A script for wide screen wallpapers.

[DrDOS]

This is a simple script for making wide screen wallpaper images from the narrower variety. It isn't very sophisticated, it just crops from the middle of the image. It makes a new image with the file name prefixed by bkg- in the same folder as the original. Name it whatever you wish and set it executable in Properties, put it anywhere you want or make a link to it from anywhere you want, as it browses to your file. As is, it is set to 1440x900, just change the 1440 to your width and the 900 to your height. I could set it where you input the size every time but it really seems simpler just to edit it once and forget it. Then just click on it.

I thought I would be able to whip it out in ten minutes but ended up having to figure out how the file and path names worked, so it took about an hour. But it works the bomb!

PS: I amended ever so slightly so that you can test how it works just by pasting the code into a terminal window. Of course it will make a 1440x900 pixel image but you can test it on pictures large and small.

Code:

#!/bin/sh
IFS=$'\t\n'
#
# Dependencies: imagemagick, kview, zenity
#
function mkg_bkg {
MYDIR=$(zenity --file-selection --directory)
cd "$MYDIR"
MYFILE=$(basename $(zenity --file-selection));
zenity --info --text="$MYDIR/$MYFILE";
convert -resize '1440' -gravity center -crop 1440x900+0+0 +repage "$MYDIR/$MYFILE" "$MYDIR/bkg-$MYFILE"
kview "$MYDIR/bkg-$MYFILE"
}
mkg_bkg

[Joble]

I admit to being clueless.  This will create a good image?  Not stretched or skewed?

[DrDOS]

I admit to being clueless.  This will create a good image?  Not stretched or skewed?

Yes, it will be re-sized to the specified width and cropped to the specified height. Then your wallpaper will look nice and not funky. Maybe I should write one for boot and splash screens. I'm also thinking about writing one for folder icons since the colors seem to be pretty limited for most themes.

[Joble]

I will try this on my testbox, 1360x768, probably this weekend.  All the wallpapers look like crap.  Thanks!

[Sproggy]

where does this crop??? from the top or bottom .... or does is centralise then crop??? ....

this will cut off certain areas of an image ...

Kori

[bones113]

Thanks DrDos.

[Padma]

Sproggy: I haven't tested it, but as I read the script, it resizes it to a width of 1440, then crops off the top and bottom (centered) to make the final 1440x900.

Yes, it will trim off top and bottom, so some images may be noticeably affected.

[NimbusII]

Shame it does not add a little sharpening to the softened image.

[DrDOS]

Shame it does not add a little sharpening to the softened image.

I know that this could be a made a lot more sophisticated. But I was just taking a break from other projects and thought it might be nice to do this. And I'm not of the school that thinks every application should have every bell and whistle possible. And anyone is welcome to 'improve' it to their satisfaction and make it available.

[NimbusII]

I didn't mean to seem negative... I wasn't trying to be just a remark.... script is good, quick and very helpful

[Mark342]

That is a nice script, but I usually use the liquid rescale plugin for gimp to resize wallpapers to wide screen aspect ratios.
It doesn't stretch the important features of the wallpaper, and it doesn't crop anything off.
http://liquidrescale.wikidot.com/en:examples#toc1

[gseaman]

A short introduction to this plugin would make a great article for the magazine!
Galen

[slax]

I was trying to make nautilus script, but for some reason i cant get it to work any help?

Code:

#!/bin/sh
IFS=$'\t\n'
#
# Dependencies: imagemagick, kview, zenity
#
function mkg_bkg {
#MYDIR=$(zenity --file-selection --directory)
#cd "$MYDIR"

#MYDIR=$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_FILE_PATHS;
#MYFILE=$(basename $(zenity --file-selection));


MYDIR=$NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_CURRENT_URI;

MYFILE=$@;

zenity --info --text="$MYDIR/$MYFILE";
convert -resize '1440' -gravity center -crop 1440x900+0+0 +repage "$MYDIR/$MYFILE" "$MYDIR/bkg-$MYFILE"
kview "$MYDIR/bkg-$MYFILE"
}
mkg_bkg

[lyric]

That is a nice script, but I usually use the liquid rescale plugin for gimp to resize wallpapers to wide screen aspect ratios.
It doesn't stretch the important features of the wallpaper, and it doesn't crop anything off.
http://liquidrescale.wikidot.com/en:examples#toc1

Impressive!  Thanks for that link.

[Crow]

That is a nice script, but I usually use the liquid rescale plugin for gimp to resize wallpapers to wide screen aspect ratios.
It doesn't stretch the important features of the wallpaper, and it doesn't crop anything off.
http://liquidrescale.wikidot.com/en:examples#toc1

Do you have to compile it?