<sect1 id="background">
<sect1info>

<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>
<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
</authorgroup>

<date>2002-02-12</date>
<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>background</keyword>
<keyword>wallpaper</keyword>
</keywordset>
</sect1info>

<title>Background</title>

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

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Desktop</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>The area labeled <guilabel>Desktop</guilabel>, lists the
currently configured desktops identified by their names.</para>

<para>To configure the background for a desktop, start by clicking on the
desktops name.</para>

<para>If you wish to configure all your desktop backgrounds the same,
select the checkbox labeled <guilabel>Common
Background</guilabel>.</para> 

<tip><para>If you want to change the names of your desktop, you can do
that in another module. See <link linkend="desktop-number">Desktop:
Number of Desktops</link> for more details.</para></tip> 
</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>

<para>The display background can be filled: with a single color, with a single
color with a pattern over it, by any external program of your choice, or with
one of several color gradients.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<para>The area at the bottom is for determining the background contents.  It is
divided into three tabs.</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Background</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This tab, allows you to fill the screen with color.  </para>

<para>You should first select the appropriate choice in the drop down box
labeled <guilabel>Mode</guilabel>.  Your options are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Flat</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select one color (using the color
button labeled <guibutton>Color 1</guibutton>), and the entire background is
covered with this one color.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pattern</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons). </para> <para>You then select a pattern by clicking
<guilabel>Setup</guilabel>.  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>Background Program</term>
<listitem><para>By selecting this option, you can have &kde; use an external
program to determine the background.  This can be any program of your choosing.
For more information on this option, see the section entitled <link
linkend="bkgnd-programs">Using an external program</link>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Horizontal Gradient</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>Color
1</guilabel> on the left edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
color selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> by the time it gets to the
right edge of the screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Vertical Gradient</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>Color
1</guilabel> on the top edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
color selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the bottom of
the screen.</para></listitem> 
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pyramid Gradient</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>Color 1</guilabel> in each 
corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color selected by
<guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pipecross Gradient</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>Color 1</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly
transform into the color selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> 
as it moves to the center of the screen. The <quote>shape</quote> of
this gradient is different then the pyramid gradient.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Elliptic Gradient</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>Color 2</guilabel> in the center of the screen, and slowly
transform into the color selected by <guilabel>Color 1</guilabel> 
as it moves to the edges, in an elliptical pattern.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>


<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This tab, allows you to load a wallpaper on top of the color
gradient.</para>
<para>The wallpaper is an image displayed in the background of your display.
</para>

<para>Before you select your wallpaper, you should choose between
<guilabel>Single Wallpaper</guilabel> and <guilabel>Multiple
Wallpapers</guilabel>.  If you choose <guilabel>No
Wallpaper</guilabel> then only the background color(s) are
displayed.</para>

<para>You should choose one of the modes from the drop down box
labeled <guilabel>Mode</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 selected <guilabel>No Wallpaper</guilabel> selected,
you will not be able to choose a wallpaper.</para>

<para>Simply change to any other mode. You will now be able to select
a wallpaper.</para></note>

<para>To select a wallpaper, you may either select the wallpaper from
the drop down list labeled <guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel>, or by
clicking on the <guibutton>Browse</guibutton> button.</para>

<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>You may also select <guilabel>Multiple</guilabel> which causes a
sequence of backgrounds to be displayed.  The sequence can be either
random, or in a specific order.</para>

<para>You select this, by placing a mark in the checkbox labeled
<guilabel>Multiple</guilabel>.  You then click
<guilabel>Setup</guilabel>. For more on this, read the section
entitled <link linkend="bkground-seq">Sequential
Backgrounds</link>.</para> </listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist>

<para>The third tab, <guilabel>Advanced</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 three 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><guilabel>Balance</guilabel> slider.  This adjusts the
blending.  The results can be seen in the preview window.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Limit pixmap cache.  This 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></listitem>
</orderedlist>
 
<para>Clicking <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>, changes the actual desktop
backgrounds and makes the change permanent.</para>

<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>Mode</guilabel> drop down box in the
<guilabel>Background</guilabel> section.</para>

<para>Then you click <guibutton>Setup</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>Background Program</guilabel>.  To
configure this option, then click <guibutton>Setup</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="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>Mode</guilabel>.  Then select the <guilabel>Multiple
Wallpapers</guilabel> option.  The <guibutton>Setup Multiple
...</guibutton> Button will become active.  Click it once.</para>

<para>This will bring up a dialog box.</para>

<para>First, set the time between changes in the spin box labeled
<guilabel>Interval</guilabel>.  You can select from common values, or
enter your own.  The range of values is from once every 5 minutes to
once every 240 minutes.</para>

<para>Now, use the drop down box labeled mode to determine if the
backgrounds should be chosen randomly, or displayed in the order listed
below.</para> <para>Once this is done, you can now create a list of
backgrounds for &kde; to choose from.  Use the
<guibutton>Add</guibutton> and <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> buttons to
alter the list to your satisfaction.</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-author">
<title>Section Author</title>

<para>Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email>, Mark Donohoe, Martin
Jones <email>mjones@kde.org</email>, Duncan H.</para>
<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

</sect2>

</sect1>

