To create your own wallpaper images, all you need is a little time, creativity, and a good graphic editing program. A couple of our favorites are Paint Shop Pro by Jasc Software, and a great new kid on the block, Photo-Brush, by MediaChance. These programs are both shareware, and have trial versions available for download. There are also high-end programs, such as Adobe Photoshop that pro designers use.

If you don't want to spend a little cash, then look no further than your own system. Just about every operating system comes with a free graphic editing program. Windows has always come with Paint....

These days, the most common wallpaper resolutions are 800x600, and 1024x768. Bigger monitors now support higher resolutions like 1280x1024.

If your monitor is one size and you design your graphic for that, then your wallpaper will look small to those with higher resolutions. It goes both ways, as wallpaper designed for high resolution only monitors, will look large and cut off on smaller resolutions. The best solution for this, is to simply make the wallpaper, then create more versions of it by re-sizing it in a graphics program for other available resolutions. That said, some authors only design for the resolution they're using, and make them available with take it or leave it conditions.

Wallpapers should always be distributed in .JPG or .BMP file format. .JPG files are the most popular, because they are about 3 or 4 times smaller than .BMP files, and the image can be viewed on the web with every web browser that supports images.

Making wallpaper is fun, and can be a thrill knowing that thousands of people on the net are using your creations as their desktop background! Be sure to let us know if you create any cool celebrity walls. We'll get you listed.

See Also: How Do I Install Wallpaper On Windows?
See Also: How Do I Install Wallpaper On A Mac?
See Also: How Come Some Wallpapers Are Zipped?

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