How to Use a Picture as a Desktop Background

Depending on the type of PC or laptop you own and where you bought it, the Windows desktop wallpaper might be somewhat plain or quite artistic. Windows 7 ships with some built-in, professionally designed themes that feature landscapes, abstract art and simple, plain color backgrounds. Nevertheless, if you are like many Windows users, you might want to use your own photos or images as wallpaper. Windows 7 allows you to set the default wallpaper background to a single image or rotate wallpaper photos stored in a folder.

Things You'll Need

• A computer

Instructions

Display Single Photo

1. Right-click an open area the desktop; then click "Personalize." The "Change the Visuals and Sounds on Your Computer" window opens.

2. Click the "Desktop Background" link at the bottom of the window.

3. Click the "Browse" button in the "Choose your desktop background" window. Select the folder that contains the photo you want to use as your Windows desktop background image; then click "OK." Windows displays all the photos in the selected folder in the browser window.

4. Click the check box next to the thumbnail image of the photo you want to use as your wallpaper image to create a checkmark in the box. Click the "Picture Position" drop-down list, and then click a position option for the desktop background image. The options for picture positions are: "Fill," which tretches all four corners of a photo so that it fills the entire desktop, "Fit," which shrinks or stretches the picture so that it extends from the top to the bottom of the desktop, "Stretch," which stretches the left and right sides of a photo so that it fills the width of the desktop, "Tile," which creates a series of same-sized picture "blocks" from a single image that fills the desktop background, and "Center," which centers a single photo on the desktop and does not change size or aspect ratio.

5. Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the window. Windows displays the selected image as the desktop background.

Rotating Multiple Images

1. Right-click the desktop; then click "Personalize." Click "Desktop Background." Click "Browse" and open a folder containing multiple images you want to use as your desktop background. Click the "OK" button.

2. Browse through the thumbnail images of photos in the folder and place check marks next to those you want to use as wallpaper images. Click the "Picture Position" drop-down list and select one of the options: "Fill," "Fit," "Stretch," "Tile" or "Center."

3. Click the "Change Picture Every:" drop-down list. Select a time interval for rotating the images on the desktop. You can set the images to rotate as fast as every 10 seconds, every few minutes or only once or twice a day.

4. Click the "Shuffle" check box if you want Windows to randomize the display order of the photos and not always rotate them in the same sequence.

5. Click the "Save Changes" button. Windows displays the first image in the folder as your desktop background. Windows also rotates the images on the desktop using the interval you selected.

Tips & Warnings

• Darker solid colors tend to work best. Too many objects on the picture,

• will make your desktop busy, and the shortcuts will be hard to read.

References

• Microsoft Windows: Change Your Desktop Background (Wallpaper)