Free Desktop Wallpaper - Help & Tips

Downloading our desktop wallpaper          

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When you have decided on the wallpaper you want to download, (in the Preview page) select the pixel size for your desktop (either 800x600 pixels, or 1024x768 pixels sizes are available), then, when the new window has opened and the picture has finished loading, right click somewhere within the picture and select "Save Picture as..." from the menu that appears.

A new dialogue box will open where you can enter the filename you want use for saving the image - or you can accept the default name that appers in the "filename" field. Here you can also select the location that you wish to save the file to.

Click "Save"

Loading the wallpaper to your Desktop

Now, somewhere in the central area of your current desktop, right click and select "Properties" from the menu that appears. Now select the "Desktop" tab" in the Display Properties dialogue that appears. To select your new desktop, click the "Browse" button and then locate the folder where you saved your new desktop wallpaper.

When you have located the file, double click the icon for the this file and it will appear in the miniature "Monitor". Now select "center" from the "Position" dialogue, and then click the "Apply" button and close the "Display Properties" Window.

Arranging your icons to fit the desktop wallpaper design

Now, if you, like me, have really gathered too many shortcut icons on your desktop, now might be a good time to create a new folder or two on the desktop, and then drop any shortcut icons, that are surplus to your daily requirements, into them.

So, first step is to right click the desktop and select "Arrange icons by" then make sure that "Align to grid" is unchecked. Next step is to drag your icons around the screen placing them in roughly the positions you want them for your convenience, ie over the 'ghosted panels' (or around the plain edges of some designs).

Now, right click again, and this time check "Align to grid" (be careful not to accidentally click on the next line "Auto arrange" or you will undo your work so far!) Align to grid may now have sorted your icons into nice tidy rows in just the right place, but if they don't quite line up correctly with the panels, you just need to once again uncheck "Align to grid", and then carefully click and drag a box round all the icons in a row (or column) and edge them into place all together, repeating this until you are happy with te result.

Finally, it might seem obvious, but don't select Auto arrange or Align to Grid now, or your icons will all jump off somewhere you don't want them again!

Thats it! Enjoy your new desktop!    Print this Page