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Michael Parrot
SetAlphaValue is extension for "Cocoa" applications and set the alphaValue of windows. In others words, this program is only aesthetic, just for fun ;)
What's New
Version 2.2.2: Fix assistant bug when uninstall SAV.
Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
SetAlphaValue User Discussion (Write a Review)
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SetAlphaValue is extension for "Cocoa" applications and set the alphaValue of windows. In others words, this program is only aesthetic, just for fun ;)
Copyright © 2012 MacUpdate LLC
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James Churchman reviewed on 26 Oct 2008
Paradigmlie reviewed on 13 Aug 2007
I use crazy backgrounds that i love to see. i use my screen as another place to hang a painting, or w/e you will. and with this, i get to enjoy those peices fo art more!
Features: GREAT, it does almost every window, except iTunes (i haven't found anything to skin that in any fashion) and the finder windows. Includes mounted .dmg files.
Ease of use: Great. 3 clearly labeled sliders. and if those don't work, you can type in the title of the window you want to change. and a button to turn off for the current app.
Value: ....... honestly, im surprised this is free.
Stability: Pretty decent. i have noticed though that some apps get a black bar beneath the buttons if you set the alpha to 100% when in the front. and it sometimes hangs and gets the apps backwards, so that the background app is opaque, and the fore is transparent. but a quick switching of the foreground app fixes that.
GET IT!
+1
lmjn13 reviewed on 22 Mar 2006
+1
Thanks for this !
Anonymous reviewed on 06 Aug 2005
Anonymous reviewed on 04 Jun 2005
Anonymous reviewed on 04 Jun 2005
The program allows you to apply a transparency setting to all windows with a slider on the lower half of the preferences pane.
On the top of the preferences pain you can set a value for the normal transparency of an active window, and you can set a value for the window when it is inactive. (See screengrab of my desktop - Deer Park on top is, as already mentioned by another user, opaque as it does not support this program, neither does Mac Mail or Finder, which is probably a blessing. Beneath Deer Park, Safari is inactive and is only 10% opaque. 10 % is the minimum value you can give to a window's transparency.)
So, if you want your windows opaque then set it 100%, and if you want to see behind it set the inactive value at 10%. Now, all you have to do is click on part of the desktop that is visible to switch to finder, your inactive window will remain, but fade out, and when you want to switch back, click to activate the window and it returns to 100% transparency.
To find the Alpha settings, click the Application name in the top right corner of the screen, so for Sarari it's Safari->Set Alpha Value.... this brings up the preference pane.
Users may also set a fade time value which measures the number of stages in the transition from faded to opaque which can be turned on or off.
3 out of 5. It's useful I guess, but I can see it being awkward for other users. As it is people who also use my computer are thrown by Expose hiding windows and popping up Dashboard when they stray to the corners. Also, the show desktop (f11 by default) and hot corner feature does sort of make transparency redundant for what I would use it for - however, the author says that this was coded just for fun, and that is exactly what it can be used for.
Anonymous reviewed on 21 May 2005
Why? It's not a SIMBL plugin, it adds a menu item to the main application menu, just below Services. You can have different levels of transparency for different kinds of windows, even specific windows such as individual websites, and it remembers your settings.
For example, as I'm writing this review, I am looking through the page at how my downloads are progressing as well as at some scrolling text in some other app in the background, whereas a few minutes ago, I was typing into a transparent TextEdit window in front of the main Safari window, reading off of an image in Preview, three layers behind.
Great for maximising efficiency on small screens.
Nevermind that it looks cool like anything.
Anonymous reviewed on 20 Jan 2005
A PrefPane would be nice...
+322
quote:
"If you want to delete SetAlphaValue, simply delete its folder in the /Library/InputManagers folder, where it was installed originally. If, on the other hand, you want to disable SetAlphaValue just for certain users on your Mac, move the SetAlphaValue folder from /Library/InputManagers to the user's home library (~/Library/InputManagers). If the user doesn't already have an InputManagers folder in ~/Library, you'll need to make one first. The InputManagers folder is one of the places Cocoa applications look when they launch to see if there are any additional attributes they need to take on... it's sort of a "plugins" folder for Cocoa."
If this is dealt with, it'll be a great extension again. Thanks.