Any photo. Behind glass.
Put any photo behind fluted glass and set it as your Mac's wallpaper on every screen. Start from five recipes, tune the glass live, made on your Mac.
The short answer
Put a photo behind glass in the notch
A Mac can't add a fluted glass look to a photo on its own. Koi can, from the notch: hover it, open Tools, click Glass wallpaper, pick a photo and a recipe, and click Set as wallpaper. It goes on every screen at each screen's full resolution.
We make Koi, so read the Koi part with that in mind. Everything about Koi here is what version 2.1 does.
Koi
Make a fluted glass wallpaper
- Hover the notch at the top of your screen, open Tools and click Glass wallpaper. It opens on Aurora, one of Koi's own photos.
- Under Photo, pick Aurora, Cloudscape, Colour, Flow or Waves, or the sixth tile to choose a photo of your own. Dropping a picture on the preview works too.
- Under Recipes, pick a look to start from: Classic Flutes, Tidal, Soft Lens, Rain or Tiles.
- Tune it if you like: Grid, Refraction, Fit, and the Size, Distortion and Angle sliders. The preview follows as you go.
- Click Set as wallpaper. It's on every screen, each at its own full resolution.
- Each of Koi's photos downloads from koiscribe.com the first time you pick it. A ring fills on its tile while it does.
- Your own photo is never sent anywhere. The glass is drawn on your Mac.
- On a call, you can say “open glass wallpaper” and Koi opens it.
The controls
What each one does
- Grid is the shape of the ribs.
- Refraction is how the glass bends the photo behind it.
- Fit is how the photo sits behind the glass.
- Size, Distortion and Angle are sliders. Try Angle for ribs that run on a slant.
Keep it
Save, export and share a look
- Save current keeps your look among the Recipes, to use again on another photo.
- Export image… saves the finished picture, for a phone, a slide or a post.
- Copy recipe puts the look on the clipboard as text. Whoever you send it to clicks Paste recipe in their Koi.
Other ways
Without Koi
Vitrine is a small Mac app that makes fluted glass wallpapers from your photos; see the Vitrine alternatives. If you'd rather not make one at all, wallpaper packs like BasicAppleGuy's Fluted Gradients come ready made. And an image editor with a displacement filter can do it by hand, with more work.
Side by side
Koi and the other ways
| Koi | Vitrine | A wallpaper pack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own photo | Yes | Yes | No |
| Where | Tools in the notch | Its own app | A download |
| Looks to start from | Five recipes, and your own | Not checked | The pack's |
Gotchas
What trips people up
- A small photo on a big screen gets soft. Start from the biggest copy you have.
- Busy photos turn to noise behind strong glass. Lower Distortion, or start from Soft Lens.
- Koi's photos need a connection the first time you pick each one.
Related: make a Mac wallpaper from a photo or crop an image. More on Koi's Glass wallpaper.
Keep exploring
How to make a Mac wallpaper from a photo
Set any photo as your Mac wallpaper in two clicks, or turn it into a fluted glass wallpaper first with Koi. Sizes and tips for photos that look good.
The best Vitrine alternatives for Mac
Vitrine alternatives for Mac compared: Facet, Fluted Gradients, Canva and Koi's Glass wallpaper. Fluted glass wallpapers from your own photos.
Koi 2.1 puts any photo behind glass
Pick a photo in Koi's notch, pick a fluted glass look, and set it as your wallpaper on every screen at full resolution. Made on your Mac, recipes to share.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Hover Koi's notch, open Tools and click Glass wallpaper. Pick a photo and a recipe, tune it if you like, and click Set as wallpaper.
Yes. Pick the sixth tile under Photo, or drop a picture on the preview. Your photo is never sent anywhere.
Yes. Set as wallpaper puts it on every screen, each at its own full resolution.
Yes. Export image… saves it as a picture wherever you pick.
Yes. Copy recipe puts them on the clipboard as text, and Paste recipe uses a recipe someone sent you.