I don't know about you, but I'm the kind of guy who needs to change things up on a regular basis. If my environment stays the same for too long, I get tired of it. That's why I change my desktop wallpaper every week.

Wallpapers are an excellent way to personalize your computer, and, for me, I've done it so often that finding, tweaking, and creating wallpapers has become a cherished pastime. If you're curious about how to make desktop wallpaper, it's really not as difficult as you might expect.

Step 1: Check Your Screen Settings

The worst thing you can do is use a wallpaper with an aspect ratio that differs from the aspect ratio of your screen. The aspect ratio of a rectangle is simply the proportion between width and height. The most common are 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10.

The second worst thing you can do is use a wallpaper with a display resolution that does not match your screen's display resolution. The best wallpaper resolution matches the dimensions of your monitor. If it's too small, it will appear blurry because it has to be stretched out to fit your screen. If it's too big, it will appear fine but take up unnecessary disk space.

To find your screen resolution in Windows 10:

  1. Right-click the desktop and select Display settings.
  2. Scroll down and click Advanced display settings.
  3. Under Resolution, you'll see your current screen resolution. You should choose whichever one is marked Recommended, but feel free to change it to any of the other resolutions if you prefer.
    Desktop resolution Windows

To find your aspect ratio, divide the width over the height. For example, if the resolution of my screen is 1920 x 1080, I would divide 1920 over 1080 to get 1.778, which indicates a 16:9 resolution. Similarly, 1.333 indicates 4:3, and 1.6 indicates 16:10.

In my case, my screen resolution is 1.333. Keep these numbers in mind; they're what you're shooting for when creating wallpaper images.

Step 2: How to Get a Good Quality Desktop Background

A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. — Ansel Adams

It's true when they say that there's no accounting for taste. The ideal wallpaper image for you may be too distracting for me. At the end of the day, we like what we like. I can't just tell you how to find the perfect wallpaper for your desktop. You have to find one that suits your tastes.

All that you need to do is make sure the image you find is of a high resolution, at least 1920 x 1080 or higher. Starting with a high resolution is important because you can always compress it down and maintain quality, but you can't stretch an image larger without losing quality.

If you're wondering where and how to get high-quality desktop backgrounds, free stock image sites are your best bet.

Sunset images on Unsplash

There are so many sites that specialize in royalty-free stock images depicting every subject imaginable. Most of them use copyright-free CC0 licenses, meaning you're free to do whatever you want with them. Always check an image's licensing so you don't accidentally infringe on copyrights, though.

Reddit is another great source for images. If you haven't already, check out the SFW Image Network where you can find all kinds of subreddits dedicated to high-res imagery across dozens of topics, including space, cities, beaches, flowers, and more. Almost every image is good wallpaper material.

For personal sentiment, you can certainly also choose one of your own photos. You don't have to be a professional to take pleasing shots. Nowadays, even smartphones are good enough for amazing photography. You might even want to think about using your favorite memories with your family and friends as your desktop background.

Whatever you do, consider how the wallpaper will look and feel on your eyes. Lots of contrast might be hard on your eyes, while darker images are usually easier to look at. If your desktop icons are all on one side of the screen, avoid images that will make them difficult to see.

Related: Beautiful Space-Themed Live Wallpapers for Windows

Step 3: Resize or Crop the Image

The best wallpaper resolution is at least as large as your display. If the downloaded image's resolution matches your screen resolution, you don't really have to do anything aside from assigning the image to the desktop through your settings.

Otherwise, you should download and install GIMP or fire up your photo-editing software of choice.

If the source image's aspect ratio is the same as your screen, all you need to do is resize it to match. To resize an image in GIMP:

  1. Open the image file.
  2. In the menu, click Image > Scale Image.
  3. Under Image Size, make sure the chain icon is connected. If it isn't, click on it. This makes sure that the image will not become distorted as it scales.
  4. Change the Width to the width of your screen resolution, then hit Enter. The Height should automatically adjust and maintain the same aspect ratio.
  5. If the Height ends up being smaller than the height of your monitor, start over and scale the Height to match instead.
  6. Click Scale to finish.
    Scaling image in GIMP

If the source image has a different aspect ratio than your screen, you'll need to crop it, too. Here's how to do it in GIMP:

  1. Open the image file.
  2. From the Image dropdown, select Canvas Size.
  3. Match the Width or the Height that remains to the second dimension of your monitor.
  4. Drag the guide on the preview image to crop out what remains. You can also hit the Center button to center it automatically.
  5. Click on Resize to complete the crop.
    Even if you know how to get high-quality wallpapers, resizing them before use is still a necessary step.

Export the finished image by going to File > Export As and saving it as either a JPEG for optimal file size or as a PNG for optimal image quality. Now, all that you have left to do is set the image as your wallpaper. One and done.

Related: Tips for Beautifying Your Desktop

How to Get High-Quality Desktop Backgrounds the Easy Way

If all of this is too much work for you, you can always find pre-made HD wallpapers online. Remember to keep your screen resolution in mind, and feel free to filter by aspect ratio if you're using a relatively small screen resolution like 1366 x 768.

If a momentary escape from the familiar and ordinary is what you crave, either approach will get the job done.