Making desktop wallpapers

Is Gimp to be your software of choice? I ask because tools will differ depending on which software is being used and it can make for much more targeted advise.

Also, if you know you will be using Gimp, you can look for resources specific to Gimp users. It is in those communities that you can really find exposure to all the little tips and tricks specific to what software you are using.

Also, just have fun with it. As long as you enjoy it, you are more likely to keep at it and the more you do the better you will get.

Right off, using the background you posted, the thing which stands out right away is the resolution. You increased the size larger than the original and the quality is suffering as a result. You can make images smaller, but never bigger. It will always lead to a loss of quality. You will want to try finding images that are very large to begin with. Ideally, the originals will be larger than the final background dimensions. That way the size reduction works to your favor by reducing imperfections.

Another solution is to make a collage of multiple smaller images cut out and assembled onto a larger canvas that is to become the background image.

And another approach is to use image filters to expand the size of an image but there is no perceived loss of image quality because you have (as an example) applied a layering of the same image as a zoom or shrink effect where the larger you expand the image, the more Gaussian blur you apply and the more you reduce the opacity.

Use a single image and do experiments with it trying different tools and techniques. Write down things you do and critique yourself as you go. Then when you find something that works well you will have how you did it in your notes so you can apply the same technique again in the future.

Pay attention to jagged edges, pixelation, light and shadow, and color bleed (particularly from lighting and opacity issues). Those tend to be the things that will most often be your hurdles to conquer and to be the gotchas in the final versions.

I hope you find this advise useful. Good luck, have fun, and I look forward to seeing you progress.

Maitolasi wrote:

Actually I didn’t I didn’t increase the resolution: the original image is 4288×2848, but still I see some poor details in hands. I guess there is not much you can do about it if the original image isn’t good enough.

Then someone else took a small image and increased the size. You got their blown up version which already had distortion. The hands were the first thing that stood out to me as well.

Just remember, high resolution and high quality must go hand-in-hand. If the resolution is high and the quality is low, then you are looking at a distorted image.

People are constantly screwing with images on the web. There is often no way to know how many distortions have been done to an image before you get your hands on it.

Use your common sense and a careful eye to spot the good from the bad.

Maitolasi wrote:

I think I now have better vision what to try next and where to look more detailed instructions. It’s just quite hard to get started when I’m total noob in this and another thing I’ve noticed that this is quite time consuming. But I guess it gets faster as you start knowing the tricks.

Don’t count on it getting faster. Even if you gain speed at certain tasks, you are slowed down again by knowing more techniques to use. As you develop a better eye, you will get faster spotting stuff you are still learning to spot, but you will start spotting much more which slows you back down.

Accept that this is a very time consuming hobby. That is part of what makes it a good hobby. If you are not rushing something and giving it your best, it may take hours… it may take weeks.

Maitolasi wrote:

I’ll post the next version of this image later. Thanks for the tips.

You are welcome. 🙂