[SOLVED] Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

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NeilUK
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[SOLVED] Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by NeilUK »

I have a nice .jpg I want to use for a desktop. It should be easy, right?

If I rt-click the desktop, then change backaground, I can select from any of a number of pre-installed backgrounds. These pictures appear to live in /usr/share/backgrounds/ under further folders like linuxmint and cosmos, all owned by root.

I first tried putting my image in a created ...backgrounds/custom/ folder, then tried using ...backgrounds/linuxmint. In neither case did a desktop rt-click find them, even after a restart. I did a sudo chown to root:root as all the other files are owned by root, still not appearing. I have stopped short of over-writing one of the existing files, though perhaps I should try that option as an experiment, ugly though it is.

Is there a background image cache that's not being updated, or a list of the files to use somewhere else. The change background dialog takes a while to appear, so I was expecting it to be doing a search through the files there.

Googling the obvious, most guides refer to using the cinamon desktop. They say use the super key, then type backgrounds. I don't have an app that comes up when I do that, it suggests I might want to install one of a choice of 'mint-backgrounds-xxx'. Not sure if this is a MATE/cinamon issue.

I've 'apt search'ed for backgrounds, most hits appear to be a set of backgrounds I can use. There is caja-backgrounds which sounds more promising, though when I tried to install it, found it was already installed.


How do I put my own jpg on the MATE 20.3 desktop? What file locations do I need to write to, or app to install, or cache to clear?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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karlchen
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Re: Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by karlchen »

Hello, NeilUK.

Something, which should work for a single image file on any Linux Mint desktop, no matter whether it is Mate, Cinnamon or xfce, is this:
  • Launch your graphical file-manager.
  • Navigate to the jpeg file, which you want to use as your wallpaper.
  • Right-click on its name and select "Use as wallpaper ..."
    (The exact English wording may be slighlty different, because I translated back from German to English.)
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Cosmo.
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Re: Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by Cosmo. »

I use Cinnamon, but I expect, that at least one of those options should work:

#1 Right click a picture and select to set it as background.

#2 Open the picture in pix or xviewer and use the same command in the right click menu.

#3 If you open the dialog for changing the background (as you described it), there is perhaps your picture folder as an alternative source selectable. Place your picture in your picture folder.
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Re: Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by sebastjava »

NeilUK wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:52 am I have a nice .jpg I want to use for a desktop. It should be easy, right?
Right. It is very easy. I am on LinuxMint Cinnamon but i also have LinuxMint Mate 20.3 on VirtualBox. I tested from there. You can:
  • Right-click on your picture to set as wallpaper (as said before).
  • Right-click on an empty area on your desktop to change desktop background (or go to menu > Appearances > Background tab). There, click on the (+ Add) button. Navigate to your picture and select it.
  • And the other suggestions above are probably okay as well.
No matter where you put that picture. Home or root. If it still doesn't work then maybe there is something wrong with your picture ? I did this test with a picture.jpg, with standard default permissions: owner: me, access: read-and-write-read-and-write-none (-rwxrwx---).
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NeilUK
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Re: [SOLVED] Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by NeilUK »

Thanks for the suggestions, got there in the end.
#1 Right click a picture and select to set it as background.
Nope, that option does not come up on the rt-click menu. I get only 'open with image viewer', 'open with > ', 'cut', 'copy', 'make link', 'rename...', 'copy to', 'move to', 'move to bin', 'compress...', 'properties'.

Why is my rt-click menu not offering that option? It's a pretty much stock MATE 20.3.
#2 Open the picture in pix or xviewer and use the same command in the right click menu.
yay! that works
#3 If you open the dialog for changing the background (as you described it), there is perhaps your picture folder as an alternative source selectable. Place your picture in your picture folder.
Nope, the only folder it advertises is /usr/share/backgrounds, and I've tried putting a picture in that. I have pictures in my Picture folder, and it doesn't offer those for browsing.
Right-click on an empty area on your desktop to change desktop background (or go to menu > Appearances > Background tab). There, click on the (+ Add) button. Navigate to your picture and select it.
Doh! Now why couldn't I see that '+ Add' button tucked away down there? This option feels a little tidier than #2, though I've not tested it yet.
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Re: [SOLVED] Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by sebastjava »

NeilUK wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:49 am Thanks for the suggestions, got there in the end.
#1 Right click a picture and select to set it as background.
Nope, that option does not come up on the rt-click menu.
I guess i shouldn't insist since you marked this topic as solved, but i couldn't stop and went for another quick reply...

Maybe you have the Wallpaper extension disabled from your file manager ? You can check this in Caja file manager: Edit > Preferences > Extensions tab > Wallpaper (checkbox)
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Re: [SOLVED] Mint MATE 20.3, how to use my own image as wallpaper?

Post by Cosmo. »

NeilUK wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:49 am Why is my rt-click menu not offering that option? It's a pretty much stock MATE 20.3.
I told you, that I use Cinnamon and that I cannot guarantee, that all offered methods do work in Mate.
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