Photo slideshow navigation and other actions

Endless Slideshow Screensaver Pro allows users to control the slideshow with keyboard shortcuts, also known as "actions". These actions include slideshow navigation and pause, the ability to rotate, delete, or copy currently shown pictures, control music playback, execute custom command lines, and others. All available actions are shown in the [ Actions ] section of the settings window where you can disable the ones you don't need, assign custom keys, and configure actions with the additional options.

If you want to disable any action - clear the box near the action name in the list of actions. If you press a key that is assigned to a disabled action during the slideshow then one of 2 things will happen:

• if the [ Exit only on Esc key, not on any other ] box is cleared then the slideshow will exit


• if the [ Exit only on Esc key, not on any other ] box is checked then this key press will be ignored and the slideshow will continue as if nothing happened

How to set a custom action key

If you do not like the default keyboard shortcut assigned to any action - you can easily choose a different key for it. Select an action in the list first, then click your mouse inside the [ Action key ] field, and press the key you want to use for that action. You can use Shift, Alt, or Ctrl with any key for your keyboard shortcuts. Once you see the key combination that you like in the [ Action key ] field click the [ Update ] button to assign that keyboard combination to the selected action.

How to configure additional settings of the actions

Some actions have additional configuration options, like a destination folder for pictures you copy during the slideshow, command line parameters, etc. You can simply select an action in the list to see if it has an additional configuration, like this:

You can update any action settings by simply changing their values. The changes you make to the action settings will only be saved along with the rest of the slideshow settings if you click the [ OK ] button.

Show the next slide

This action will advance the slideshow to the next slide. It doesn't work if the transition to the next slide is already in progress. By default, this action will advance all monitors to the next slide. If you want to move the slideshow to the next slide only one monitor - run one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions before using the [ Show the next slide ] action. The monitor selected with the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] action has to have the [ Use individual settings ] option checked: slideshow on the dependent monitors with the [ Use settings from another monitor ] option checked cannot be controlled individually. See run different slideshows on different monitors for more information.

Show the previous slide

This action moves the slideshow back to the previous slide. It will not work if the transition to the next slide is already in progress or if the slideshow is currently on the first slide. Just like the [ Show the next slide ] action it can be executed for a selected monitor that is configured to run individual slideshow.

Pause the slideshow

This action will stop the timer that counts the time that is left before the slideshow automatically advances to the next slide and will show the current slide until the slideshow is resumed or exited. If this action was used during the transition - the transition will be aborted and the next slide will be shown. To resume the slideshow, use the same action again. The [ Show the next slide ] action and the [ Show the previous slide ] action will also resume the slideshow.

Create a desktop wallpaper from the currently shown files

This action will use a slide that is currently shown to create a desktop wallpaper for your PC. This action may fail on some Windows versions if the screensaver was started automatically by Windows after a period of inactivity. By default, the slide that is shown on the main monitor is used for the wallpaper, but you can change it using one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions. This action cannot be executed when the transition is in progress.

Hide/Restore overlay text

This action will hide all overlay texts to let you enjoy your photos without any distractions. The text will stay hidden until you use this action again or until you exit the slideshow (meaning that the text will be visible the next time the slideshow starts).

Copy names of currently shown media files to the clipboard

This action will copy the file names of all pictures that are shown in the current slide to the Windows clipboard. This action doesn't work when the transition is running. You can copy the file names of the pictures shown only on a selected monitor by running one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions.

Copy the currently shown media files to a folder

This action allows you to copy all pictures from the currently shown slide to a folder that can be selected in the additional action settings. By default, this action is configured to create a sub-folder with a name that consists of the current date and time inside the destination folder every time this action is used and copy all the files inside that sub-folder. You can change this setting to make Endless Slideshow Screensaver copy all currently shown files directly inside the destination folder, without any sub-folders. You can also control what happens if a file with a name that already exists inside the destination folder is copied: overwrite or rename the new file.

This action cannot be executed while the transition is running. You can choose to copy files from all monitors or only from the selected one by executing one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions.

Remove the currently shown files from the slideshow

Use this action to exclude all currently shown pictures from the slideshow. This action does not delete the files physically, it only marks them as "removed", so when all pictures are shown and the slideshow starts all over again, these files will be ignored and will not be shown. This action cannot be executed while the transition is running. You can choose to remove all files from all monitors or only from the selected monitor by executing one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions.

Physically delete the currently shown media files

This action deletes the files that are shown in the current slide. Additional options of this action allow you to choose whether to delete the files permanently or move them to the Windows Recycle Bin. This action cannot be executed while the transition is running. You can execute this action for files shown on all monitors or only the selected one.

Rotate the currently shown pictures

These actions rotate pictures shown in the current slide 90 degrees then re-create the current slide and transition to it showing the rotated pictures. Please note that image files are not updated in any way with these actions - the pictures are marked and remembered as "rotated" in the slideshow settings, so you won't have to rotate them again. These actions cannot be executed while the transition is running. You can execute these actions for photos shown on all monitors or only the selected one.

Increase/decrease the time every slide is shown

This group of actions allows you to change the time every slide is visible before the slideshow automatically moves on. Initially, this time can be set in the [ Timing ] section of the [ Viewer ] tab. It has the minimum time specified in the [ From ] field and the maximum time specified in the [ to ] field. Both these values can be modified when the slideshow is running using actions from this group. These modifications are not permanent, they are applied only to the current session and are used until you exit the slideshow. Any of these actions can be executed even when the transition is running. They can also be applied only to a selected monitor that has the [ Use individual settings ] option checked.

Additional settings of these actions allow you to specify the number of seconds the selected action adds or removes to the current value.

Play the next music file

If you have configured music playback in your slideshow, then this action will stop the currently playing music file and start playing the next one.

Play the previous music file

This action will stop the currently playing music file and start playing the one that was playing before. If the currently playing file is the first one - this action will restart the playback from the beginning of the file.

Pause music

This action will pause the music playback if it's currently running or resume the playback if it's currently paused.

Increase/decrease music volume

These actions will modify the music playback volume by the value specified in the additional action settings. These modifications are "permanent" - they will be remembered even after you exit the slideshow. The default initial volume is 50, where 0 is silent and 100 is the maximum.

Run a custom command line with the currently shown files

Endless Slideshow Screensaver Pro allows you to configure and use up to 5 custom command lines that can be executed with the file names of the photos from the current slide directly from the slideshow. These commands cannot be executed when the transition is running. Here is a tutorial showing how to configure and execute custom command lines. You can choose to execute your custom command line with the photos shown on all monitors or only with the photos shown on a selected monitor by executing one of the [ Execute further actions on monitor # ] actions.

Execute further action on all monitors/selected monitor

This group of actions works as a switch. Once you execute one of the actions from this group - all the other actions executed later will be applied to the monitor(s) selected by this action. So, you won't have to select the same monitor again and again before executing other actions. You will only need to select a different target monitor(s) when your next action requires this change.

Monitor #1 is always the main monitor (you select the main monitor in the Windows Control Panel). It is shown at the top of the list in the Endless Slideshow Screensaver settings window. The monitor shown right below the main monitor in this list is monitor #2, then #3, and so on.