iPad Wallpaper

Here’s a fun project for a Saturday afternoon: make your own iPad wallpaper.

There’s really nothing to it. You have to create a 1024 x 1024 JPG and transfer it to your iPad via iTunes.

I’m doing a series of typography-related wallpapers, and I’ve been creating them in InDesign, which has great type controls.

Hey, here’s something you may not know:

Printer’s measurements use picas and points, and we specify our type in points for size and leading. We specify the length of the line in picas. There are 12 points per pica and 6 picas per inch. That means there are 72 points per inch. Of course, graphics for display on screens are usually done at 72 dots per inch. This makes it easy to set up your document in InDesign even if you’re working in picas.

The important thing to remember with iPad wallpaper is that it has to read well even when the iPad is turned from portrait to landscape. Since the iPad has a rectangular screen, the JPG will resize to fit the screen.

After my first couple of tests I decided to switch to a 1500 x 1500 size artwork. This proved to be easier to deal with since I could more easily keep the artwork centered. Granted, I could have done it in the 1024 x 1024 size, but sometimes I just like to be different, don’t you?

I had no trouble thinking of a quote I wanted to use: it’s my favorite printing-related quote, and it’s from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, author of Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther.

The second half of the history of the world begins with the invention of printing.

It’s very easy to transfer your wallpaper to your iPad. The easiest way is to open iTunes and use the Add to Library function [File/Add to Library] and pick out your JPG. iTunes cleverly knows to add it to your photos on your iPad.

To put it to use, plug your iPad into your computer so it can sync the Photo Library. Then use the Settings app on the iPad and pick Brightness & Wallpaper. From there you’ll be able to pick from all the photos on your iPad. Find the JPG you added to iTunes in your Photo Library.

You can use your wallpaper for either the home screen (behind your app icons), or for your lock screen (the one that comes up when you wake up the iPad). Or both, your choice.

I use the Goethe quote on the home screen. This is what it looks like:

By the way, the dark-to-light gradient you see on the screen is added by the iPad display system, it’s not in the original. My artwork is a flat color. So don’t bother putting a gradient into your artwork until you see what it looks like on a real iPad.

Would you like a copy of my Goethe wallpaper? Here’s a link to get a copy of your own:

TheBookDesigner.com iPad Wallpaper [Goethe]

Click the link to download it, or right-click and choose “Save as . . .” to save it. Enjoy!