Desktop wallpaper?

[sandwichbay]

Okay, Let's get this out of the way...I am an idiot. Please keep that in mind when reading my question and more especially if you are answering my question. Words of 2 syllables or less please..remember you are dealing with an idiot.
Okay, that being said, I switched over from Mandriva after the buyout and I wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer on that OPS either but I do like Linux and appreciate (I know...more than 2 syllables) how it functions and how the people in this environment work together. Thus far, I'm really liking Mint and wish I hadn't wasted my time with Mandriva at all.
I have 2 main questions for now and they're unrelated to each other and one may not even belong in this forum but I'll toss 'em out and see what happens.

1) How do I create my own wallpapers for my desktop? The ones with the package are nice but I would like to use some of my own photos (I'm not an idiot when it comes to pics (note...kept the syllables down on that one). I'm a pretty good pic-taker. However, I don't see a way to use my pictures or convert them to a format Mint will accept. It's probably something really easy to do, thus just confirming for all that I an idiot.

2) My computer is noticably slower in Mint than it is in Windows XP. I'm running a dual boot situation and Windows is still much faster, especially in graphics and even simple page changes on websites. It seems a bit odd that Mint should be so much slower. My hard drive is partitioned so that Mint has by far the majority of the disk space. 25GB for Windows and 150GB for Mint. I have 2 GB of DDR ram and a P4 processor. Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks in advance,
Sandwichbay (aka Bernie)

[ThistleWeb]

For wallpapers it will accept any normal image format, jpeg, png etc. Just make sure the dimensions match your monitor and it will be fine.

[seppalta]

The details for changing wallpaper depend upon the particular operating system. Each has its own special idiosyncrasies. You might get some ideas from http://douwil7.100webspace.net/linux/Tuning%20LXDE.html .

[podagee]

when you download the picture go into your downloads and double-click,it opens up a larger image of the pic.right-click and set as desktop background.i do it this way

[sandwichbay]

Thanks on the wallpaper thingy. I right-clicked on the desktop and got "desktop settings", then went to "open" and tracked down the correct folder and voila! I have Elvira as my wallpaper for a couple of days ! Yay! Thanks everyone.

Now, if anyone has any ideas on the other slowness thing, that would be great.

[Alpha-Geek]

Have you installed the "additional Drivers" for your video card? You didn't mention what kind or brand of video you have. But you may want to give it a try. look in the hardware section of the Control Center.

[AlmightyDoerOfStuff]

If you go to your Appearance Preferences application (in Main Menu, it's System -> Preferences -> Appearance, I don't know where it is in Mint Menu because I don't like Mint Menu but it shouldn't be hard to find), you can customize all sorts of appearance-related settings, hence the name. Window style, controls style, icons style, color schemes, and of course, backgrounds, using the Background tab in that application. If you go there, you can select from any of the default options, which I believe you noticed. However, if you don't like those, in the lower-right corner, above the "Close" button, is a button labeled "Add..." That button allows you to permanently add an image to your Backgrounds tab, for easy selection in the future.

The reason I say this is that I noticed when I was using Ubuntu (Maverick Meerkat and Natty Narwhal versions, and it probably applies to Mint too since they all use Gnome 2), if I just right-clicked an image and Set As Desktop Background, it would set it, but then if I changed it later, the first image would disappear from my Backgrounds tab. I don't notice that problem when I use the Add... button.

Also, the little hyperlink that says "Get more backgrounds online" is excellent. It brings you to art.gnome.org, where there's loads of beautiful images. I know you didn't ask about that, but I just really like it and I thought I'd mention it.