How to make your own background

Step 1: find your screen size

A background looks sharpest when the image matches your screen. Phones are tall, so the width is the smaller number.

• iPhone 16: Apple lists the display as 2556 by 1179 pixels at 460 ppi. For a wallpaper, that's 1179 wide by 2556 tall, which is where the generator below starts.
• Other phones: look up your model's display resolution on the maker's specification page and enter it as a custom size, width first.
• Desktop or laptop: 1920 × 1080 suits a Full HD screen. For a larger or sharper screen, use its own resolution.

If you're not sure, go bigger. Your device scales a large image down neatly, but a small image stretched up looks soft. A smooth gradient forgives this more than a photo does, because it has no fine detail.

Step 2: make the background

The generator starts on a soft radial gradient, cream at the top fading to coral and deep violet, sized for an iPhone 16. Change anything you like:

• Linear blends colours along a line. Set the angle to 180 for a top-to-bottom fade.
• Radial blends them out from a point. Move the centre to where you want the glow.
• Mesh layers up to four soft blobs of colour over a base colour, for a loose, painted look.
• Pattern repeats dots, a grid, stripes or checks.

A few things make a phone background easier to live with:

• Keep the top calm. The clock and notifications sit there, so a busy or very bright top half makes them hard to read.
• Watch the bottom too. On the Home Screen, the dock and app labels cover the lower part.
• Add a little grain. Set Grain to about 0.05. It stops smooth fades from showing bands of colour on large, bright screens.
• Try Randomise. It picks new colours for the type you've chosen, which helps when you don't know where to start.

When it looks right, check the PNG size under the preview and press Download PNG. On a phone, the file lands in your downloads; save it to your photos so the wallpaper settings can find it.

Step 3: set it as your wallpaper

iPhone

Apple's steps for a wallpaper from your own photo:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Wallpaper.
2. Tap Add New Wallpaper.
3. Tap Photos and choose the background you saved.
4. Tap Add.
5. Tap Set as Wallpaper Pair to use it on both the Lock Screen and Home Screen, or Customize Home Screen to give the Home Screen its own look.

You can also touch and hold the Lock Screen to open your wallpaper gallery and tap the Add button there.

Mac

1. Open System Settings and click Wallpaper in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down.
2. Scroll to Your Photos and click Add Photo.
3. Click Choose File, select your PNG and click Open.

Apple also lists a shortcut: Control-click the image file in a Finder window and choose Set Desktop Picture.

Windows

Open Settings and go to Personalization, then Background, and choose your PNG as the picture. Microsoft's documentation lists Background as a page under Personalization in Settings.

Android

The steps vary by phone maker. On most phones you'll find a Wallpaper option in Settings, or by touching and holding an empty part of the home screen. Choose your photos as the source and pick the PNG.

Ideas for your own background

• Your favourite colours. Pick two colours you like and blend them on a diagonal. Colours that sit near each other on the colour wheel blend most smoothly.
• A colour from your room or outfit. Use the colour picker in the colour fields to match it as closely as you can, and pair it with a lighter version of itself.
• A quiet pattern. A fine dot grid in a colour just darker than the background works well behind app icons.
• A matching set. Make one tall version for your phone and one wide version for your computer, with the same colours.

Prefer a photo? Your phone's wallpaper settings already take any picture from your library. A generated background is for when you want something plain and tidy that keeps the screen easy to read.