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- Description: Scanning and converting a photo into a
desktop picture
Difficulty level: Advanced
System version: Not applicable
Required: Scanner, photos, Photoshop if possible
Isn't it great to have a cool looking desktop picture in the
background when you do your work or surf the Net? Most people like
to have a decent picture and have a hard time finding the one they
like. Well, if you find other people's pictures a bit boring, make
your very own! If you have a scanner, photo editing software - I
strongly recommend Photoshop, even if it is an old version - and a
good old fashioned film camera. Creativity doesn't hurt when it is
time to shoot pictures and find desktop-worthy landscapes.
The first step is to find places to shoot pictures. Find parks
or urban hot spots where a sunrise, sunset, mist, or everyday
circumstances will provide great colors to the photos. Finding the
perfect sites can take time, and getting that perfect sunset can
take a while. It is worth the wait, and sight seeing will make up
for the wait.
I did take a few pictures during my summer 2000 vacation, back
where I was born. I took this one of a small hill at the Saguenay
River, near my hometown of Jonquiere, in the Canadian province of
Quebec. I will scan and convert into a desktop picture, as a
demonstration.
You like it? That's nothing! The whole area is breathtaking.
Firstly, you must scan the photo. Put it in your scanner, making
sure that you follow the manufacturer's instructions when placing
it and using the scanning software. I scanned the photo at the 600
DPI (dots per inch) resolution, which is way too big for most
pictures. You can easily scan a photo at 300 DPI and get a great
desktop picture out of it.
When you scan, use the appropriate settings for the type of photo
print.
Save the picture as a Photoshop (.psd) file or an
uncompressed JPEG. I highly recommend a Photoshop file to avoid
quality losses.
Once done, open the file with Photoshop or your favorite image
editor. Again, Photoshop is your best bet. Get an old version that
somebody wants to get rid of if money is an issue. Here is a little
trick. Select the picture by going to the Edit menu and choosing
Select All. Then use the Edit menu again to choose Copy. The whole
picture is in your clipboard. Go to the File menu and hit New. Type
72 in the resolution field, even though your original is in 300
DPI. This trick will allow you to have a very large picture at
screen resolution, giving you more elbow room for photo editing
without taking too much disk and RAM space.
Once the picture is ready for editing and trimming, you proceed
to judge which part of the picture is desktop-worthy. Your artistic
skills are required, and there is nothing I can do about it. :-)
Remember to leave out the edges of the photo, especially if your
scanner does not handle edges correctly. The selection step is
rather easy. In Photoshop (or your favorite editor), use the
selection tool. The button, in your toolbar, displays a square
shape with stripped lines. Click on it. In Photoshop 4 through 5.5,
you have a tab (the navigation tab) where you can use a Constrained
Aspect Ratio to make a selection. In Photoshop 6, the toolbar on
top of the screen shows it automatically when the selection tool is
active.
This is what you have to use.
Type 832 in the width field, and 624 in the height field. No
matter if your final picture will be smaller or bigger, 832 x 624
will respect the ratio of the desktop's size.
I selected the portion that will be used and resized.
Once done, go to Photoshop's Image menu and select Crop. Then go
back to the Image menu and select Image Size. Resize the picture by
typing the appropriate width or height. Typing one should adjust
the other. Just type the numbers corresponding to the resolution
selected for your screen. If you don't know what your resolution
is, just head to the Monitors (or Monitors & Sound) control
panel and see which one is selected. The resolution is always
displayed as width x height.
My resolution is 1280 x 960, therefore I type 1280 in the width
field.
After resizing the picture, only one more step is required! You
now need to save the picture. Save it in PICT or JPEG format with
maximum quality. Name the picture - and you're done! The final step
is opening the Appearance control panel and applying the picture to
your desktop.
My new desktop!
Enjoy! Oh, right. You want the picture I made. Click on the icon
below, it is a 557K download.
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is a French Canadian living in
Montreal. He discovered the Mac in 1994 while studying journalism,
the profession he loves and practices. He also studied history and
communications. He writes On
the Flip Side for The Mac Observer and
cofounded MacSoldiersin 1998.
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