Step 2 of 9 - Specify the installation properties, advanced customization

The install procedure has a built-in multi-language support. You can specify a fixed language or let Install determine the language used by the end user. The install also support a multi-volume configuration. This feature permits you to distribute your package in one large file or in several files which can be copied on a set of floppy disks.

Also, you'll be able to fully customize the installation package (image, icon, window style, colors, options...). The Step 2 dialog box looks like this:

 Specify the Language of the Installation Package

1. In the Language field (), select "Automatic (based on Windows settings)". You can here choose the desired language for the screensaver and install procedure. 8 languages are supported: English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch and Russian. By selecting Automatic, the install procedure will choose the language by itself based on the end-user Windows language. You can also force a specific language.

 Specify the Installation Package format

2. The final package can be a single solid or composed of a set of files (useful for floppy distribution). Choose an option in the list ():

 Customization of the install package

3. If you want to customize the installation package, click the Advanced Customization button (). A secondary dialog box opens:

 Customize the installation illustration image

A standard image is used to illustrate the installation wizard but it's possible to customize it. The image will be located at the top of the installation window.

What kind of images can I use to customize my installation package?

To be compatible with the customization feature, the image file must have the JPEG, BMP or PNG format. Also, we recommend you to use an image with the following dimension: Width = 500, Height = 60.

How to create my illustration image?

Create this image using an external application like Photoshop® (professional tool), Paint Shop Pro® (shareware tool) or Gimp® (free tool).

4. Click on the option Use a custom image in the Installation Wizard to activate it (). The edit fields below are automatically enabled.

5. In the edit zone (), enter the full path to your image file on your disk or click the [...] button () to browse your disks and locate the image file using a standard Windows dialog box. Once the pathname has been entered you see a preview of the image in the window on right ().

 Customize the installation icon

The install package is a program. Therefore, it contain an icon. This icon is used to display it in Windows Explorer or when you create a Shortcut to it in the Desktop for example. A standard icon is used but it's now possible to customize it. The image will be located at the top of the installation window. To get more information about the icon, read What is an icon topic below.

6. Click on the option Use a custom icon for the Installation file to activate it (). The edit fields below are automatically enabled.

7. In the edit zone (), enter the full path to your image file on your disk or click the [...] button () to browse your disks and locate the icon file using a standard Windows dialog box. Once the pathname has been entered you see a preview of the icon in the window on right ().

 Advanced Customization

 

8. Click the Display Title and Copyright in the Top Image option () if you want a Title Text displayed in the top image. If you don't select this option, only the image will be displayed. This is interesting if you want to create the text in the image using a graphic editor. If you choose this option, you can adjust the text color in the field Text Color (below the option check box).

9. In the Layout Style field (), you can choose the style of the window style:

10. In the XP Dialog Color field (), specify the overall color (tint) of the Windows XP layout (if the XP layout style is used).

11. If the Show Install Options is chosen (), some options will be proposed to the end user in the first screen of the installation wizard. Options are:

 REMARK: If you don’t display these options, the user won’t be able to change them during installation. It does not mean that these features won’t be executed. You can choose to activate some of them (see options below) even if you decide to hide them.

12. If the Open Display Properties after Install is chosen (), the standard Windows® Display Properties dialog box will be opened at the end of installation procedure. In this window you can select the actual screensaver and set its properties. If you have chosen to activate the Show Install Options feature (see above) the user will be able to change this option.

13. If the Create a Start Menu Entry option is chosen (), an entry in the Windows® Start Menu will be created to launch or uninstall the screen saver. If you have chosen to activate the Show Install Options feature (see above) the user will be able to change this option.

14. If the Create Desktop Icon option is chosen (), a shortcut will be created on the Windows® Desktop to easily launch the screen saver. If you have chosen to activate the Show Install Options feature (see above) the user will be able to change this option.

15. Your screen saver contains a comment text. This text is displayed in the Properties Dialog box (a scrolling area). If the Display Comment Text option is chosen (),  this text is also displayed during the installation procedure. This may be useful to inform the user about the screen saver before it is installed.

16. If the Include an Uninstall Procedure option is chosen (), a program to uninstall the screensaver will be installed on the users computer. This will permit the user to easily uninstall the screensaver if necessary. We strongly recommend you include this uninstall procedure.

17. If the Propose Uninstall if Already Installed option is chosen (), the installation wizard will prompt the user to uninstall the screen saver if it is already present on his computer.

 REMARK: This feature is different than the above uninstall procedure. It has been implemented to keep compatibility with previous versions. We strongly recommend you to use the new uninstall procedure.

18. When done, click the OK button.  Click Next to go to Step 3.

What is an icon?

An icon is a graphic image, a small picture or object that represents a file, program, web page, or command. Icons help you execute commands, open programs or documents quickly. To execute a command by using an icon, click or double-click on the icon. It is also useful to recognize quickly an object in a browser list.

That's almost all you need to know if you only use icons. But you want to use (or create) icons for the screensaver customization feature, you need to know more about them.

What are the differences between an image and an icon?

A computer image is a bitmap (composed of pixels) or vector (composed of drawing paths) picture, which can be saved using various formats (BMP, PNG, GIF, JPEG, WMF...). All these formats have several different properties (bitmaps, vectors, compressed, layered, animated...) and can be used to store pictures at any sizes and resolution.

Icons are different from standard images. They are have standard sizes (usually small): 16x16, 32x32, 48x48... One icon is composed of several images. Each of them with a different size and number of colors (mono, 16 colors, 256 colors, 16.8M...). And the most important property of an icon is the ability to include transparent areas. This allows seeing the screen background behind the icon within its square image.

What is the structure of an icon?

As we've seen in previous paragraph, an icon is a group of images of various formats (size and colors). Furthermore, each image can include transparent area. That's why you'll find a transparent color in the drawing palette for 16 or 256 color images and a variable opacity parameter for the new Windows XP format (opacity = 0 means transparent).

What kind of icons can I use to customize my screensaver?

To be compatible with the customization feature, the icon must be Windows compliant (ICO format) contain at least the following image formats:

16x16 - 256 colors
32x32 - 256 colors
48x48 - 256 colors
16x16 - Windows XP
32x32 - Windows XP
48x48 - Windows XP

How to create my own icons?

Axialis Software has released an icon editor that will permit you to easily create your own icons in a few minutes: Axialis IconWorkshop. This professional tool will permit to create icons with several formats from images in a few clicks. You can download a shareware version here and test it for 30 days.

 

Step 3 - Specify the User License Agreement