How to make a Mac wallpaper from a photo

Your Mac does it on its own: in Finder, Control-click the photo and choose Set Desktop Picture. To make it look like more than a photo, Koi's Glass wallpaper puts it behind fluted glass first, then sets it on every screen.

We make Koi, so read the Koi part with that in mind. Everything about Koi here is what version 2.1 does.

1. Find the photo in Finder.
2. Control-click it, or click with two fingers, and choose Set Desktop Picture.
3. Or open System Settings, Wallpaper, and add the photo or its folder there to pick how it fills the screen.

1. Hover the notch at the top of your screen, open Tools and click Glass wallpaper.
2. Pick the last tile under Photo and choose your photo, or drop it on the preview.
3. Pick a recipe: Classic Flutes, Tidal, Soft Lens, Rain or Tiles. For a photo with a face or a pet, keep Size and Distortion low so it stays clear.
4. Click Set as wallpaper. It goes on every screen, each at its own full resolution.

• Add to wheel keeps it on the desktop's Shift wheel: tap Shift over the desktop, then Wallpaper, hover one to see it, click to keep it.
• Export image… saves the glass version as a picture, for your phone or to share.
• Your photo is never sent anywhere. The glass is drawn on your Mac.

More on each control: how to make a fluted glass wallpaper on Mac.

• Big enough: at least your screen's size. A 13-inch MacBook Air is 2560 by 1664, a 14-inch MacBook Pro 3024 by 1964. Smaller photos look soft.
• Calm where your icons and windows sit. Busy detail under the menu bar makes it hard to read.
• Landscape, or cropped to it. A portrait photo gets cut a lot to fill a wide screen.
• Behind glass, colour matters more than detail: soft gradients and sunsets come out best.