Some sites offer desktop pictures and wallpaper in non-standard sizes, which may be resized by your system software (typically called "stretch" on PC or "fill screen" on Mac) to match standard screen resolutions (display areas).
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 stretched 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: Stretch (right-clicking the desktop, and choosing Properties: Desktop is another way to get to this control panel).
For earlier versions of Windows, from the Start menu, select Settings: Control Panel: Display: Background, then choose Stretch (right-clicking the desktop, and choosing Properties: Background is another way to get to this control panel).
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 Fill 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).
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 (control-clicking the desktop, then choosing Change Desktop Background... from the pop-up menu will also get you to this control panel), then choose "Fill screen" or "Stretch to fill screen," the difference between these options being that "Fill screen" will crop some of the picture if it doesn't have the same proportions (aspect ratio) as the screen, while "Stretch to fill screen" will resize the picture to match the proportions of the screen.
When resizing pictures with Stretch or Fill Screen, the quality of the picture may be slightly compromised, especially if the subject of the picture has clearly defined edges, which may become slightly jagged. Many pictures, though, will not be affected much, as long as the size is a fairly close match.
|
