Providing basic functionality, Image Loaders allow you to load an image to a texture which Compiz can use for rendering. Each image loader allows loading certain image types into textures, like JPEG, PNG and SVG. The Text plugin is a library plugin that provides a font to applications to draw text, such as window titles, on screen.

JPEG

The JPEG plugin is used to load images in JPEG (Joint-Photographic-Experts-Group) format as textures. These images can then be used as textures for other plugins.

JPEG image filenames usually end in the extension .jpg or .jpeg. It is important to note that your success in loading images with this plugin may be varied, and may result in white images or textures when loaded. JPEG images also do not support an alpha channel, making them useless for certain plugins. They are also not scalable, and the image quality may drop if the image is scaled up.

Only use JPEG images if they came from a source like a digital camera or the web. If you are looking to create images for use with Compiz, use PNG.

Compression Quality Refers to how much the image compressed when used as a texture. A lower quality will result in a lower quality image, but less of a memory footprint.

PNG

The PNG plugin is used to load images of the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image type. These images can then be used as textures for other plugins.

PNG images usually end in the extension .png. You will generally have more success loading PNG images, and PNG images also support an alpha channel, allowing compiz to draw real transparency where the image is transparent. PNG images however are large in size, and are not scalable - causing distortion when they are scaled up.

Use PNG images wherever possible as they have a much sharper quality.

SVG

The SVG plugin is used to load images of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) image type. These images can then be used as textures for other plugins.

SVG images consist of a mathematical forumla (XML) to draw an image. They do not contain bitmap data. SVG images typically have the extension .svg. SVG images also support an alpha channel allowing for Compiz to render true transparency. SVG images can also be scaled up, but Compiz currently imports the default size to a texture.

Text

The Text plugin' allow Compiz Fusion to render fonts drawn with Cairo and Pango. It is a library plugin which provides the ability to draw text to the following plugins

• Window Previews

• Scale Addons

• Scale Window Title Filter

• Group and Tab windows

• Shift Switcher

• Ring Switcher

Generic Options

To the plugins above, Text provides the following configurations, some of which may or may not be in a plugin's configuration

• Bold Font toggles a bold font

• Font size defines the size of the text

• Font Color defines the color of the text

• Background Color defines the color of background of the text