Saver folder and answer "yes" to the "do you want to de-install" question.  The screen saver will be deleted from the PC after you press "OK."


Slide Show Configuration Dialog Box

In this dialog box you can:

•	add special effects to the slide show

•	change the speed at which the images rotate in the slide show by moving the slider

along the bar

•	stretch the slide show image to fill your whole screen by selecting the check box option

•	preview your configuration

•	cancel

•	get Help


Wallpaper Viewer Dialog Box

Selecting this Option from the main control panel allows the user to go forward, backward, or pick different images from the image set.

This dialog box is for viewing the images in a wallpaper viewer.  To see the images in a wall paper viewer simply reduce the main dialog box by clicking resize at the bottom right hand corner of the main dialog box.  This reveals the wallpaper dialog box.  From the wallpaper viewer dialog box you can go forward, backward, select the different images from the image set, or read the note accompanying each painting in wallpaper mode.  You may also pick up and move the wallpaper viewer by clicking on the title bar of the dialog box and dragging it to another part of the screen.

Click on the portion of the control panel for which you desire information.

To return to the main control panel, use the Windows resize command.


Commentary on Selected Paintings

The "Commentary on Selected Paintings" dialog box provides a short description in Thomas Kinkade's own words on each painting.  It also provides information on the size of the original canvas and the medium in which the painting was created.

From this dialog box you can also click on "About Thomas Kinkade" to learn more about the artist and his work, or you may simply close the dialog box.


About Willow Road Software

For information about this and other Willow Road Software products,

call toll free:  1-888-889-9590

For customer support, call:  (650) 943-1370, or fax (650) 943-1371.  Please tell us your name, the product name, and the nature of your inquiry.  One of our customer support specialists will respond as soon as possible.  Or you may e-mail us at support@willowroad.com

1997 Thomas Kinkade, Media Arts Group, Inc., San Jose, CA., and Willow Road Software Products, LLC, Menlo Park, CA

This product would not exist without the hard work, dedication, and faith of many people.  Special thanks go to the following individuals, each of whom contributed their time, effort and advice:  Stella Arambel, Paul Clark, Kerry Cody, Randi Figueredo, Kurt Flint, Shirley Ford, Rick Gamez, Holley Garmany, Wendy Grace, Don Hackler, Thomas Kinkade, Tom Kosnik, Eric Kuskey, James Lambert, Stephanie Miller, Heidi Roizen, Polly Schneider, Bob Sibley, Patricia Sullivan, Sandy Stewart, Guerdon Trueblood and John Verducci.

For information on Thomas Kinkade limited edition art and prints please call Media Arts Group, Inc. at 1-800-366-3733.