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
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