So you'd like to create a Mac OS X Screen Saver using photos from your Caribbean vacation and share it with your family, friends and other Mac users? With the help of Apple's Developer Tools (Quartz Composer and Property List Editor) the task is quick and easy. But first, let's get our terminology squared away.

A true, fully coded screen saver can be identified by its extension (.saver), we're not going in that direction. What we are going to create is a slide show that replicates the Beach, Forest and other image based screen savers that ship with Mac OS X — the proper extension is (.slideSaver).

We'll explore this topic from two angles..

• Modifying an existing .slideSaver by replacing the Resources (the images) and replacing a few lines of its Info.plist.
  
  
• Creating a Slide Show using Quartz Composer and linking it to a folder of images with the Property List Editor.
  
  

How to modify an existing .slidesaver for Distribution to Other Mac Users
This method offers the best solution for distibuting a .slideSaver file to others as all of its images are stored within the Resources folder of the Package Contents. Apple makes this option very easy on us by inviting developers to use Mac OS X's .slideSaver files "...as templates for creating your own" slideshow screen savers. ADC link.

1. Navigate to /System/Library/Screen Savers and copy the Beach.slideSaver to your desktop.
2. Rename it to whatever you please.
3. Control-Click and select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu.
4. Open the Contents folder, the Resources.
5. Delete all of the image files and drop your selected photos into the Resources folder.
6. Now open the Info.plist in the Property List Editor, we need to make a few edits...
   CFBundleGetInfoString: Remove "Beach" from "Beach screen saver module" and replace it with the name of your .slideSaver,
   CFBundleIdentifier: change "com.apple.screensaver.Beach" to something like "com.yourname.screensaver.whatever" — it may not matter one way or the other but you probably shouldn't use spaces in the edit,
   CFBundleName: again, just change "Beach" to the name of your .slideSaver.
7. Save and close, that's it! Unless, of course, you'd like to share your creation with us. :)
   
   

Use Quartz Composer to create a Slide Show for personal use
Before you get started on this one you'll need to create a folder with your set of selected images, anywhere in you Home folder will do but for the sake of consistency you may want to place it in your /Library/Screen Savers directory.

1. Lauch Quartz Composer, choose "Mac OS X Slide Show Screen Saver" in the New Composition From Template dialog.
2. The file is auto-named with the default of "My Slide Show", go ahead and let it do so, we'll give it a proper name later. Notice that the extension is (.qtz). Click the Finish button, the slide show automatically saves it to your /Library/Screen Savers directory.
3. Don't be alarmed when you see Mac OS X's Beach images in the Viewer window, we'll fix that in a moment.
4. Since the file has already been saved you may close all its windows or quit Quartz Composer.
5. Drag and drop the file on the Property List Editor to edit the location of the images folder.
6. Delete the Beach images path and replace it with the path to your folder. If you drag and drop your folder into the text field the path will autofill — too easy!
7. Save the modified file with the true name of your composition. This is important, doing so ensures the creation of a new file, not just a simple overwrite of the default "My Slide Show".
8. Reopen your file in Quartz Composer to double-check the image path using the Viewer window, if you see your intended images quit out and enjoy your creation!
9. You may then delete the "My Slide Show" file from your /Library/Screen Savers directory.
10. Oh, and one more thing. Maybe you'd like to have a QuickTime movie of your Slide Show to use as a website preview or maybe even a full size render of it. Quartz Composer has an "Export as QuickTime Movie" option in its File menu. The dimensions and time duration can be keyed in to whatever suits you!
    
    
    
    
    
    Download my New Orleans City Park.slidesaver.