wpmaker

Tired of having a folder full of wallpapers and only seeing one at a time?

wpmaker has the ability to create collages of randomly selected images from that folder. Also it can do the standard one-at-a-time thing, keeping the aspect ratio and cropping instead of stretching.

Here are some examples

Why is this a better solution than other leading brands?

wpmaker is cross-compatible, it works on:

• Windows XP/Vista/7
• Mac OS/X
• Gnome Linux

wpmaker also has plugins, I know amazing right?:

• No problem making wpmaker work on other systems, just add plugins
• Easy to create new collages, just add plugins
• Do you want a completely new type of plugin? Well wpmaker is completely open source and you can just write it yourself.

Well, this sounds way too good to be true, there must be something missing. You're in luck, wpmaker is still missing a GUI.

What about these plugins, can I create one? Sure! For now though you're gonna have to rely on the ones I've created for information on how.

Requirements

For wpmaker to work you need the following:

• Python version 2.5 to 2.7
• pygame
• For linux you'll need python-xlib, or another get_resolution plugin

Configuration

To configure wpmaker, run python wpmaker.py --help for a list of configuration files. Then create either or both of them, (0) is user-specific, (1) is installation-specific. The options in the configuration files are the same as the longer named options used in the command line.

#############################################################
#           This is a sample configuration file             #
#############################################################

[default]
# The 'default' section is read unless another is specified
# as a command line option (ex. wpmaker --section=debug)
path=~\Pictures\wp

# Time between wallpaper switching
update=180
# personal preference

[debug]
path=~\Pictures\wp
update_period=30

#############################################################
# Below are descriptions and default values for each option #
#            This section should not be included            #
#############################################################

[default_options]

# path to the wallpaper folder. Not set by default
# a tilde, ~, in paths is replaced with user directory path
path=Notset

# time between wallpaper switching
update=300

# path and filename of generated wallpaper image
wallpaper=~/.wp.bmp

# create and set a single wallpaper then exit
single-run=False

# forces resolution of generated wallpaper
# i.e. desktop resolution is not queried, useful if get_resolution plugins fail
resolution=None
# e.x. setting:
# resolution=1680x1050

# how many wallpapers will be generated between checking of wallpaper folder
fs-interval=5

# which collage plugin should be used, 'all' will make wpmaker choose one
# For now acceptable values are: 'SimpleResize', 'RecursiveSplit', and 'all'
collage-plugin=all

# This options is specifically for RecursiveSplit plugin
# recursion_depth: maximum number of times each split can be split
recursion-depth=3

How do I use this thing anyways?

You can run wpmaker in the console by running python wpmaker.py [options]. You can also run wpmaker without the console by running python wpmaker.pyw [options], but the --verbose option won't work.

Note: You'll need to be in wpmakers installation path in the console. Also note: On many systems you can double click the wpmaker.py and wpmaker.pyw files to run them.

The default help message(on Windows 7) goes something like this:

Usage: wpmaker.py [options]

Options:
    --collage-plugin=COLLAGE  Which collage plugin should be used
    --fs-interval=INT         Check wallpaper folder every INT updates
    --path=PATH               PATH to the wallpaper folder
    --recursion-depth=INT     Each split can be split INT times
    -r --resolution=RES       Forces resolution of generated wallpaper
    --section=SECTION         SECTION of configuration file to be used
    -s --single-run           Generate wallpaper once then exit
    --update=SEC              SEC seconds between generating and updating wallpaper
    --wallpaper=PATH          PATH to generated wallpaper
    -v --verbose              Debugging output
    -h --help                 Displays this help message

Configuration files:
    (0) D:\Users\viktor\AppData\Local\viktor\wpmaker\wpmaker.conf
    (1) C:\ProgramData\viktor\wpmaker\wpmaker.conf

Installation

There is no standard installation yet. For now you'll need to start by installing python 2.7 and respective pygame distribution.

Then, go to the downloads tab of wpmakers github page, https://github.com/loktacar/wallpapermaker and download the project in either zip or tar.gz format.

Uncompress the project and then you can follow the 'How do I use this thing anyways?' section of this readme.