Skip to content
Documentation
Artist Documentation
Wallpapers

Wallpapers

Wallpapers are collected in mate-backgrounds, organised into three categories:

DirectoryContent
nature/Photographs — landscapes, plants, wildlife
abstract/Abstract or artistic imagery
desktop/Minimal or MATE-branded backgrounds

File format and resolution

  • JPEG for photographs, PNG for images with transparency or flat colours.
  • Minimum resolution: 1920×1200. Providing 2560×1600 gives good coverage for HiDPI displays.
  • Keep file sizes reasonable — under 3 MB per image is a good target.

Licensing

All wallpapers must be released under a free licence. MATE backgrounds use CC BY 4.0. Include licence and attribution information in your pull request.

Adding a wallpaper

Place the image file in the appropriate category directory. Then register it in Makefile.am:

nature_backgrounds_DATA = \
    nature/YourImage.jpg \
    ...

And in meson.build:

install_data(
    'nature/YourImage.jpg',
    install_dir: backgrounds_dir / 'nature',
)

Testing

Apply the wallpaper before submitting: right-click the desktop → Change Desktop Background, then navigate to your image file.

Tools

  • GIMP — raster editing, photo retouching, compositing
  • Inkscape — vector graphics (export to PNG at the target resolution)
  • ImageMagick — batch conversion and resizing from the terminal
Last updated on • mbkma
GTK Themes