Creating Custom Desktop Wallpapers: Tips and Tools for Beginners

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around creating custom desktop wallpapers, focusing on techniques, tools, and tips for beginners in graphic design. Participants share their experiences and suggestions for software and methods to achieve visually appealing results.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses a desire to create a simple desktop wallpaper and seeks advice on how to incorporate graphics and personal photos.
  • Another participant suggests resizing a chosen photo to match screen resolution and mentions that most reasonable photo editing software can be used to add graphics.
  • A third participant explains that textured backgrounds can be created using software that supports layers, specifically mentioning Photoshop, Corel software, and GIMP as options. They describe a method involving layering and blending images.
  • A later reply clarifies that GIMP is not classified as freeware but is instead licensed under GPL.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the use of layered software for creating wallpapers, but there is a disagreement regarding the classification of GIMP as freeware.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the participants' familiarity with graphic design software and techniques may be present, and the discussion does not resolve the nuances of software licensing.

Who May Find This Useful

Beginners interested in graphic design, specifically those looking to create custom desktop wallpapers using various software tools.

_Mayday_
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Hey!

I want toi try and make a desktop wallpaper for my computer for something to pass the time :smile: I've been looking around at wallpapers and a lot of them have like cool graphics and backgrounds, and I don't know how to make these?

This is what I mean: http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/photosplus/content/current/image/wallpapers.html

How do they make the cool background in the first picture? Could anyone advise any other thing I might need to get started? I want to keep it simple and have a background and them insert an photo or two of mine onto it.

Thanks
 
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I pick a photo of my liking then resize it to macth my screen resolution. You can add graphics from most any resonable photo editing software.
 
Those textured backgrounds are made by using software that supports layers. Photoshop is the most infamous of these, but software by Corel also supports layers, and so does the very popular freeware GIMP. Simply select a photo you'd like to use as a background, and put your top photo on the top layer, then use alpha transparency and selection tools to blend the two layers however you like. You can then put the smaller image of the guy on a third layer.
 
slider142 said:
freeware GIMP.

Sorry to be pedantic but GIMP is not freeware, it is GPL licenced.
 

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