Background Tiles As Desktop Wallpapers, A Mini-Tutorial

If I judge correctly from how long some visitors stay on my site when they're searching for certain desktop wallpapers, I don't think they understand what desktop wallpapers are. In some instances, they are fixed-width images, e.g. 800x600 pixel photos or color graphics. In other instances, they are graphical tiles, mostly with seamless edges, in a variety of pixel sizes, e.g. 10x10 or 100x100 or 10x100, as examples. While I offer the fixed-width images as desktop wallpapers, you can use any of the web page background tiles on your desktop also. It's how you set the graphic on your desktop that allows the image to cover it.

The fixed width image, should you go ahead and install it immediately, is set as a Stretched image (Windows). Because you set it that way, you have to be sure you download the correct size for the resolution you've set your monitor. For example, if you're using the resolution of 1024x768, you download the desktop wallpaper sized at 1024x768. You can also use the option of Center, if you've downloaded the correct size. (Theoretically, you can use a size larger than your monitor's resolution, but you end up losing some of the image -- right and bottom sides -- in doing so.)

The other option is to Tile the image. Obviously, with a fixed-width image, it makes no sense to tile it since it covers the entire desktop anyway. This is the option you choose when you use a background tile. Instructing the computer to tile the image on your desktop will cover it all. Check it out. If you tell the computer to center the background tile, all you'll see is this lonely tile in the middle of your desktop. If you stretch it, watch out! It will be so huge and out of focus, maybe even funny-looking. (The screenshot doesn't do the real look justice. Believe me it looks bad.) Tiling the tile makes sense and is the best way to go. Additionally, the best thing about background tiles is you don't have to worry about knowing your monitor's resolution.

Centered, a 100x100 pixel tile

Stretched and fuzzy

Tiled

Words of caution: If the small, single tile looks good, it does not necessarily translate into a good-looking desktop wallpaper. It may end up looking too busy. Try them out. You can always change it easily, unlike wallpaper you put on house walls.

How do you set your image on your desktop? With Windows, you right-click on the image until a menu pops up and select "Set As Desktop..." Then in the next popup window, select the Position and change the color, if necessary. Finally, press the "Set Desktop Background" button. You're done!

For Mac users, click on the link to view the desktop image. Click and hold the mouse cursor over the image and drag it to your desktop. The image will be copied and saved. (The browser window may have to be resized in order to see and reach the desktop so the image can be dragged and dropped.) Next, open the appearance control panel ( Main Apple Menu drop down menu -> Control Panels -> Appearance) When the appearance control panel window opens, click on the "desktop" tab. Drag the saved image from the desktop into the appearance desktop window. Choose how you want the image to be displayed (i.e. position automatically, center on screen, tile...) then click on "Set Desktop".

Here are the Desktop Wallpapers and Background Tiles pages at Arride Graphics:

Wallpapers 1 - space images
Wallpapers 2 - more space images
Wallpapers 3 - variety of images
Wallpapers 4 - more variety of images
Background Tiles - color and patterned

Have fun!

New Top Border Web Page Background: Green Jewels

Top border backgrounds are pretty popular nowadays, if I can judge from the number of visitors here searching for them. I'll continue to make and offer them in a variety of patterns and colors as the demand dictates. Today, I'm offering two, similar top border backgrounds - Green Jewels - made with an emerald bead tube and Virtual Painter in Paint Shop Pro 7.

The beads line the bottom of the green, textured top border. One background graphic has a large bead and a tiny bead, giving the graphic a bit of presence. The other background graphic has a small bead and a tiny bead, a much more subdued yet still elegant look. The choice is yours. Both graphics are shown on sample pages from which you can download the graphic, and the instructions are right on the page.

You can find the thumbnail images on page four of the top edge or border backgrounds page. Each thumbnail image will open a new window with the sample pages. Have fun choosing!

New Desktop Wallpaper: Hammock at the Beach

Last year, you saw this image on the July calendar desktop wallpaper. It's a photo of a white hammock strung from palm trees on the beach in Sri Lanka. The photo was taken by Ana C. Golpe and offered at Morguefile.com.

Feeling a little bit anxious for warm weather and for spring and summer to arrive, I decided to resurrect this image for another desktop wallpaper more permanent than a calendar one. Also because the beachy/summery image I had on my computer's desktop -- although nice and warm feeling -- was the one provided by Microsoft and I wanted something different, so I chose to bring this back. I love Ana's photo and the feeling it gave me when I first saw it. I remember sighing deeply and wishing I could be laying there in the hammock right then.

Now, the photo was a bit skewed with the horizon slanted upwards from left to right. So I leveled that out. In doing so, I needed to crop the image so that the background color I used would not be part of the photo. That meant the image sizes would be off the standard heights, e.g. instead of 800x600, it is 800x592 and instead of 1024x768, it is 1024x758 and so on. I also made the image less fuzzy by sharpening it a bit. All this was done with Paint Shop Pro 7.

Does this sound like something you want on your desktop? Go to the fourth wallpapers page (click link) to download in one or more of four widths, and enjoy!

New Desktop Wallpaper: Blue Ice

Finally got a burst of energy to churn up another desktop wallpaper for you. This will be the last of the wintry-themed wallpapers for the season because I'm ready for spring!

This desktop wallpaper, Blue Ice, was made from a photograph obtained at ImageAfter.com. I couldn't tell who the contributor was, so I guess he or she will remain anonymous. The quote is from QuoteGarden.com and I thought it was appropriate for the image. Finally, the font I used for the text of the quote is called Rage Italic from the Esselte Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, a commercial font.

You can view then download the wallpaper in one or more of the four sizes on the fourth wallpapers page at Arride Graphics.

Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm late. But this is the first work day of the year, so I am not that late. Hope everyone enjoyed their time off for the holidays. I can't believe how fast time goes by between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's 30 days but it seems so much shorter, especially when you're trying to find the right gifts to give everyone and trying to avoid the crowds at the malls by shopping mostly online.

So, I didn't get much done like I hoped I would, graphics- and site-wise. But there will be changes coming this year, if not this month. Look for a brighter-looking web site here. Out with the old; in with the new!

(Changes mentioned will be to the web site only, not this blog.)

New, Wintry Desktop Wallpaper: SnowTree

Here's an alternative desktop wallpaper to the December calendar. It's a snow-covered tree, a leafless one at that, that I photographed a year or two ago. I applied Virtual Painter's Pointillism effect in Paint Shop Pro which gives the photo a complementary snowy effect. The cool blues and purples of this image chill - just the feeling you get when you walk outside on a crisp winter morning and forgot to put on your ear muffs and scarf.

Download one of four sizes of SnowTree on the fourth Wallpapers page and enjoy.

This is absolutely the last graphic I'll be releasing this year. I've got a ton of maintenance work to do on my web site in anticipation of the new year (wow, it's almost 2008?).

While you're on the wallpapers page, do check out the other offerings on the site as well. Maybe you haven't started a web page yet, but see what's available. Looking around might spark your interest; if not a web site, then a social-networking page perhaps?

New Background Tile

Alrighty! In keeping with the wintry theme, here's another snowflake background tile you can play with. Created from a Microsoft Wingding, this background tile can be used on web pages or your computer's desktop. The sample pages offer different ways you can use this tile on web pages. Go to the patterned tiles page 5 for more information and the download.

Note: the thumbnail image above is just a sample at 60% of full size. The full size 100x100 pixel graphic is more detailed.

(Edit 12/5/07: Thumbnail image removed due to someone in Florida thinking that was the download.)

Double Delight: Desktop Wallpaper & Background Tiles

Today's offerings are December's Desktop Wallpaper and Snowflakes Background Tiles! I haven't done background tiles in awhile, so what better timing than now and with a pattern that's popular at this time of the year. So is the image used in this month's desktop wallpaper: red berries, green foliage and snow.

The image for the desktop wallpaper comes from a photographer whose nickname on the web site, Image Temple, is Raistlin. It's a pretty picture that I left untouched other than putting those translucent boxes for the calendar. The font used on the calendar is called Girls Are Weird created by Robot Johnny AKA John Martz. Download a desktop wallpaper now in one of four sizes.

The background tiles were created using the dingbat font, Snowflake, from type foundry P22. I created the tiles with Paint Shop Pro, first making the "full strength" tile, then adding some translucent layers of white to create the two "faded" tiles. The sample page shows how you can use all three tiles with nested tables. You don't have to do that on your web pages; use just one tile or two tiles. View and download the snowflakes background tile now. By the way, these tiles can also be used on your desktop. Just set a tile as desktop wallpaper and make sure you indicate that it should be tiled, not stretched or centered.

The desktop wallpaper calendar is the last for this year and forever. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I will not be making these any more for the public. I hope that those of you who downloaded the previous months enjoyed them as I did.

November's Desktop Wallpaper

Hey, it's here! Download November now in one of two looks: Regular or Enhanced. Regular starts out with one of my landscape photos that I applied the Watercolor filter to and using the font, Pristina by the Esselte Corporation, created the latest calendar desktop wallpaper. Enhanced goes a step further with autumn leaves from a PSP tube. While I really like how the regular calendar turned out, I thought it needed a little something extra to give it more "oomph"; thus, the leaves. So I offer for this month two versions of November.

Choose one or both versions from the fourth page of the Wallpapers section. You can either download the image to install later or apply the desktop wallpaper now. Instructions are on each window of the size you choose.

More news: December will be the last calendar desktop wallpaper I'll make. I'm not sure how well these are being accepted because I don't receive any feedback. So instead of me working hard to create these graphics for the public, I'll resume creating them for my personal enjoyment only. But I will continue to make desktop wallpapers in general.

Top Border Backgrounds: Reversed Gradients

Earlier this year I released a group of top border backgrounds with gradient colors. Reversing the graphic so that it starts out with a white or near-white background then slowly transitions to the color is something I've been thinking about doing for awhile. So here it is now.

I hope that for some of my visitors wishing to use a gradient background for their web pages, this selection fits better than what was offered previously.

You can find the reversed gradients on the fourth top border backgrounds page.

Birches, Clouds & Sky: New Desktop Wallpaper

While we are going through another warm spell, I'm releasing this scene on the latest desktop wallpaper of the European birches in my back yard against a backdrop of the brightest blue winter sky and fluffy clouds. But this is not your ordinary photo. I've taken the admittedly plain Jane photo and touched it up with Paint Shop Pro's Virtual Painter. I used the Drawing Effect on Washi paper to come up with this abstract desktop wallpaper rich with textures. I love it and hope you do, too.

Go to the fourth desktop wallpapers page to find the links to four sizes and set or download the wallpaper of your choice. Remember, the wallpapers are meant for your desktop, not for web pages. They are too large, even the 800x600 size, to use for web pages. Not everyone surfs with high speed connections...yet.

The November desktop wallpaper will be released on Thursday. So check back to the web site then.

Cats On A Fence: New Top Border Background!

Latest top border background graphic features sleek black cats scampering across the top of a fence. Added spookiness is the yellow glow emanating from the cats. Just right for your Halloween page or other pages of your web site.

This latest linkware is available to all users, subject to the Terms of Use. Download instructions are on the sample page which is password-protected. The thumbnail sample above doesn't do the background justice, so head out to the fourth page of the top border backgrounds to view the full page sample from the link there.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

October's Desktop Wallpaper Is Here!

After some fits and starts, I've finally finished October's wallpaper for you to download to your desktop and enjoy for the entire month. This month's photo comes from the creative eyes and camera of Simon Schaller AKA simu at MorgueFile.com. It's an orange moon -- harvest moon perhaps -- on a dark landscape in a park, it looks like. Pretty cool! The font I used this month is called "Fletcher Gothic FLF" by Software Complement at the Casady & Greene page at Typoasis.

The thumbnail shot above doesn't do the image any justice, so check out the full size desktop wallpapers for yourself on Wallpapers 4 page. Click the link that most closely matches your monitor's resolution and follow the instructions on the page that opens.

In other news, changes are in store for the site. I'm working on them throughout October and November, so there may be fewer graphic sets and pieces coming during that period. I'll continue to make the calendar desktop wallpapers, though. So come back at least once a month to pick up a new calendar for your desktop.

Last Two Space-themed Desktop Wallpapers

I've uploaded the last two desktop wallpapers with space images from GRIN. One is a revisit featuring the Carina Nebula. The other is an image taken by the Apollo 8 crew of the Earth rising over the moonscape.

The Carina Nebula is one of the most beautiful nebulae in the universe. I had offered it only in the 800x600 size, so this time I changed the look a little and created four sizes including another 800x600 size.

The Earthrise wallpaper puts you over the moon looking back at the Earth as it looked way back on December 29, 1968. Many of you haven't been born yet; many of you remember those years as being turbulent ones. Yet, how peaceful and beautiful our planet looked from space. This wallpaper is offered in four sizes to fit most of your monitors' resolutions.

Download one or both wallpapers from the second wallpapers page. Be sure to check out the other desktop wallpapers on the other three pages, too.

September's Desktop Wallpaper Is Here!

Just as I promised on the 17th the latest desktop wallpaper calendar is uploaded today, at least for some folks in my part of the globe. It's an acknowledgment of the arrival of fall or autumn coming soon.

The photograph of orange and brown autumn leaves serving as the basis for this calendar comes from me and my camera. I touched it up with Virtual Painter's watercolor effect. The font is called "Mistral" from URW and Microsoft. I'm kind of fond of those script and handwriting fonts, can you tell? Anyway, hope you enjoy looking at your desktop during the month of September.

Download one of four sizes at the fourth wallpapers page.

Break Time!

It's been a slow month as far as putting out new graphics and it'll stop altogether next week, because I'm going on vacation. I've been so busy during the summer months with baseball games to attend and other things, I haven't had a lot of time to work on graphics.

But I will have a new desktop calendar for September which I hope to upload on Wednesday the 29th after I return. So hang in there and enjoy August's desktop calendar (see below or link in the left column) while it lasts.

August 2007 Desktop Wallpaper

August's scenic calendar wallpaper is a closeup photo of shells and rocks on a gray sandy beach taken by kahanaboy of morguefile.com. This month's wallpaper is a farewell to summer as it winds down, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. So enjoy the sand and sun while you can, whether it's at the seashore or lakeside.

Download August's desktop wallpaper on the fourth wallpaper page in one of four sizes. While you're there, check out the other wallpapers on that page and the other three pages.

Two Cool Desktop Wallpapers Pages

While I love offering desktop wallpapers for you to download, I also like some of the wallpapers available around the 'Net. Two of the sites I love are The Nature Conservancy, a conservation organization, and the National Geographic Society, known to me as a magazine but it's an organization that documents all things scientific, cultural and natural around the globe as well as funds projects. Both offer some of the most fantastic photographic desktop wallpapers around.

I've always admired the photos taken by the National Geographic photographers. They are beautiful and moving. Ever since they began offering photographic calendars, I've been buying them each year. So when they started offering desktop wallpapers, I've stopped by their web site to check them out and download a few.

Every month I get e-mail newsletters from The Nature Conservancy about their projects and an offer of a new download of desktop wallpapers. Besides the wallpapers they also offer nature e-cards which I haven't checked out yet.

Every now and then I like to have a new look on my desktop, not satisfied with the same old image day after day, month after month, nor with the standard stuff MS offers. So these two sites allow me to have a different and fabulous look on my computer's desktop. Of course, sometimes I have one of my own on there, too. But check out these two sites. It's one way to see the world without actually having to travel there.

The Nature Conservancy's "Decorate Your Desktop" page
National Geographic Photo Archive - wallpapers and photos to e-mail

July 2007 Desktop Wallpaper

This month's scenic calendar wallpaper was made from a photo taken by Ana Golpe of a hammock swinging poolside near a beach somewhere in Sri Lanka. The colors of blues and greens are so cool and serene, it makes you want to be there. What a great view to look at while you work on your computer!

It comes in four sizes, so there's sure to be one that fits your monitor's resolution. Check it out and download one from the fourth wallpapers page.

Photo source: Morguefile.com

New! Yellow Lily Desktop Wallpaper

I made this desktop wallpaper last year but didn't release it then. I don't even remember why. But here it is now to splash some bright and cheery color to your monitor!

I used a photo I took of a yellow lily from a bouquet and applied Virtual Painter's Watercolor filter to it. Looks pretty good. The desktop wallpaper comes in four sizes and you can go to the fourth wallpapers page to get one. Be sure to check out the other wallpapers, too, including this month's calendar wallpaper.