Changing the Background

The background is the pattern, picture, or color that lies behind all the windows , icons, and menus on your desktop. The background used to be called wallpaper before people noticed that wallpapering your desktop is a mixed metaphor. With Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, the term "wallpaper" was not used as much. Windows Vista, however, includes an option for choosing Windows Wallpaper and includes a few sample black and white photos to use.

Your desktop background can be any color or image. Windows comes with several attractive photographs, as well as a number of abstract patterns, that you can use as a background. You can also use image files that you download from the Internet, copy from a friend, or get from your scanner or digital camera.

Selecting an Image or Pattern from the Background List

To select a background image or pattern for your desktop, first click the Desktop Background link on the Personalization window (shown earlier in Figure 12-1). The Desktop Background window (see Figure 12-6) lists all the background image options that Windows knows about. Click a type from the Picture Location drop-down list to see thumbnail views of the available backgrounds.

Figure 12-6: Use the Desktop Background window to select your background.

A background image is a file in an HTML or image format (with the extension .bmp, .jpg, .gif, or .tif). That image has a size , which may or may not match the dimensions of your display. If the image is smaller than the display, the position options at the bottom of the Desktop Background window give you three choices:

• Stretch Stretches the image to fill the display. Photographs end up looking like funhouse mirrors, but many abstract patterns stretch well.

• Tile Repeats the image to fill the display with the image. This works particularly well with colors or images designed for tiling.

• Center Puts the image in the center of the display, letting the background color of the desktop form a frame around the image. This is your best choice for photographs that are slightly smaller than the display.

If the image you choose is larger than your display, the center and tile options both give you a single copy of the image, with the edges of the image off the screen. If this isn't satisfactory, you can use Microsoft Paint to crop the image, or you can redefine the dimensions of your display (see "Changing the Screen Resolution" later in the chapter).

When the preview in the Desktop Background window looks the way you want, click OK (which closes the window).

Making Your Own Background Images

You aren't limited to the backgrounds that come with Windows. You can use any image file-like a digital or scanned picture of your kids -as a background. Any image file that you move to your Pictures folder automatically appears in the Pictures list of the Desktop Background window. If the file is somewhere else on your system, you can click the Browse button and find the file in the Browse dialog box that appears.

Selecting a Background Color

Any background image you select automatically covers the background color of your desktop. This means that you see the background color of your desktop only if you do not choose a background (or Windows Wallpaper) image or if the image is centered with the background visible around the edges.

To select a new background color, follow these steps:

1. Right-click any empty area on the desktop and select Personalize from the shortcut menu. The Personalization window appears.

2. Click the Desktop Background link to open the Desktop Background window (shown earlier in Figure 12-6).

3. Click the Picture Location drop-down list. A list of options appears.

4. Click Solid Colors.

5. If one of the colors on the palette is what you want, click it. A small square below the selections displays the color.

6. If you don't like any of the colors on the palette, click More, and follow the directions in the section "Finding the Perfect Color" later in this chapter.

7. Click OK to change the desktop color.