Jack of All Trades

So I've started my new job.  It's a pretty nifty place, and the folks here are real nice.  You've got to love a company that issues hard hats, safety glasses, and work gloves just to do IT work.  Very cool! 

Anyway, my new desk has something I've been wanting for the last 4+ years.  My laptop has a docking station and dual 19" flat-panel monitors!  I now have a combined screen resolution of 2560×1024!  You may not find this thrilling… however, if you consider that I've spent the last few years dealing with 800×600 resolution on my work system, then you'll understand that I had some definite mahogany when I first saw it!

So anyway, I was settling in yesterday and personalizing my laptop a bit.  Then, I heard someone exclaim…

WOW!!!  How did you do that?!

What they were referring to was that I had a single piece of wallpaper stretched out across both monitors.  If you've ever worked with dual-monitors before, you know that if you apply a piece of wallpaper to your desktop it will automatically duplicate to each monitor.  That's OK for most folks, but I find it makes your wallpaper somehow less interesting.

So anyway, you've probably seen software being sold that will produce the desired effect… but why in the world would you want to pay for something that you can already do for free???  For my amazed co-worker, I demonstrated a technique for further personalizing your desktop.  You can use this procedure to stretch a large piece of wallpaper across multiple monitors, to setup different wallpapers on each monitor, or to just create a crazy collage of wallpaper across your desktop.  (I'll note a few points of interest for each as I go.)

1. If you're going to set a different wallpaper for each individual monitor, then setup your primary display by applying wallpaper like you normally would.  Yes, it will appear on all of your monitors, but we'll be covering the others up as we go.  If you're going the single-extended wallpaper or collage route, then you can skip this step.

   (Personally, I always just leave my default wallpaper blank so that my desktop remains a single solid color.  I do this because you'll only be able to see your default wallpaper whenever you lock your system, so I find that it's a bit more elegant this way.)

2. Right-click on the desktop, and select Properties.
3. Go to the "Desktop" tab.  Click [Customize Desktop].  Go to the "Web" tab.
4. Click [New].  Browse to the location of your desired wallpaper.  Click [OK].
5. If you're looking to create a collage, then repeat Step #4 until you've added all your wallpapers.
6. Click [OK].  Click [OK] again to apply your images to your desktop.
7. Notice that your new wallpaper(s) is in a movable, resizable window.  Resize the window(s) to best fit your desired effect.  If you're looking to extend a single image across both of your monitors, then now is your big chance!  (Don't worry about moving the edges of the picture windows off of the screen.  You can close them at your leisure of the Display Properties where you added them.)
8. Once you're desktop is as perfect as you can make it, then right-click on your desktop again.
9. Select Arrange Icons By — Lock Web Items on Desktop.  (This locks the image into place so you don't accidentally move it askew.)
10. Sit back.  Bask in the joy of your new personalized desktop.

Easy as eating pancakes!