Some sites offer desktop pictures and wallpaper in non-standard sizes, which may be centered on screen by your system software, while any area not covered by the picture may be filled with a color of your choice (or tiled pattern, for some systems). If the picture you want to use as your desktop background doesn't match your screen resolution - especially if it's less wide or less high - centering may be a better choice than stretching, because the original proportions of the picture are preserved. You can even make portrait format pictures look good this way.
On a Windows Vista PC, from the Start menu, select Control Panel: Change desktop background (under Appearance and Personalization), then under "How should the picture be positioned," choose the centered image (right-clicking the desktop, and choosing Personalize: Desktop Background is another way to get to this control panel).
On a Windows XP PC, from the Start menu, select Control Panel: Appearance and Themes: Display: Desktop, then choose Position: Center (right-clicking the desktop, and choosing Properties: Desktop is another way to get to this control panel - you can also choose a color here to fill any screen area the picture doesn't cover).
For earlier versions of Windows, from the Start menu, select Settings: Control Panel: Display: Background, then choose Center (right-clicking the desktop, and choosing Properties: Background is another way to get to this control panel - you can also choose a pattern here to fill any screen area the picture doesn't cover).
On a Mac (operating systems prior to Mac OS X), from the Apple menu, select Control Panels: Appearance: Desktop, or Control Panels: Desktop Pictures: Picture, then choose Center on Screen (control-clicking the desktop, and choosing Change Desktop Background... from the pop-up menu, is another way to get to the same control panels - you can also choose a pattern here to fill any screen area the picture doesn't cover).
For recent versions of Mac OS X (earlier versions of Mac OS X lack options for positioning and resizing), from the Apple menu, select System Preferences: Desktop & Screen Saver: Desktop, then choose Center (control-clicking the desktop, then choosing Change Desktop Background... from the pop-up menu will also get you to this control panel - you can also choose a color here to fill any screen area the picture doesn't cover).
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