How to align background image with tiles?

[whitestar127]

So that I can make a background for every tile individually? I'm assuming that that's what this guy did: <inserthttp:here>//forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-wallpapers/304894-creating-your-new-start-screen.html. (His video isn't available anymore).

I have a Lumia 630. Resolution 480x854.

The problem: I took a screenshot of my phone start screen and tried to use it to make a template. But when I set my start screen background I'm always asked to crop the image. So is there a method for aligning my background image completely correct taking into account the cropping?

Hope you understand what I'm asking here. Maybe I didn't explain it well. In other words: How can I for example color just my Outlook tile (which is in the left upper corner of my phone start screen) red using a background image?

And yes, I know that the background image and the tiles will be misaligned once I scroll the screen, but that doesn't matter.

 

[gpobernardo]

So that I can make a background for every tile individually? I'm assuming that that's what this guy did: <inserthttp:here>//forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-wallpapers/304894-creating-your-new-start-screen.html. (His video isn't available anymore).

I have a Lumia 630. Resolution 480x854.

The problem: I took a screenshot of my phone start screen and tried to use it to make a template. But when I set my start screen background I'm always asked to crop the image. So is there a method for aligning my background image completely correct taking into account the cropping?

Hope you understand what I'm asking here. Maybe I didn't explain it well. In other words: How can I for example color just my Outlook tile (which is in the left upper corner of my phone start screen) red using a background image?

And yes, I know that the background image and the tiles will be misaligned once I scroll the screen, but that doesn't matter.

I'm not sure if there's an app that will do this for you, but for my phone/s I manually create and adjust (align and zoom) the background image such that it harmonizes with my tiles.

 

[whitestar127]

Yeah but doesn't that take a lot of trial and error? Or is it a method of doing this that makes it align correctly?

 

[gpobernardo]

Yeah but doesn't that take a lot of trial and error? Or is it a method of doing this that makes it align correctly?

In some of my photos, yes it did take some trial and error... but for some, I try to find at least two points in the photo that should meet a horizontal edge and a vertical edge of the cropping box to make the photo align perfectly with my tiles.

That method worked for me, but here's a more accurate method which you can try:

1. If you have Photoshop, create an image of a grid (fine lines over a solid background) where each unit has a number of pixels that is a factor of your screen resolution. For example, the L535 has a screen resolution of 540x960, hence I can create a grid that has 54 pixels x 96 pixels (or even 27 x 48) and set that as your background photo for your start screen. The total resolution should be the same with your screen.

2. Take note at which points on the grid the tiles intersect, i.e. by counting (similar to chess notation, map reading or compensating for wind and gravity in a sniper rifle scope).

3. Once you know where the tiles line up with your grid, use that grid to create templates for your custom start screen background.

You can vary this approach, using square grids instead of rectangles... but I hope the general idea is clear: the objective is to determine at which points the edges of the tiles are so that you can create your custom background image from it.

Hope this helps.

 

[whitestar127]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot and see if I can figure it out.