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Rediscover and Collect Desktop Backgrounds

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
REDISCOVER AND COLLECT DESKTOP BACKGROUNDS

Windows 8.1 and especially Windows 10 provide new ways to launch programs and Apps, allowing for a cleaner desktop.

I often get asked to share my collection of desktops, or for tips about where I find them. I know people have made purchases of Suface PCs just after seeing my screens in a café, a train, a plane, or in the workplace, prompting a discussion about the computer.

- - - - - -

Since I'm an earth scientist, I have been collecting shots like this for a long time. I'm very picky about composition, content, and color. Images must be free of logos, watermarks, or copyright warnings either on the image or from the source. My search words (see below) are so simple, that I even find wonderful amateur photography and art among the results.

My favorite desktop backgrounds have a rather close foreground in the lower-left of the screen, providing a natural guidance for eyes to find the Start Menu. Backgrounds I like usually trend towards a color family, rather than be too busy.

I get my backgrounds from simple Web searches. I don't use an app or program to find or manage my desktops. When I find one I would like to keep, I save the image in a folder that all my devices, including smartphones can access.

My storage location is .../OneDrive/Pictures/Wallpaper SP3

I do not modify the filename when saving, if possible, because the name will help me find the image online again if I ever want to.

Google and Bing are the search engines I prefer to find backgrounds. Searches are set to require the image to be larger than 2 MP (1600 x 1200).

I usually search for images by using only one or two single, very simple keywords (note that I do not include the word "wallpaper" or "desktop" or "windows" or "computer" or "PC".

You may add the word "HD", but some of these named images can overly sharpened and saturated with color for my taste.

Landscape
Nature
Texture
Map
Electronics
Science
Antique
Rustic
Romantic
Quiet
Earth
Land
Sea
Green
Sky
Rock
Pebble
Wet
gloom
fog
dirty
grungy
texture
electronic
motion
stars
wood
grain
harvest
plow
survey
HD
grass mountains
valley river
pebbles water
beach view
aurora
antique map
ocean floor
lonely fog
bridge bench

- - - -

Happy hunting.

Park-Benches-Trees-Bridge-Lights-Snow-Evening-Fog-1536x2048.jpg


World-map-2004-cia-factbook-large-1_7m-whitespace-removed.jpg


gda_world_map_small.jpg


fog-trees-red-grass-autumn.jpg


20044-world-map-1680x1050-digital-art-wallpaper.jpg


5385_landscape_hd_wallpapers_desert_rocks.jpg


Screenshot (40).png


4-3-2-hills.jpg


7036219-bamboo-forest-road.jpg


Screenshot (44).png
 
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