A BASIC Visual Guide to Formatting Images for Kindle Screensavers

[moxy789]

Hi! I've been lurking for awhile and have noticed that some people are interested in making their own screensavers. I thought I'd share how I make mine. What follows is a very basic visual guide on how to use GIMP to recolor and resize your images to make them Kindle friendly.

For this guide you will need:
-Gimp, a free image manipulation program available for download here: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
-Image to be formatted


1. Open the Gimp program

2. Open a new image file: File > New

3. Create canvas: Width > 600, Height > 800, Click Advanced Options > Color space: Grayscale > Fill with: Foreground Color (The black will become the screensaver's border)


4. Add in your desired screensaver picture: File > Open as Layers… > Navigate directories to your specific image


Your layer should open automatically centered and in Grayscale


          **Optional** Cropping the Picture (If your picture does not need to be cropped skip this section)


          A) Select desired picture area: From the toolbox click the Rectangle Select Tool > Click and drag to encompass area to be kept
         


          B) Crop to Selection: Layer > Crop to Selection
         


          C) Recenter picture after cropping: From the toolbox select the Alignment tool > Click over your image to select it (black boxes
          should appear at the corners) > Over at the toolbox make it Relative to:Image > Select Align Center of Target > Select Align Middle
          of Target
         


          Your picture should now be cropped and centered on the canvas.
          *********************************

5. Resize your picture: Layer > Scale Layer…


     5A)Resize while maintaining proportion: Adjust either your width or height as desired;the other measurement will be automatically scaled
     to proportion.
     

OR
   
    5B)Resize WITHOUT maintaining image proportion: Click the chain so that it appears broken > Enter in your new image dimensions (If
    you want a 30 pixel border then make it 540 x 740) 
   

6. Save your image with either .JPG, .GIF, or .PNG file extension: File > Save as...

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in image manipulation or Gimp. If you have questions or concerns feel free to ask me. Hopefully I'll be able to help or perhaps someone more knowledgeable can. If anyone else has a simpler/better way to format images let me know and I'll change the guide so that it's more helpful.

For more information on recoloring your image using GIMP: http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Color2BW/

Hope this has been helpful!   

Edited: Simplified steps with updated GIMP software and added in section on Cropping

[wilsondm2]

Very, very nice! Thank you. This has been needed for some time!

[CegAbq]

WOW - moxy789!

Thanks very much. This seems very clear & I can't wait for some time to try it out. Much appreciated.

[intinst]

Thank you for the post. I will have to try some screensavers now.

[moxy789]

If you've given this guide a try let me know how it went! Were there any parts that seemed fuzzy? Is there something else you wish you could do? Rotate pictures? Adjust color settings? I'll update with more info if there's a need.

[farmwife99]

Thank you for you instructions. I read them and applied what I learned and was able to create a screensaver for Bella using Photoshop Elements which I had on my computer.
Thanks again.

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

Thank you for the great post!

[jbsrshopr]

As a 60 year old computer beginner--I am just impressed that my computer can show me all
this that I am sooooooo impressed that you can do!
I thank you!  I like to see new things even though I don't understand them and will
never try them!

[Kathy]

Great post. This will be very helpful. Pictures are always good. I'm going to download the program. I love to do the screensavers and this looks like a great program to use.

[KimmyA]

How cool. Thank you for doing this. Your directions look very easy.

[Pea]

Does anyone know how to actually download this software? It's so confusing with all the "mirror" pages - where is the actual program file? Also, are there any other free programs out there that can be downloaded? I would like to try and create some screensavers for my Kindle.

Thanks

[marianneg]

Does anyone know how to actually download this software? It's so confusing with all the "mirror" pages - where is the actual program file? Also, are there any other free programs out there that can be downloaded? I would like to try and create some screensavers for my Kindle.

Pea, you can download it from the link in the first section that says "Download Gimp 2.6.7."  Just click on the link and wait a moment and it should prompt you to save the file.  Mirror sites are just alternative download locations, so any of them should work, but the first link is working fine for me.

[nogdog~6op6ou]

Just thought I'd add a link here to my new Kindle Screensaver Generator page:

http://charles-reace.com/kindle_screensaver.php

It's a quick and dirty way to take a JPEG image and convert it to a grayscale image sized and cropped appropriately.

[Tabby]

If you've given this guide a try let me know how it went! Were there any parts that seemed fuzzy? Is there something else you wish you could do? Rotate pictures? Adjust color settings? I'll update with more info if there's a need.

First of all, thanks for making this guide and making it so simple to follow...however, I do have a question about what to do after hitting save. How am I supposed to be handling the Export File and Save as PNG windows that pop up when I try to save the image? Should I be making any changes to what is already selected? BTW, I want to save as PNG files.

[nogdog~6op6ou]

First of all, thanks for making this guide and making it so simple to follow...however, I do have a question about what to do after hitting save. How am I supposed to be handling the Export File and Save as PNG windows that pop up when I try to save the image? Should I be making any changes to what is already selected? BTW, I want to save as PNG files.

The default "export" values should be fine. PNG is a "lossless" compression algorithm, so there is no good reason I can think of to not use the maximum compression setting (which appears to be the default) as performance is not an issue when displaying the screen-saver.

[Tabby]

Thanks NogDog! I gave it a "shot" and I think I'm doing it right. LOL I've been going nuts making ss of some of my books' covers. I was able to get some good clear cover pics off of B&N's site. Now if I want, I can have the cover of the book I'm reading as my ss. 

[avamichele]

i must be the most stupid person on the planet. i followed the directions every step of the way. but when i load the family pic that i worked with onto my kindle, it does not appear:( what am i doing wrong?

[Betsy the Quilter]

Not to worry, avamichele!

Do you have a Kindle 2?  You have to install a "hack" to make the screensavers appear.

Welcome to KindleBoards!

Betsy

[avamichele]

i do have the kindle 2, with the hack installed. i have removed all of the wonderful pics that amazon has provided, and replaced them with a saver that matches my gelaskin, another that has a book shelf with a rickety ladder and a celtic cross, that i added my name and phone number to. before trying gimp, i used a program from this board where i only had to upload my pic and it was converted. it also didnt show up on my kindle? i am stumped

[avamichele]

P.S. thank you Betsy:)

[Betsy the Quilter]

i do have the kindle 2, with the hack installed. i have removed all of the wonderful pics that amazon has provided, and replaced them with a saver that matches my gelaskin, another that has a book shelf with a rickety ladder and a celtic cross, that i added my name and phone number to. before trying gimp, i used a program from this board where i only had to upload my pic and it was converted. it also didnt show up on my kindle? i am stumped

I'm not really familiar with the K2 screensaver hack or this program (I have a K1) but someone will be along shortly to help, I'm sure!

Betsy

[nogdog~6op6ou]

Did you restart the Kindle after adding/removing files in its screensaver directory? ( Home -> Menu -> Settings -> Menu -> Restart Kindle )

[avamichele]

AArggg. thank you!  I knew it was me. I forgot that step!!!  there we are!!! thank you, thank you , thank you!!!

[ecrosson63]

OK - I went to the gimp link but i can not found out where to click to get it to download - can someone help? pictures would be good lol

[NiLuJe]

GIMP for windows semi-official builds are hosted here: gimp-win.sf.net