Making a Wallpaper from Manga

{Or other pictures as well!}

"Can you teach me how to make wallpaper from manga?" ~Darien94

There are many ways to go about it. First, I would use a program with layers if possible (ie Paint doesn't have layers, but if that is all you have, work carefully with it) like Adobe Photoshop or something like it. I learned many years ago that layers are our friends ^^

Then I would either A) open a new document that is the pixel size requirement for a wallpaper or B) resize the picture I'm using for the base to fit the pixel size requirement (which is 1024x768 or bigger according to a 4:3 ratio. You can also change up things for additional copies for widescreen tall and widescreen, but don't worry about that until you are done. This is another reason why layers are our friends!)

Now if you went with A, you'll want to choose which picture(s) you want to use. Then decide on a color scheme for the background (ie what colors, or keep it white, or make it negative so it's majorly black with white lines, etc.) You can use a paint bucket tool to make the bg all one color, or you can use a gradient tool for multiple colors. With multiple colors, you can keep it like that or use a smudge tool and change the brush shape for fun effects and/or explore what filters and effects will do. Again layers are great here because you can change the visibility (ie Layer Style visibility 'ghosted' or where your layers are listed change the opacity %) of the filter or effect to change how the background looks.

Now you've got your background and your pictures, it's time to copy/paste! Either the whole picture or lasso a selected portion or even the clone tool can provide ways to do this. If cloning, be sure to create a new layer to clone to incase you want to move it around later.

Now arrange the picture(s) so they look nice (text phrases can be added here too, but they are not a requirement to have), and bear in mind that as a wallpaper, you'll want to leave room for desktop items and the navigation bar. When you have them where you want them you can keep them like such or play aroun with the filters and effects again.

Don't forget to add your signature/logo.

Flatten the image, save as a .jpeg and you're ready to go! You may also want to save it as layers before flattening as a .pds or a format like that if you want to go back on it to make adjustments for either sizing or personal touches.

If you went with option B) then copy/paste any other pictures you want with the base (if you want others) and play with filters and effects to make the wallpaper special.

There are other ways to make them, which you can explore to find the style and results that appeal to you.