Create desktop background that spans/differs on multiple monitors
Once you have a multi-monitor setup, you’ll notice that the desktop wallpaper is identical on all monitors, and if the resolution is different between the monitors, there will either be a border around the image on one or more monitors and/or part of the image will be cut off. If you want to skip to $40 software that will do this for you, just take a look at the UltraMon section below.
The solution is to create a custom background image. To do that, you’ll need an image editor. One of the best free options is Photofiltre, but you can also buy an OEM copy of PhotoImpact very cheaply, and of course everyone has heard of Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop. Photoshop7 is what I have installed on my computer so that’s what I’ll be using for the screenshots.
Your options are to either span one image across both monitors, to use two seperate images, or just create any combination of images that you want (possibly ignoring the edge from one monitor to another). We’ll choose to use two seperate images for the sake of this example. The other two options are actually easier because you can pretty much ignore where the monitor boundaries are in the larger image and thereby can skip step one.
First create new images, each the size of their respective monitors. My example is a 1680×1050 screen plus a 1024×768 secondary monitor so I’ll create a 1680×1050 image and a 1024×768 image. These images represent the two monitors. Now, you’ll need to take your source images (could be digital pictures, digital art you’ve downloaded from places like DigitalBlasphemy, or whatever other images you happen to have) and crop/resize it as necessary to make it fit as you like in the two new images you created.
My two source images are both 2272×1704. I’ll use a combination of cropping and resizing them to make them fit.
Second, add the dimensions of the monitors together. For the sake of this quick tutorial, I’ll assume the monitors are all on the same horizontal plane. Because of that assumption, choose the largest vertical resolution. The custom image vertical is 1050 pixels (which is the larger of the two verticals (1050 > 768)). Now, because the monitors are on the same horizontal plane, the horizontal resolutions must be added together. This is 1680 + 1024 = 2704. So the custom background image dimensions are 2704×1050. Create a new image with these dimensions and paste the images from the first step into it, as shown below.
Save this new image as a BMP format, then make this new 2704×1050 BMP image the desktop background. Go to the Display properties in the Windows Control Panel, and then click on the Desktop tab to change the background. Use the Browse button to locate the saved image. Now, select “Tile” from the Position dropdown and press Apply. If everything was done properly, you should see the background properly on the monitors.
UltraMon
UltraMon is THE multi-monitor utility application. However, it is not freeware but costs $40. It has more precise application monitor positioning than any of the manufacturer softwares, it has a smart taskbar feature similar to Oscar’s multi-monitor taskbar above, and it makes it easy to have different wallpaper for each monitor or stretched wallpaper across all monitors. Because screen savers generally only run on the primary monitor, UltraMon can blank the secondary monitors or run additional screen savers on them, and it can also mirror the primary monitor on one or more secondary monitors, even if the secondary monitor is running at a lower resolution than the primary monitor. On the off chance you want to use more than 10 monitors on your system, you’ll have to use a utility like UltraMon to do it.
In short, if you want the best possible multi-monitor software, grab a copy of UltraMon.
Conclusion
The world of multiple monitors is closer and cheaper than ever. The only reason not to do it is physical space. You’ll have more space to work, more flexibility, and you’ll find that working with the computer becomes easier because with one glance you can see more of what it is doing.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
