So you want to select the perfect wallpaper for your screen? You’ve come to the right place!

Standard Screen or Wide Screen?

First, you must to determine if your wallpaper needs to fit a standard screen or a wide screen. Your current screen resolution is .

If the first number divided by the second number equals 1.33 (or close), you are using a standard display. You should download wallpapers with dimensions that fit standard screens, such as: 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1152 x 864, 1280 x 1024, 1600 x 1200, 2048 x 1536.

If the first number divided by the second number equals 1.6 or 1.7, you are using a wide screen display. You should download wallpapers with dimensions that fit wide screens, such as: 1024 x 600, 1280 x 768, 1280 x 800, 1366 x 768, 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1080, 1920 x 1200, 2560 x 1600.

And What About Wallpaper Dimension?

To fill your screen, the wallpaper you select should have a dimension in pixels (often referred to as pixel resolution) that is the same or larger than your screen resolution. So in your case, it should be or greater.

You probably won’t find your exact screen resolution on our website. This is normal. At NDW, we only offer the largest dimensions because  your operating system will automatically scale down our wallpapers to fit your screen resolution.  For the scaling down to work, you just need to select “Stretch” when setting your wallpapers. Scaling down is fine; its is scaling up that is problematic. You can also use our Wallpaper Resize Wizard to reduce them to be the exact same size as your screen resolution.

All Photos Don’t Make Good Wallpapers

A good wallpaper should not have too much details on its left size. This is so you can clearly see the icons that usually sit on the left side of your desktop. Other than that, it is mostly a question of taste. You should choose your wallpaper based on your interests. If you find your wallpaper boring after just a few days, maybe it wasn’t the best choice for you!

And How Do I Make An Image My Wallpaper?

• Windows: When you find a wallpaper you like, click on the Standard Screen or Wide Screen link.  The image will load. Place your cursor over the image. If you see a magnifying glass with a “+” sign in it, click on the image to see its full size. Then, right-click on the image and select “Set As Desktop Background” or “Set as Wallpaper”.
• Mac OS X: When you find a wallpaper you like, click on the Standard Screen or Wide Screen link.  The image will load. Place your cursor over the image. If you see a magnifying glass with a “+” sign in it, click on the image to see its full size. Drag the wallpaper onto your desktop, go to “System Preferences”, and then to  “Desktop icons”. Click the “Collection” drop-down and Choose Folder to find your wallpaper.
• Mac OS 9: When you find a wallpaper you like, click on the Standard Screen or Wide Screen link.  The image will load. Place your cursor over the image. If you see a magnifying glass with a “+” sign in it, click on the image to see its full size. Drag the wallpaper onto your desktop, go to “Control Panel” and choose “Appearance”. Click “Set Desktop” and choose your wallpaper.

My Wallpaper is Pixelated or Distorted

This happens when you set a wallpaper that is too small for your screen resolution. Our wallpapers are super large, so if this happens with one of our wallpapers, you either have a super super large screen or (most likely) you didn’t view the wallpaper in its full size before you set it as a wallpaper. So when you find a wallpaper you like, click on the Standard Screen or Wide Screen link.  The image will load. Place your cursor over the image. If you see a magnifying glass with a “+” sign in it, click on the image to see its full size. Then, you can right-click on the image and select “Set As Desktop Background” or “Set as Wallpaper”.

Distortion can also happen if you set a wide screen wallpaper on a standard display or if you set and standard screen wallpaper on a wide display. Please see the part about wide and standard screens in this article, to find out which one you have.