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<articleinfo>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Mark</firstname>
<surname>Donohoe</surname>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Martin</firstname>
<surname>Jones</surname>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Duncan</firstname>
<surname>H.</surname>
</author>                                
<author>
<firstname>Mike</firstname>
<surname>McBride</surname>
</author>
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</authorgroup>

<date>2002-10-12</date>
<releaseinfo>3.01.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>background</keyword>
<keyword>wallpaper</keyword>
</keywordset>
</articleinfo>

<sect1 id="background">

<title>Background</title>

<para>The Background module allows you to configure colors or wallpapers for
your desktop background.</para>
 
<para>It is comprised of four areas:</para>
 
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Desktop selection area.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The background Preview Monitor</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>An area for determining the background color</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>An area for selecting background images</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Selecting the desktop</term>
<listitem>
<para>The drop down box labeled <guilabel>Setting for desktop:</guilabel>, is used to select the 
desktop you want to configure.  You can select any of the desktops individually, or you can select 
<guilabel>All Desktops</guilabel> and the changes you make will be applied to all desktops.</para>

</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Preview Monitor</term>
<listitem>
<para>This is a preview window.  It will give you a sense of what to
expect with each change.</para>

</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Coloring</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This section, allows you to fill the screen with one or more colors.  </para>

<tip><para>If you are going to be using a picture as a wallpaper, you can skip this section of the 
dialog box.</para></tip>

<para>First click on the radio button labeled <guilabel>Colors</guilabel>.</para>

<para>Now select the primary color by using the button labeled 
<guilabel>Primary Color</guilabel>.

Next, use the drop down box 
labeled <guilabel>Blend Mode</guilabel>.  Your options are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>No Blending</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select one color (using the color
button labeled <guibutton>Primary Color:</guibutton>), and the entire background is
covered with this one color.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pattern</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons). </para> <para>You then select a pattern by clicking
<guibutton>Choose a pattern...</guibutton>.  This opens a new dialog window, which gives you
the opportunity to Select a pattern.  Simply click once on the pattern of your
choice, then click on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, and &kde; will render
the pattern you selected using the two colors you selected.  For more on
patterns, see the section <link linkend="bkgnd-patterns">Adding,
Removing and Modifying Patterns</link>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Horizontal</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Primary 
Color</guilabel> on the left edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
color selected by <guilabel>Blend Color</guilabel> by the time it gets to the
right edge of the screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Vertical</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Primary 
Color</guilabel> on the top edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
color selected by <guilabel>Blend Color</guilabel> as it moves to the bottom of
the screen.</para></listitem> 
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pyramid</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by
<guilabel>Primary Color</guilabel> in each 
corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color selected by
<guilabel>Blend Color</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pipecross</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by
<guilabel>Primary Color</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly
transform into the color selected by <guilabel>Blend Color</guilabel> 
as it moves to the center of the screen. The shape of
this gradient is different then the pyramid gradient.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Elliptic</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by
<guilabel>Blend Color</guilabel> in the center of the screen, and slowly
transform into the color selected by <guilabel>Primary Color</guilabel> 
as it moves to the edges, in an elliptical pattern.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Images</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This section allows you to load a wallpaper on top of the color
gradient chosen in the section above.</para>

<para>Before you select your images, you should choose the pattern on how the images 
will be placed.  You should choose one of the modes from the drop down box
labeled <guilabel>Positioning</guilabel>.  Your choices are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Centered</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be centered on the screen without changing the
size of the image.  The background colors will be present anywhere the image
does not cover.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Tiled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it fills the entire
desktop. The first image will be placed in the upper left corner of the screen,
and duplicated downward and to the right.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Center Tiled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it
fills the entire desktop. The first image will be placed in the center of the
screen, and duplicated upward, downward to the right, and to the left.</para>
</listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Centered Maxpect</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be placed in the center of the screen.  It will
be scaled to fit the desktop, but it will not change the aspect ratio of the
original image.  This will provide you with an image that is not distorted.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Tiled Maxpect</term>
<listitem>
<para>The image will be placed in the corner of the screen.  It will
be scaled to fit the desktop, but it will not change the aspect ratio
of the original image.  This will provide you with an image that is
not distorted.  If there is any space over, the image will be
duplicated to fill it.  </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Scaled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be scaled to fit the desktop.  It will be
stretched to fit to all four corners.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<note><para>If you have multiple images in the list on the left, you may need to 
select an image.  Select an image by clicking on the name of the image.</para></note>

<tip><para>Displaying wallpaper requires that the image be kept in
memory.  If you are low on memory, using a small, tiled image or none
at all is recommended.</para>

<para>Scaling or centering a small image still requires an image the
size of your display to be maintained in memory.</para></tip>

<para>The drop down box labeled <guilabel>Blending:</guilabel> contains the
options to make a smooth transition (blend) from the wallpaper as it
changes to the background.</para>

<para>The blending area consists of two elements:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>A drop-down box, which allows you to select the blending mode.
Many of the modes are similar to blending modes for background colors.  Select
your mode from the list, and the preview window shows you what it will look
like.</para></listitem> 
<listitem><para>The <guilabel>Balance</guilabel> slider.  This adjusts the
blending.  The results can be seen in the preview window.</para></listitem>
</orderedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<sect2 id="bkground-add">
<title>Adding a Background Image</title>
<para>To add an image to the list, simply click on <guibutton>Add Image...</guibutton>.  
A dialog box will appear.  Use this dialog box to select an image file.  Click 
<guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para>

<para>The image is added to the end of the list.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="bkground-remove">
<title>Removing a Background Image</title>
<para>To remove an image from the list, simply click on the name of the file you want 
to remove from the list.  Then click on <guibutton>Remove Image</guibutton>.</para>

<para>The image is deleted from the list.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="bkground-seq">
<title>Sequential and Random Backgrounds</title>

<para>&kde; can automatically change wallpapers on your system at a
specified time.  You give it the list of image files, and it can either
change them in a predetermined order, or randomly.</para>

<para>To have &kde; automatically change your wallpaper, first you must
set the layout of the wallpaper in the drop down box labeled
<guilabel>Positioning</guilabel>.</para>
  
<para>Now create a list of images you want to cycle through.  You create the list by 
<link linkend="bkground-add">Adding</link> and <link linkend="bkground-remove">Removing</link> 
images from the list.  Once the list is created, the combo box labeled 
<guilabel>Switch image every:</guilabel> will become active.  Enter the number of minutes between 
each image switch.  You can have the image change every 1 minute to every 1440 minutes (24 hours). </para>

<para>You can use the drop down box labeled <guilabel>Image order:</guilabel> to determine whether &kde; randomly 
selects the image, or cycles through the images in the order they appear in the list.</para>

<para>Click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> to accept your changes, or
<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> to leave without making any changes
permanent.</para>

</sect2>
<sect2 id="bkgnd-patterns">
<title>Adding, Removing and Modifying Patterns</title>

<para>A pattern, is a picture file, which &kde; uses as a template to
draw your background.  The picture file provides the shapes, but &kde;
provides the colors.  &kde; 2.2 is packaged with several patterns, but
you can add new patterns.</para>

<para>You use a pattern by first selecting <guilabel>Pattern</guilabel>,
from the <guilabel>Blending Mode</guilabel> drop down box.</para>

<para>Then you click <guibutton>Choose Pattern...</guibutton>.</para>

<para>This opens a dialog box.  The dialog box consists of a list of all
current patterns, and three buttons: <guibutton>Add</guibutton>,
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton>, and <guibutton>Modify</guibutton>.</para>

<para>In front of some of the pattern names, is a small globe.  This
signifies that this is a system wide (or global) pattern, and is
available to everyone.  Those patterns without a picture, are user
patterns, and not available to other users.</para>

<para>To use a pattern that is already on the list, simply click once on
the pattern, then click on <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para>
<para><emphasis>Adding a pattern to the list</emphasis></para> <para>If
you click on the <guibutton>Add</guibutton> button, yet another dialog
box appears, with three blanks:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>A text entry line labeled <guilabel>Name</guilabel>.  This will
be the descriptive name of the newly created pattern.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>A text entry line labeled <guilabel>Comment</guilabel>.  This
is a descriptive comment.  It is also a good place to enter the artist, date of
creation, &etc;</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>A text entry line labeled <guilabel>Image</guilabel>, and a
<guibutton>Browse</guibutton> button next to it.  Either by entering the
filename directly into the text entry line, or by browsing through the button
labeled <guilabel>Browse</guilabel>, you need to locate for &kde; an image file
to use in the pattern.  These image files are usually JPEG files.</para>
<para>Once you have selected a file, you can press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>
to create the new pattern based on the information you have edited, or click
<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>, to stop without creating a new
pattern.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>You should now see your new pattern in the list.</para>

<para>To remove a pattern from the list, simply click on the name of the
pattern once, and click <guibutton>Remove</guibutton>.  &kde; will
verify that you do want to delete this pattern.  Simply Click
<guibutton>Yes</guibutton>.  Clicking <guibutton>No</guibutton> will not
remove the pattern from the list.</para>

<tip><para>Deleting a pattern does not delete the image file associated
with the pattern.</para></tip>

<note><para>If you did not create the pattern, you cannot remove the
pattern from the system.  Only the system administrator can remove
global patterns.</para></note>

<para>To modify a pattern, simply click on the pattern name and then
click on <guibutton>Modify</guibutton>.  You will now have a chance to
change any parameters of the pattern.  Click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>
to save your changes, or click <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> to ignore
your changes</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="bkgnd-programs">
<title>Using external programs to determine background</title>

<para>To use an external program to determine and change the background
of &kde;, simply select <guilabel>Program</guilabel> in the 
<guilabel>Colors</guilabel> section of the dialog.  To
configure this option, then click <guibutton>Setup Background Program</guibutton>.</para>
<para>This will bring up a dialog box, which will let you add in one or
more programs, determine their options, set their refresh times,
&etc;</para>

<para>Using external programs to modify or change the background is
beyond the scope of this document.</para>

</sect2>
<sect2 id="bkgnd-advanced">
<title>Advanced options</title>
<para>Located below the preview monitor, is a button labeled 
<guibutton>Advanced Options...</guibutton>.</para>

<para>Clicking on this button brings up a dialog box.  
The <guilabel>Limit pixmap cache</guilabel> check box, when selected, allows you
to determine how much maximum memory &kde; will use to store pixmap info.  The
default is usually the best choice.</para>

</sect2>
<sect2 id="bkgnd-author">
<title>Section Authors</title>

<para>Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email>, Mark Donohoe, Martin
Jones <email>mjones@kde.org</email>, Duncan H.</para>
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</sect2>

</sect1>

</article>
