Ubuntu Wiki

Ubuntu Eye Candy is intended as an index for all the things in the wiki that are mostly intended to make Ubuntu look cooler and/or slicker, rather than the more "serious" configuration options documented elsewhere.

Fairly short items can be added directly to this page; existing or longer items should get their own pages with links from here.

Changing Desktop Wallpaper

attachment:Bckgrnd_Prefs.png

Right-click on your desktop and choose Change Desktop Background. Pick a wallpaper from the list, or choose the Add Wallpaper button to add an image from any directory.

Use the Desktop Colors selector to change the background behind translucent or semi-transparent images - this works very well with SVG graphics.

Changing Desktop Themes

Ubuntu comes with a selection of desktop themes, and many more can be downloaded from websites.

To change themes, choose System menu --> Preferences --> Theme.

Installing New Desktop Themes

Download a theme onto your Desktop, open the Theme Manager as above, and drag the file containing the new theme onto the Theme Manager. It should automatically install, and appear in your list of themes.

Note that many theme packages only contain portions of a theme - you can find those by clicking the Theme Details button and exploring the lists there.

Gnome's Theme Manager also makes it very easy to create your own themes by mixing and matching elements through this Theme Details window.

Changing Login (GDM) Themes

attachment:GDM_themes.png

Gnome Desktop Manager (GDM) controls the login screen in Ubuntu. There are several themes pre-installed, and many more can be downloaded.

To change GDM themes, choose System tab --> Adminstration --> Login Screen Setup, then click the Themed Greeter tab and choose a GDM theme.

Installing New GDM Themes

As with desktop themes, save the .tar.gz with your theme on it to your Desktop. In the Login Screen Setup's Themed Greeter tab, press the Install New Theme button, find your new theme's file, and press the Install button.

Then simply select the new theme from the list of available themes. You can also set it up to pick a random theme on every boot, rather than picking just one theme.

Gnome Art Manager

One easy way of getting more wallpaper, desktop themes, GDM themes and other eye-candy into Ubuntu is to install the package gnome-art through [:SynapticHowto:Synaptic] or apt-get.

Start gnome-art via System-->Preferences-->Art Manager and then use the Art menu to select the category you wish to view.

Note that this application only uses art.gnome.org's files - items from gnome-look.org or elsewhere will not be available through the Art Manager.

Ubuntu Eyecandy Pages

• ["Upower"]: add a boot-up splash screen to Ubuntu

• ["GnomeFoot"]: Replace the Gnome foot on the Applications menu with the Ubuntu logo - note that Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) does this by default!

• ["WallpaperTray"]: Random wallpaper utility

• [:QtGnome:Qt-Gnome]: Make KDE applications more GNOME-like

Other Eyecandy Resources

• [http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/EyeCandyBreezy BreezyCust Eyecandy Page]: List of a few how-to's and tweaks

Possibly Unstable Eye Candy

(Use at your own risk!)

• ["DropShadows"]: adding Drop Shadows to your desktop windows

• ["3ddesktopHowto"]: 3d Desktop installation

• ["LuminocityHowTo"]: install Luminocity now in order to try out the new effects

• ["GnomeLaunchBox"]: Mac OSX-style application launcher

• ["TransparentTerminals"]: Transparent terminal windows on your desktop

Ubuntu Art Pages

• ["ArtTeam"]: Ubuntu Art Team

• ["Artwork/Official"]: Official Ubuntu artwork, and policy for using it.

• ["CommunityArtwork"]: Community artwork links

• ["UbuntuTitle"]: the official Ubuntu Title Typeface

Theme & Eyecandy Links

• [http://www.gnome-look.org Gnome-Look.org]

• [http://art.ubuntu.com Ubuntu Artwork]

• [http://art.gnome.org/ Gnome Art] (art.gnome.org)

CategoryDocumentation