Apple wouldn’t be Apple if it wasn’t to try adding something cool and exciting to its new mobile operating system, and with iOS 7, the new animations – notably the parallax effect – have certainly added a new dimension to the very new-look user interface. It’s the kind of look jailbreakers have been shooting at for years with tweaks like 3D Board, and although it’s rather unnecessary up against the large collection of useful implementations, it does bring that nice touch of finesse. If you were wondering how you could get this rather neat look with your own wallpaper, well, read on, and we’ll outline the steps!
Using large, higher resolution images is advisable, since when the zoom effect kicks in, you won’t witness any sort of on-screen pixelation, which adds to the depth effect of the wallpaper itself.
If you’re rocking an iPad 2 or iPad mini, you’ll need to be cropping your desired image to the resolution of 1424 x 1424. Both of the iPad models with Retina display (3rd and 4th-gen) require an image of 2448 x 2448. An iPhone 4S wallpaper should be of 1360 x 1040, while a parallax wallpaper for the iPhone 5 will ideally be of 1536 x 1040. The iPhone 4, which is somewhat handicapped when it comes to running the latest and greatest firmware, unfortunately does not support 3D parallax wallpapers, so if you are so craving this effect, you’ll need to upgrade your hardware.
Below, we’ll be outlining the brief steps to creating your very own parallax wallpaper.
Step 1: Source your desired image. Although it’s not an absolute must, you’ll want to be working with an image larger than you actually need, so you can crop it down to size without degrading the quality. You can grab the image from anywhere – the Internet, or even your own photos – to find the perfect backdrop.
Step 2: If the aspect ratio happens to be correct for what you’re working with for your device, then resize, and if not, then select the appropriate area as per the aforementioned resolutions, and crop. There are a plethora of different apps you can use for Windows and Mac, including Photoshop, The Gimp, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, MS Paint.
Step 3: Next, you’ll need to save the image to your device.
Step 4: Finally, set the perfectly-sized image as your wallpaper, and simply enjoy the crisp, elegant effect.
Do you think the parallax effect greatly enhances iOS? Do share your thoughts below!
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