Desktop Decorating: Cropping and Resizing in Photoshop

If you're like me, you've decorated the desktop of your personal computer with wallpaper from your favorite films. However, with numerous aspect ratios available, chances are you may never find one that matches your own computer's screen size.

With programs like Adobe Photoshop, you can easily adjust images you find online to fit perfectly on your desktop.

Take this image from Black Swan, for example:


















Originally sized at 1024x768 pixels, this image is not equivalent to my desktop size, 1366x768 pixels. So, a simple size readjustment won't work. And just using the image as is will either end up like this... (notice how the image is squeezed):














...Or this (notice how the image has been cropped and inserted a second time):















To get the image the way you want, perfectly centered and justified, you'll need to do the following, preferably in Adobe Photoshop:

1) Save your image from the web to your computer (somewhere where you'll easily be able to find it, i.e. the desktop?).

2) In Photoshop, select File>Open... and select the saved image.

3) Select Image>Image Size... (Image Size may be under Image>Resize in older versions). In the pop-up window, make sure that "pixels" are the selected "width" and "height" measurements, and that "constrain proportions" is also checked at the bottom of the window.

4) In the "width" box, change the number to match the width size of your own computer's screen size (in this case, 1366; the height box should now read 1025). Select OK.

5) This next part will involve a little trial-and-error. First, select the crop tool from your selection bar. Right now, the height of your image is too large. We need to get 1025 pixels down to 768 (in this example). So bits of the top and/or bottom of the image will have to go. Personally, if I had to choose something from this image to cut out, I'd go with the bottom. The crown looks pretty nice at the top, but there is a lot of neck and shoulders which can go. So with the crop tool, start at the top left of the image and drag all the way to the right and then down, making sure to leave some of the bottom out. You'll probably need to leave out more than you think.

6) After a portion of this image is selected, hit Enter and the image should now be cropped. Go back into your Imageabove 768, then you need to go back and repeat Step 5, cropping a little more of the image out. If the value is below 768, then you need to undo your last crop (Control+Z) and try again, cropping a little less of your image out.

*Note: The value doesn't have to match exactly. 10 pixels above or below the intended value will work just fine. Also, if you're having trouble getting close, zooming into the image will make it easier to be more precise with your cropping.

7. Once you have your image cropped to your liking, save it as a .JPG, right click on the new .JPG image and set it as your desktop background. Voila! You should have a perfectly justified and centered desktop wallpaper.