Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

Table 4-2. Desktop Image Aspect Selections
Aspect Description
CHAPTER 4 SYSTEM PREFERENCES 55
Fit to Screen Fit to Screen will scale the image so that the entire image fits your screen. This
option will not change the aspect of your image, so if your image is wider,
empty space will appear above and below your image (the color of the empty
space may be selected in the color swatch next to the aspect menu).
Fill Screen This option will scale your image so that it fills the entire screen. This option
won’t adjust the aspect ratio of your image, either; however, rather than fill the
difference with empty space, it will scale the image up to fill the empty space
(possibly clipping off the edges of your image).
Stretch to Fill Screen Stretch to Fill screen will scale the image to fill the screen, too. This option,
however, will adjust the aspect ratio so that the entire image fills the screen.
This may stretch your images contents oddly.
Center This option will not scale your image; rather, it will just center your image on
the screen. If your image dimensions are smaller than your screen dimensions,
then empty space will appear around the image. If your image dimensions are
larger than your screen dimensions, then the image will extend beyond the
screen, effectively cutting off the edges. (You can select the background color
that will be shown along the edges if visible.)
Tile Like Center, this option will not scale your image at all; rather, it will align the
top-left corner of your image with the top-left corner of the screen. If the
dimensions of the image are smaller than the dimensions of the screen, then
the image will repeat itself to the right and below itself over and over until it
fills the entire screen.
This preference pane will automatically reveal any top-level images in your Pictures folder;
additionally, it will show items from your iPhoto and Aperture libraries so you can select images
from them. You can also add your own image folders by clicking the + button and selecting the
folder you wish to add. Also, if you’d like, you can set your preferences so that your background
image will change at regular intervals.
NOTE The translucent menu bar in Leopard allows you to view parts of your desktop background
that were previously hidden behind the menu bar. While this is nice, it also means that
high-contrast areas of images behind the menu bar can make the menu bar items difficult to
read. This should be kept under consideration when selecting your desktop backgrounds.
The Screen Saver tab presents a list of available screen saver modules on the left side of the
window with a Preview area to the right. In addition to the individual modules, you can also
select groups or libraries of images to be used as a screen saver.
To set up your screen saver, first choose the module you’d like to use. Some modules will
have settable options; if the selected module has options, the Options button will be active. Once
you have chosen the module and set its options, you can test it by clicking the Test button. This
will activate the screen saver with your chosen module. To return, just wiggle the mouse or press
a key.
Below the Preview area is the “Start screen saver” slider, which determines how long your
system must be idle before the screen saver starts.