- What Is a Screen Saver?
- Collect and Organize the Images
- Configure Your Screen Saver
- A Few Other Settings
A Few Other Settings
There are a few other settings you might want to adjust to get the most of your screen saver.
For example, if your computer's monitor is set to sleep after a certain amount of time, that amount of time must be longer than the amount of time before the screen saver is set up to appear (refer to step 5 above). You do this in the Energy Saver preferences pane:
If System Preferences is not already open, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Click the Energy Saver icon to display the Energy Saver preferences pane. (You might have to click the Show All icon first so you can see the Energy Saver icon.) If necessary, click the Sleep button to display Sleep options.
Either turn off the check box marked Put the Display to Sleep When the Computer Is Inactive For, or set the option so it's a longer period than the Start Screen Saver time you set earlier.
Quit System Preferences. Your settings are saved.
You can also use your screen saver as a security measure to prevent prying eyes from looking at your computer screen when you're not around. You do this by setting up a password that must be entered to wake your computer from sleep or the screen saver:
If System Preferences is not already open, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Click the Security icon to display the Security preferences pane. (You might have to click the Show All icon first so you can see the Security icon.)
Turn on the check box marked Require Password to Wake this Computer from Sleep or Screen Saver.
Quit System Preferences. Your settings are saved.
From that point on, each time your screen saver activates, you'll have to enter your password in an Authenticate dialog box to display your screen again.
Easy, no? As you can see, creating a custom screen saver with iPhoto is simple with Mac OS X Panther. After you have the photos collected in an iPhoto album, it's just a few mouse clicks to finish the job. And wouldn't you rather see your favorite photos when your computer is idle than the canned images that come with Mac OS X?