I have a .jpg picture I’d like to use on my desktop, running OpenSuse 13.1
How do I convert that to a wallpaper image I can import to my desktop? And where do I put it?
I used to be able to do this with OpenSuse 11 but I’ve forgotten how to do this.
I know how to change wallpaper images, but not how to do this.
The answer to these questions just might depend on which desktop you are running.:\
Yes.
But I suppose most desktops should be able to use a standard .jpg file as wallpaper image.
There should be no need to convert it to anything, there’s no special “wallpaper image” file format anyway (on Linux that is)…
Yep. I was referring to the “where do I put it question”, because most desktops do indeed accept standard .jpg
Since I do not know Gnome, I am not certain wallpapers would be in the same place as they are in KDE.
Although, actually, you could put them anywhere, then just browse to them and choose them.
The standard system wallpapers are in /usr/share/wallpapers/, and that’s pretty much standard for all desktops I think.
Although, actually, you could put them anywhere, then just browse to them and choose them.
Yes, the location of the file should not matter really, and again I’d say this is the case for most desktops.
Just enter the desktop’s settings, there should be an option to choose an image file as wallpaper somewhere. How to do this exactly, does of course depend on the desktop in use.
For KDE you would right-click on the desktop (or left-click on the toolbox icon/“cashew” normally located in the upper-right corner of the screen) and choose “Desktop Settings”.
Btw, in the case of KDE, you can also just drag’n’drop an image file from a filemanager to the desktop to set it as wallpaper. 
Yes, and I am just guessing here, but that possibly works with a couple of the desktops.
Originally Posted by **wolfi323** https://forums.opensuse.org/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png](https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?p=2744157#post2744157)
Btw, in the case of KDE, you can also just drag'n'drop an image file from a filemanager to the desktop to set it as wallpaper.
Comment: This does not work in my current (test) system (Leap42.1, KDE): the image file just gets copied/moved to the Desktop folder, but is not displayed. I tried this in modes “Desktop view” and “Folder view”.
You should not drop it onto the folder view, this will copy the file.
Drop it onto the desktop itself, on an empty space.
So obviously this will only work with the standard Desktop layout, not with the “Folder View” layout.
Thanks !
My apologies for the late reply: I have not had enough time at the computer, these days.
Understandable.
Me neither…
But so, it is “fixed” for you now, right?
Yes it is “fixed”. But - and this is a luxury problem - I do not understand:
If it’s a local file, Plasma would just take it directly I think.
Otherwise it’s probably somewhere in ~/.local/share/.
- In 13.1 and 13.2 I used to add properly configured folders to /usr/share wallpapers to make my own jpegs available as wallpapers. When I do this in Leap, the pictures are not available through the Folderview settings. Could you please explain what has been changed?
Nothing should have been changed really.
Could you please explain more thoroughly what the problem is?
Thanks for coming back!
First of all: what I am looking for (now) is understanding how this functions in 42.1. Your advice is fine: I can drop a picture on empty space on the desktop and it will then be the background. Even better, this also works in Folder View layout (contrary to your “obviously” in reply #8).
What I do not understand is the following:
Although the picture is now displayed in the “tableau” of wallpapers shown under “Folder View settings”, It is not added to /usr/share/wallpapers.
In addition to this, when I add (in 42.1) a folder in /usr/share/wallpapers with the data of a new wallpaper (taking care of permissions) this new wallpaper is not available in the “tableau”; it is just represented by a grey rectangle; on hovering there, the name of the new wallpaper is shown, but clicking does not allow activation as the current wallpaper.
If I am not mistaken: since usr/share/wallpapers is available to all DE’s and each user can select her/his own wallpaper, there must be a location in the user’s directory where this selection is stored - but I have not been able to find it.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Ok, I have to admit I didn’t actually try that with the Folder View layout…
What I do not understand is the following:
- Although the picture is now displayed in the “tableau” of wallpapers shown under “Folder View settings”, It is not added to /usr/share/wallpapers.
Of course not, you would need root privileges to do that.
- In addition to this, when I add (in 42.1) a folder in /usr/share/wallpapers with the data of a new wallpaper (taking care of permissions) this new wallpaper is not available in the “tableau”; it is just represented by a grey rectangle; on hovering there, the name of the new wallpaper is shown, but clicking does not allow activation as the current wallpaper.
Hm. This should work. Otherwise the shipped wallpapers wouldn’t be available either…
Are you sure the permissions are ok?
What exactly does your folder contain?
- If I am not mistaken: since usr/share/wallpapers is available to all DE’s and each user can select her/his own wallpaper, there must be a location in the user’s directory where this selection is stored - but I have not been able to find it.
Plasma stores the path to the wallpaper in its own configuration, in ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc. As mentioned, a wallpaper doesn’t have to be located in /usr/share/wallpapers/, Plasma allows you to select arbitrary picture files located anywhere.
But as a general rule: system-wide things are normally stored in /usr/share/, user-specific overrides are in ~/.local/share/. So user-specific wallpapers would probably be copied to ~/.local/share/wallpapers/.
Yes, I am/was aware of that.
Hm. This should work. Otherwise the shipped wallpapers wouldn’t be available either…
Right. To me this suggests that Plasma5 differs from KDE4 in the way wallpapers are handled.
Are you sure the permissions are ok?
What exactly does your folder contain?
I checked and re-checked the permissions, but sure…?
Here is some console output for comparing a system wallpaper (Damselfly) and one of my wallpapers (Ela_hutte) as regards permissions and content.
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers>
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers> cd Damselfly
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly> ll
totaal 8
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 3 dec 22:53 contents
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1132 16 nov 15:27 metadata.desktop
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly>
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly> cd contents
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly/contents> ll
totaal 132
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 22 dec 15:39 images
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 130818 23 jun 2010 screenshot.png
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly/contents>
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly/contents> cd images
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly/contents/images> ll
totaal 1092
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1116230 26 jul 2010 1920x1200.jpg
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Damselfly/contents/images>
===================================================================
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers> cd Ela_hutte/
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte> ll
totaal 8
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 22 dec 11:49 contents
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 158 22 dec 15:41 metadata.desktop
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte>
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte> cd contents/
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte/contents> ll
totaal 108
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 22 dec 15:43 images
-rwx------ 1 root root 103724 15 mrt 2013 screenshot.png
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte/contents> cd images
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte/contents/images> ll
totaal 284
-rwx------ 1 root root 289252 15 mrt 2013 1680x1050.jpg
hws@koos-WiFi:/usr/share/wallpapers/Ela_hutte/contents/images>
For clarity I have added some whitespace and a separator.
The question why the Damselfly can be selected from the Folder View Settings and the Ela_hutte can not, remains open but has lost its urgency.
Plasma stores the path to the wallpaper in its own configuration, in ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc. As mentioned, a wallpaper doesn’t have to be located in /usr/share/wallpapers/, Plasma allows you to select arbitrary picture files located anywhere.
But as a general rule: system-wide things are normally stored in /usr/share/, user-specific overrides are in ~/.local/share/. So user-specific wallpapers would probably be copied to ~/.local/share/wallpapers/.
Thanks for the rc ‘with the long name’. It clarifies a lot (in my head, at least). Thanks also for reminding me of the general rule about where things are stored.
You have been most helpful 