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How to Print With Any Printer From iPad, iPhone

Apple’s latest mobile operating system update introduces a much-demanded feature: wireless printing. Problem is, it will only officially print from printers labeled “AirPrint-compatible,” which you likely don’t own. However, if you want to print from just about any printer, there’s a mod for that.

AirPrint Hacktivator offers a solution for Macs to set up wireless printing with iOS 4.2 with any printer shared on your network. Here’s how to set it up, with instructions courtesy of the hack’s maker, Netputing.

You will need:

• Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.5
• iTunes 10.1 (if you have neither, select the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your screen and click “Software Updates” to download the latest software.
• iOS 4.2.1 on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (click “Check for Updates” in iTunes if you don’t have the latest iOS.)
• AirPrint Hacktivator [.zip]

Instructions:

1. Copy the AirPrint Hacktivator software into your Applications folder, then launch the app.

2. Toggle the switch to “ON.”

3. Enter your admin password.

4. A window will prompt you to add the printer you want to use with AirPrint.

5. The hack will launch the Print & Fax utility in your Settings folder, and you’ll be able to perform the add-printer task here.

6. And you should be ready to start printing!

See the video below by Netputing for a visual tutorial.

How BlackBerry Could Benefit From a Swedish Redesign

Xmarks Lives: LastPass Buys Downtrodden Bookmark Syncing Service

Just when we all thought we’d never see it again, the cross-browser bookmark syncing service Xmarks has received a life-saving injection.

The company has been acquired by LastPass, maker of a cross-browser password manager and form filler add-on. The deal was announced Thursday, and terms were not disclosed.

Xmarks will live on as a freemium service. The initial cross-browser syncing tool you’re already familiar with will be free, but users will be encouraged to upgrade to a paid subscription to unlock more advanced features. It’s the same model employed by LastPass for its own Premium version of its (otherwise free) password-syncing service.

Xmarks Premium will be offered for $1 per month ($12 per year) and it comes with some new features like apps for the iPhone and Android phones, and technical support. You will also be able to bundle the premium offerings from LastPass and Xmarks together for $20 per year.

There’s already an iPhone app for Xmarks, and the company just recently released an Android app, too. Xmarks says anyone currently using the iPhone app can continue to use it without upgrading to the premium service, but they will have to buy in to the $12 per year plan to get future upgrades.

It looked like curtains for Xmarks in September, when the company announced it would shut down its service in early 2011.

Apparently, there’s no money in a free bookmark syncing service, and the company was facing new competition from the cloud-based syncing systems being built into Firefox and Chrome. Even though Xmarks one-ups those built-in single-browser services by syncing bookmarks across all your browsers, it couldn’t stay afloat.

The service has some 4.5 million users, and there was an outcry when Xmarks announced the shutdown. Later, the company asked its fans if they would be willing to pay a subscription fee to keep Xmarks alive. Over 30,000 of them pledged to do so, and that was enough to attract the attention of LastPass.

The two companies will continue to operate under independent brands, though they may merge everything later.

So, it turns out this dark story of cloud computing had a silver lining after all.

See also:

• Xmarks to Continue Syncing Bookmarks, Thanks to Loyal Fans
• Xmarks Mulls Switch to Premium Service
• Popular Bookmark Syncing Tool XMarks to Shut Down
• Xmarks Syncs Open Tabs Across Browsers, iPhone

New Flash Player 10.2 Goes Easy on the CPU

[Updated, see below] Adobe has released the first beta of Flash Player 10.2, an update that focuses primarily on speed and performance improvements. New in Flash 10.2 is something Adobe calls “Stage Video hardware acceleration,” which the company claims will “decrease processor usage and enable higher frame rates, reduced memory usage, and greater pixel fidelity and quality.” And the hardware acceleration technology does do all of these things, though your mileage will vary depending on what kind of hardware and software you’re using.

To try out the new Flash Player 10.2 beta, head over the Adobe download page. Be aware that, while 10.2 appears to be relatively stable, it is a beta release and there may be bugs.

The Stage Video hardware acceleration means that Flash Player 10.2 can leverage your graphics card for not just H.264 hardware decoding (which works in Flash Player 10.1) but also color conversion, scaling, and blitting.

Adobe’s press release makes a rather bold claim: “using Stage Video, we’ve seen laptops play smooth 1080p HD video with just over 0% CPU usage.”

Sadly, we have not seen such results. While we won’t argue with the smoothness of the playback in this new release, Flash is still going to use quite a bit of your PC’s CPU. Based on my testing (done on a Macbook Pro laptop using both Firefox 4b7 and Safari 5, and a Mac Pro tower using the same browsers — Wired is an all-Mac office), while CPU usage is down in Flash 10.2, it’s still a long way from zero.

Update: Since this article was published, we’ve been hearing from you, our awesome readers, in the comments and over e-mail. Some things to note: The new beta performs much better on Windows computers than it does under Mac OS X. Also, full hardware acceleration on Mac OS X requires Snow Leopard or later, otherwise it falls back to using software rendering in the CPU. Thanks for the comments, and keep them coming!

On our Macs, we tested several 1080p videos on YouTube in Flash Player 10.1 and found that on average the 10.1 plugin used between 44-48 percent CPU. Watching the same movie in Flash 10.2 did drop the CPU usage down to the 18-22 percent range, but definitely not zero.

Worse, running the same tests on Adobe’s Stage Video optimized demos, Flash 10.2 actually performed worse than than it did on normal 1080p movies with the cpu usage varying widely between 5 and 60 percent (the 18-20 percent range appears to be the norm).

The short story is that, while Flash 10.2 does offer decreased processor usage, it doesn’t quite live up to Adobe’s claims. While Flash Player 10.2’s performance falls short of the hype, there’s no question that it’s a huge leap forward in terms of performance. The smaller CPU footprint alone is well worth the upgrade, provided you don’t mind running beta software. So far Adobe has not set a final release data for Flash 10.2.

One other thing to keep in mind: to take advantage of the new Stage Video tools, sites like YouTube and Vimeo will need to alter their video players. So, it may be some time before the full benefit of Stage Video’s improvements makes it to your day-to-day web browsing.

As for other new features in this release, there’s Internet Explorer 9 GPU support and support for fullscreen mode with dual monitors — meaning that you can have a movie on one screen and keep working on another.

Custom cursors get some love in this release, too, with Flash Player 10.2 handing off the job to the operating system rather than using resources to manually draw custom cursors. The beta also improves text rendering, adding sub-pixel rendering enhancements that should make your typography look a bit nicer and more readable.

It’s worth noting that the Flash Player 10.2 beta does not replace the Flash Player “Square” preview release — in other words, Flash Player 10.2 still isn’t 64-bit native. If 64-bit support is important to you, stick with the Flash Player “Square” preview.

See Also:

• Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Arrives
• Adobe Revamps Flash Player for Netbooks, P2P, Private Browsing
• Adobe Fights Off HTML5 Threat With New Flash Player 10.1

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: November 2010

Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use a specific wallpaper for a longer period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing wallpapers for over 12 months. To make them a little more distinctive than the usual crowd, we’ve decided to embed calendars for the upcoming month. So if you happen to be searching for a specific day of the month, isn’t it better to show off a nice wallpaper with a nice calendar instead of launching some default time application?

This post features 50 free desktop wallpapers, created by designers across the globe for November 2010. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free.

Please notice:

• all images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper;
• you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our desktop wallpaper calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

So what wallpapers have we received for November 2010?

Update (02.11.2010): You can also download the Windows 7 Wallpapers Pack with all wallpapers featured in this post.

Rose Petal

"Don’t underestimate the true beauty of a single dried rose petal…." Designed by Thuy Truong.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1600×1200

Infinite Space

"Infinite Space… Inspired by the infinite beauty of our universe" Designed by Natanael Fernandez from Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Flying

"I’d like to fly away to warm countries for winter." Designed by Marta Miazek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Pink Morning

"Some watercolor, inspiration and good mood!" Designed by Oxana Kostromina from Poland/Russia.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

UX cake

Designed by WitFlow from Poland.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Symbian World

"Scene from Symbian World." Designed by Anna Alfut from UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152
• without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152

Favourite Pair

Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Fall into Place

"Photos from a damp, autumn day." Designed by Laurice Solomon from Canada.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Enjoy the creative process

"November will surely be rainy for most of us. Hopefully you’ll remember to take a glimpse through the window, at least a virtual one. This wallpaper also features great free font called Franchise." Designed by Lucijan Blagonic from Croatia.

• preview
• with calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Thanks For Giving

Designed by Randal Baker Jr from USA.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Bon Voyage

"And in the morning I’ll be goneFor other towns and other livesI’ll catch the first train, bag in hand. And I won’t miss you, and you won’t cry." Designed by Yellowbook from South Korea.

• preview
• with calendar: 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1680×1050

Fallen Leaves

"You know Autumn has arrived when the leaves have fallen, and it rains? Have a great November everybody!" Designed by Olivia Bell from England, UK.

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• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Heavy Equipment

"In the vicinity of Zürich, the company hosted a field test with the new machine and presented the first diesel electrical chain dozer. The Caterpillar D7E Dozer is the November motif of the Heavy Equipment Calendar 2010.Weight: 25,7 Tons/ Performance: 175kW (238 PS) / Motor: Caterpillar with capacity 9,3 l / Location: Zürich, Swiitzerland" Designed by Bauforum24 from Germany.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Reprieve

"Watching nature prepare to go to sleep for the winter. The beauty of the process deserves a closer look. The austerity of a branch without its leaves and a leaf’s exposed skeleton. All for us to marvel at in this season of change." Designed by Kim Carney from USA.

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• with calendar: 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600

High Treason

"After a bit of plotting and planning we decided we would use the British tradition of Bonfire Night and create something explosive for the desktops of Smashing Magazine’s followers for the month of November, so here it is, “High Treason” — inspired by the ultimate raving lunatic (Guy Fawkes) and crafted in a digital masterpiece!" Designed by Fluid Creativity from England.

• preview
• with calendar: 480×320, 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 480×320, 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

One Big Heart of Ours

"Thank you to Olivia Bell and Rosanna Bell for modelling." Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

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• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

November Tree

Designed by Christine Bradway from United States.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Autumn with gecko

"Graphics made in Illustrator and Photoshop, combining nature elements, like classic autumm leaves with a more exotic and unexpected little gecko. Its purpose is to create an athmosphere of mystery and stillness, before the harsh winter strikes." Designed by Diana Samoila from Romania.

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• with calendar: 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Mechanical Month

Designed by Lemonsquash from france.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 2560×1440

Lonely White Guardian

"It’s almost winter and there’s only one thing stopping it from coming down the mountains and into the plains. This lonely white guardian struggling to keep the freezing snow at bay. Special thanks to Mikhail Dudarev for the photo." Designed by Bogdan Lazar from Romania.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Calaca for El d’a de Muertos

"This illustration was created to celebrate the day of dead in the Hispanic countries and reflects the joy of those who celebrates the life through the death." Designed by Celsiuspictor from Spain.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Autumn Fun

"After a happy cold and colourful afternoon, with the wet smell of earth filling my senses, we were walking home, for a hot chocolate, and with all these familliar feelings that sweet image got in my mind, and then I decided… I had to draw it!" Designed by Alkminnie Nestoridou from Greece.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200

Expectation

Designed by Jaro Mlkvy from Slovakia.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November Rain

"Every night I look down this street, because I’m attracted to color and shape of the newly constructed gas station. This is the most beautiful street in my town, with plenty of benches and alleys. Walking along this street You can relax a lot, and forget all the problems. By day it is very noisy, because the school is close to the street, but in the evening – becoming very quiet and lovely. When it starts raining, the street is just Yours." Designed by Edis Selimovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Hendrix Fire Lyrics Micrography

"Hendrix micrography themed wallpaper, based on the “Fire” lyrics. Micrography is an ancient art of drawing shapes based on letters." Designed by Ron Gilad from Israel.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Remember, Remember

"Remember, remember the 5th of November." Designed by Ian Lunn from England.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Stereo is better!

"On November 5, 1955, the stereo radio was introduced. Stereo is really better!" Designed by Matteo Palazzani from Italy.

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• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Diwali Greetings

"Diwali is the celebration of the Hindu new year which is celebrated all over the world. This piece wishes everyone warm wishes for the Hindu new year and the common new year holiday coming up soon." Designed by Smita Upadhye from New Zealand.

• preview
• with calendar: 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1680×1050

Friendship

"Day of National Unity." Designed by cheloveche.ru from Russia.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

A Myriad of Stars

"Each separate star, Seems nothing, but a myriad scattered stars, Break up the Night, and make it beautiful.” — Bayard Taylor. This photo was taken during the Perseids Meteor Shower this year, a magical night in the pine forests of Flagstaff, Arizona." Designed by Myriad Advertising from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Speaker Bird

Designed by Emily Shirley from USA.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

November Girl

Designed by Yuskiv Taras from Ukraine.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Autumn Afternoon

Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

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• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Racing Incident

"For racing snails, a split minute decision can lead to disaster, but racing incidents are just one part of the crazy world of The Racers." Designed by Ian Pullen from Spain.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Ghost Friends

"Boney wanted to have friends but they are all ghosts." Designed by Constantino Co from Singapore.

• preview
• with calendar: 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1920×1200

Picturesque November

"Just another picturesque place from Iran!" Designed by Arash Zad from IRAN.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Transitions

"Autumn meets winter…The vibrant red leaves meet the grey mist of winter mornings." Designed by Nishith from India.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Life Thougths

"November is the month to think about the yearend and of the new year… where we plan about enjoyment… each one should enjoy the life during this month.. so a colorfull “11″ and some life quotes surronded." Designed by Darshan Kore from India.

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• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November in Africa

"One of the most striking attribute of any rural area of Africa is the calm and peace it has. This is why the number of tourists from far and wide come here to be a part of this memory-etching experience. It is in this light that I try to portray such nostalgic atmosphere. Keenako!" Designed by Aroyewun Babajide from Nigeria.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November Fire

Designed by Pietje Precies from The Netherlands.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Remembering George

"Nine years ago on November 29th, the world lost its second Beatle to cancer. George was my favorite of the four, and I thought this lyric was fitting for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday." Designed by Emily Blackwell from USA.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Lawka

"photography" Designed by Mon from Poland.

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• with calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Rustic Flower

"Decoration on a coffe table on a sunny autumn day on a beach." Designed by Ivana Stojkovic from Serbia.

• preview
• with calendar: 480×320, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 480×320, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Tiramisu

"Who doesn’t like a good piece of Tiramisu? Just created this simple wallpaper with no special reason, just felt like putting a vector piece of cake in a corner, and have everything else breathe and leave room for all you un-organized people with tons of icon on your desktop (just like me). Enjoy, and if you wonder what kind of desert you should have today, this week or this month (if on a really strict diet) well don’t look further!" Designed by Kevin Bedard from USA.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152

November

"It is November. It is rich. It is golden." Designed by Jade Cheng from USA.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050

Simple Sunflower

"This photo was taken in the spring, but I always think of sunflowers as an autumn flower." Designed by Allison Jirsa from United States.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Movember

"For a weird reason, Australia and New Zealand celebrate Moustache November. And USA and Canada call it No Shave Month." Designed by Sahil Khan from India.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Knitting Fall

"Cosy and bright knitting wallpaper will warm you on cold fall days." Designed by Maria Fisenko (marylika) from Ukraine.

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• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Channel 11

"Have a nice November!" Designed by Marco Palma from Italy/Germany.

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• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Expanse

"The shear magnitude of our corner of creation is inconceivably small compared to the known universe, which overshadows our solar system 1.25 quadrillion (successor to trillion) to 1 in diameter alone. Humility in this great expanse should be instinctive." Designed by Coswyn from United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 1365×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2730×768, 2880×900, 3200×900, 3360×1050, 3840×1080, 3840×1200
• without calendar: 1365×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2730×768, 2880×900, 3200×900, 3360×1050, 3840×1080, 3840×1200, 640×960

Join in next month!

Please notice that we respect the ideas and motivation behind artists’ work which is why we’ve given artists full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. And this is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Thanks to all designers for participation. Join in next month!

What’s your favorite?

What’s your favourite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comments! And have a smashing November, folks!

(vf)

© Vitaly Friedman for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: Wallpapers

Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: November 2010

Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use a specific wallpaper for a longer period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing wallpapers for over 12 months. To make them a little more distinctive than the usual crowd, we’ve decided to embed calendars for the upcoming month. So if you happen to be searching for a specific day of the month, isn’t it better to show off a nice wallpaper with a nice calendar instead of launching some default time application?

This post features 50 free desktop wallpapers, created by designers across the globe for November 2010. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free.

Please notice:

• all images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper;
• you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our desktop wallpaper calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

So what wallpapers have we received for November 2010?

Update (02.11.2010): You can also download the Windows 7 Wallpapers Pack with all wallpapers featured in this post.

Rose Petal

"Don’t underestimate the true beauty of a single dried rose petal…." Designed by Thuy Truong.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1600×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1600×1200

Infinite Space

"Infinite Space… Inspired by the infinite beauty of our universe" Designed by Natanael Fernandez from Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Flying

"I’d like to fly away to warm countries for winter." Designed by Marta Miazek from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Pink Morning

"Some watercolor, inspiration and good mood!" Designed by Oxana Kostromina from Poland/Russia.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

UX cake

Designed by WitFlow from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Symbian World

"Scene from Symbian World." Designed by Anna Alfut from UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152
• without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152

Favourite Pair

Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Fall into Place

"Photos from a damp, autumn day." Designed by Laurice Solomon from Canada.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Enjoy the creative process

"November will surely be rainy for most of us. Hopefully you’ll remember to take a glimpse through the window, at least a virtual one. This wallpaper also features great free font called Franchise." Designed by Lucijan Blagonic from Croatia.

• preview
• with calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Thanks For Giving

Designed by Randal Baker Jr from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Bon Voyage

"And in the morning I’ll be goneFor other towns and other livesI’ll catch the first train, bag in hand. And I won’t miss you, and you won’t cry." Designed by Yellowbook from South Korea.

• preview
• with calendar: 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1680×1050

Fallen Leaves

"You know Autumn has arrived when the leaves have fallen, and it rains? Have a great November everybody!" Designed by Olivia Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Heavy Equipment

"In the vicinity of Zürich, the company hosted a field test with the new machine and presented the first diesel electrical chain dozer. The Caterpillar D7E Dozer is the November motif of the Heavy Equipment Calendar 2010.Weight: 25,7 Tons/ Performance: 175kW (238 PS) / Motor: Caterpillar with capacity 9,3 l / Location: Zürich, Swiitzerland" Designed by Bauforum24 from Germany.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Reprieve

"Watching nature prepare to go to sleep for the winter. The beauty of the process deserves a closer look. The austerity of a branch without its leaves and a leaf’s exposed skeleton. All for us to marvel at in this season of change." Designed by Kim Carney from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 320×480, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 2560×1600

High Treason

"After a bit of plotting and planning we decided we would use the British tradition of Bonfire Night and create something explosive for the desktops of Smashing Magazine’s followers for the month of November, so here it is, “High Treason” — inspired by the ultimate raving lunatic (Guy Fawkes) and crafted in a digital masterpiece!" Designed by Fluid Creativity from England.

• preview
• with calendar: 480×320, 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 480×320, 640×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

One Big Heart of Ours

"Thank you to Olivia Bell and Rosanna Bell for modelling." Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

November Tree

Designed by Christine Bradway from United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Autumn with gecko

"Graphics made in Illustrator and Photoshop, combining nature elements, like classic autumm leaves with a more exotic and unexpected little gecko. Its purpose is to create an athmosphere of mystery and stillness, before the harsh winter strikes." Designed by Diana Samoila from Romania.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Mechanical Month

Designed by Lemonsquash from france.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×1024, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 2560×1440

Lonely White Guardian

"It’s almost winter and there’s only one thing stopping it from coming down the mountains and into the plains. This lonely white guardian struggling to keep the freezing snow at bay. Special thanks to Mikhail Dudarev for the photo." Designed by Bogdan Lazar from Romania.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Calaca for El d’a de Muertos

"This illustration was created to celebrate the day of dead in the Hispanic countries and reflects the joy of those who celebrates the life through the death." Designed by Celsiuspictor from Spain.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Autumn Fun

"After a happy cold and colourful afternoon, with the wet smell of earth filling my senses, we were walking home, for a hot chocolate, and with all these familliar feelings that sweet image got in my mind, and then I decided… I had to draw it!" Designed by Alkminnie Nestoridou from Greece.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1200

Expectation

Designed by Jaro Mlkvy from Slovakia.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November Rain

"Every night I look down this street, because I’m attracted to color and shape of the newly constructed gas station. This is the most beautiful street in my town, with plenty of benches and alleys. Walking along this street You can relax a lot, and forget all the problems. By day it is very noisy, because the school is close to the street, but in the evening – becoming very quiet and lovely. When it starts raining, the street is just Yours." Designed by Edis Selimovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Hendrix Fire Lyrics Micrography

"Hendrix micrography themed wallpaper, based on the “Fire” lyrics. Micrography is an ancient art of drawing shapes based on letters." Designed by Ron Gilad from Israel.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Remember, Remember

"Remember, remember the 5th of November." Designed by Ian Lunn from England.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1440

Stereo is better!

"On November 5, 1955, the stereo radio was introduced. Stereo is really better!" Designed by Matteo Palazzani from Italy.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Diwali Greetings

"Diwali is the celebration of the Hindu new year which is celebrated all over the world. This piece wishes everyone warm wishes for the Hindu new year and the common new year holiday coming up soon." Designed by Smita Upadhye from New Zealand.

• preview
• with calendar: 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1680×1050

Friendship

"Day of National Unity." Designed by cheloveche.ru from Russia.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

A Myriad of Stars

"Each separate star, Seems nothing, but a myriad scattered stars, Break up the Night, and make it beautiful.” — Bayard Taylor. This photo was taken during the Perseids Meteor Shower this year, a magical night in the pine forests of Flagstaff, Arizona." Designed by Myriad Advertising from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Speaker Bird

Designed by Emily Shirley from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

November Girl

Designed by Yuskiv Taras from Ukraine.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Autumn Afternoon

Designed by Sasha Bell from England, UK.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Racing Incident

"For racing snails, a split minute decision can lead to disaster, but racing incidents are just one part of the crazy world of The Racers." Designed by Ian Pullen from Spain.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Ghost Friends

"Boney wanted to have friends but they are all ghosts." Designed by Constantino Co from Singapore.

• preview
• with calendar: 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1920×1200

Picturesque November

"Just another picturesque place from Iran!" Designed by Arash Zad from IRAN.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080

Transitions

"Autumn meets winter…The vibrant red leaves meet the grey mist of winter mornings." Designed by Nishith from India.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Life Thougths

"November is the month to think about the yearend and of the new year… where we plan about enjoyment… each one should enjoy the life during this month.. so a colorfull “11″ and some life quotes surronded." Designed by Darshan Kore from India.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November in Africa

"One of the most striking attribute of any rural area of Africa is the calm and peace it has. This is why the number of tourists from far and wide come here to be a part of this memory-etching experience. It is in this light that I try to portray such nostalgic atmosphere. Keenako!" Designed by Aroyewun Babajide from Nigeria.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

November Fire

Designed by Pietje Precies from The Netherlands.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Remembering George

"Nine years ago on November 29th, the world lost its second Beatle to cancer. George was my favorite of the four, and I thought this lyric was fitting for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday." Designed by Emily Blackwell from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200

Lawka

"photography" Designed by Mon from Poland.

• preview
• with calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Rustic Flower

"Decoration on a coffe table on a sunny autumn day on a beach." Designed by Ivana Stojkovic from Serbia.

• preview
• with calendar: 480×320, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440
• without calendar: 480×320, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1440

Tiramisu

"Who doesn’t like a good piece of Tiramisu? Just created this simple wallpaper with no special reason, just felt like putting a vector piece of cake in a corner, and have everything else breathe and leave room for all you un-organized people with tons of icon on your desktop (just like me). Enjoy, and if you wonder what kind of desert you should have today, this week or this month (if on a really strict diet) well don’t look further!" Designed by Kevin Bedard from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2048×1152

November

"It is November. It is rich. It is golden." Designed by Jade Cheng from USA.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050

Simple Sunflower

"This photo was taken in the spring, but I always think of sunflowers as an autumn flower." Designed by Allison Jirsa from United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Movember

"For a weird reason, Australia and New Zealand celebrate Moustache November. And USA and Canada call it No Shave Month." Designed by Sahil Khan from India.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1024×1024, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1920×1200

Knitting Fall

"Cosy and bright knitting wallpaper will warm you on cold fall days." Designed by Maria Fisenko (marylika) from Ukraine.

• preview
• with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Channel 11

"Have a nice November!" Designed by Marco Palma from Italy/Germany.

• preview
• with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Expanse

"The shear magnitude of our corner of creation is inconceivably small compared to the known universe, which overshadows our solar system 1.25 quadrillion (successor to trillion) to 1 in diameter alone. Humility in this great expanse should be instinctive." Designed by Coswyn from United States.

• preview
• with calendar: 1365×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2730×768, 2880×900, 3200×900, 3360×1050, 3840×1080, 3840×1200
• without calendar: 1365×768, 1440×900, 1600×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200, 2730×768, 2880×900, 3200×900, 3360×1050, 3840×1080, 3840×1200, 640×960

Join in next month!

Please notice that we respect the ideas and motivation behind artists’ work which is why we’ve given artists full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. And this is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Thanks to all designers for participation. Join in next month!

What’s your favorite?

What’s your favourite theme or wallpaper for this month? Please let us know in the comments! And have a smashing November, folks!

(vf)

© Vitaly Friedman for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: Wallpapers

Transparent CSS Sprites

One of the most useful front-end development techniques of recent years is the humble “CSS Sprites”. The technique was popularised by Dave Shea on A List Apart in 2004 with his article CSS Sprites: Image Slicing’s Kiss of Death. CSS Sprites are a relatively simple technique once you understand the fundamentals and it can be applied in all manner of ways. A common use is for a graphic intensive navigation, but it can also be useful for buttons or even styling headings with the corporate font.

Sprites are simply a collection of images which are merged together to create a single file. You then use CSS, changing the

the image, to display the correct part of the image you need. I often use the analogy of a large object passing a window — you only see what is within the frame.

Over the last couple of years CSS Sprites has been one of the most widely adopted CSS-related techniques. Popularised by the Yahoo’s research and documentation around speeding up your website, many high profile websites implement the technique, including Google and Amazon. There are numerous tutorials which help you get to grips with the techniques and sprite generators which help you create the graphics themselves.

The Benefits and Potential Problems

CSS Sprites have become a de-facto way of improving the speed of your website or web application. Merging multiple images in to a single file can quickly reduce the number of HTTP requests needed on a typical website. Most browsers only allow for two concurrent connections to a single domain so although individual files can be large, the overall request and response times are considerably lower. Combining images with similar hues also means the colour and compression information is only need once, instead of per file, which can mean an overall reduced file size when compared to the files individually.

The benefits of reduced file size and HTTP requests are often publicised, but potential problems are rarely ever discussed. One of the main techinical issues with CSS Sprites is memory usage which is explained in the article “To Sprite Or Not To Sprite”. Another issue is the maintenance of the sprites, the images and the CSS, both of which can become rather complicated.

A Technological Solution

A common practice in solving slow-down in computing seems to simply throw in more hardware. We all know hardware prices are dropping all the time, so this seems like a reasonable solution. However, I feel there is a fundamental flaw with this philosophy and ingrained mentality. Developers have access to more computing power and as such they code their applications to be handled in these environments. With each new feature the application becomes slower and slower, but this problem has already has a solution — upgrade your hardware. This is an endless cycle.

Many of the user interfaces people come across today are on the Web. This means the user has to download most of the related material (images, CSS, JavaScript) before interacting with the content, so the same philosophy must be applied to the Web. Websites, or more recently web applications, are becoming more complex, even replacing many desktop applications, therefore the user must first download more and more information before beginning their experience.

Although file sizes required to view a website have increased dramatically over recent years, more and more people are upgrading their Internet connections, with broadband becoming the norm in many countries. This cycle conforms to the hardware upgrade philosophy and in theory should negate any potential user experience problems.

However, web developers are falling in to the same trap which many application developers have before. As layouts become more complex, more images are required and so the developer creates more images — even if they are sprites. This seems like a reasonable assertion, but it doesn’t mean it is the best solution.

A Twist on the Technique

Due to the limitations of the Web, there have been many inventive solutions to problems. But the Web isn’t the only place where there can be very tight limitations. Innovation strives on limitation. A great example of this was in the iconic game Super Mario Brothers where the bushes were just recoloured clouds.

This very simple but extremely effective implementation made me think about how to reuse common interface elements, trick the user to believe something the same is different!

Now on to the twist, this idea is to create a transparent sprite allowing the

to show through. If you are familiar with CSS Sprites, you should be able to grasp this twist relatively easily.

Simply, an image with a transparent “knocked-out” transparent center is placed over a background colour. Changing the background colour changes the appearance of the element. The only thing you need to pay attention to is that the colour surrounding the transparent part of the image matches the background in which you are using the techinque. This stops the background colour bleeding in to other parts of your image.

Anyway, this technique is much easier to understand in an example…

Example

The following example is only made up of three images. One for all the font samples, one image for both sets of droplets, including hover and active states, and one for the all buttons.

The Images

Fonts
The font image contains transparent typefaces on a white background, meaning they aren’t viewable on a white background. Save the file from the example, open it in your favourite graphics editor and you will see the transparent typefaces.

Drops
The drops image is used on the example above as the colour picker. A single graphic containing the gradient drop on the two different backgrounds, so the

is masked out correctly. The image contains all three states used in modern interactive interfaces — static, hover/focus, pressed/active.

Button
The button technique is the most flexible and probably most useful way to use this technique. A simple sprite image containing two states — static and hover/focus — which is then placed over text to create the button. Simply adding a

will make every use of this button the same style across your application or website.

Below is some CSS which styles simple fixed width buttons with a grey background colour, but also has two different treatments, “warning” and “go”, which have red and green background colours respectively.

a.button {
  display: block;
  width: 80px; height: 30px;
  margin: 0 20px;
  font-size: 14px; line-height: 30px; color: #fff;
  text-align: center; text-decoration: none;
  background: #4a4a4a url(button.png) no-repeat 0 0;
}
a.button:hover,
a.button:focus,
a.button:active {
  background-position: 0 -40px;
}
a.button.warning {
  background-color: #ea1d22;
}
a.button.go {
  background-color: #309721;
}

The CSS above produces the following buttons:

• Normal
• Button
• Continue
• Go!
• Stop!

Conclusion

This techinque could be useful when providing a range of themes for a website. You could create one set of buttons and icons then add the background colour which best suits the selected theme.

Although this technique will never be as broadly useful as the original CSS Sprites, the idea can be useful for websites which allow user theming. The technique could also be used when creating HTML mockups, allowing you to easily update colours based on client feedback.

The main benefit this technique has is that it reduces the number of HTTP requests. But it also reduces browser memory usage compared with what would be needed if you created a larger sprite to handle all the colours you need.

I would like to mention one caveat though, IE6, because it does not natively support transparent PNGs. There are PNG fixes, but none¹ of these support

which is needed if you are using this technique with CSS sprites, such as with the buttons and droplets above. However, you could provide a slightly less optimal experience using GIFs instead.

1. The IE PNG Fix from TwinHelix does include support for

, but the solution requires JavaScript.

Further Resources

If you are interested in any aspect of CSS Sprites, check out the following extra resources.

• Fast Rollovers Without Preload – the initial inspiration for CSS Sprites.
• SpriteMe – a bookmarklet to generate sprites based on an existing website.

Below are a list of links used within the article:

• CSS Sprites: Image Slicing’s Kiss of Death – the A List Apart article by Dave Shea.
• Yahoo! Performance Guideliness – best practices, tools and research from Yahoo!
• CSS Sprite Generator – a tool to help you create your sprites by Ed Eliot.
• To Sprite Or Not To Sprite – an article about some potential system performance caveats with sprites.

© Trevor Morris for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine
Post tags: CSS

8 CSS preprocessors to speed up development time

Less CSS

Less is probably the most well known CSS preprocessor. It allow a simplified syntax and the use of variables. Less CSS is for the Ruby programming language, however it looks like Aaron Russel created an extension for creating cached stylesheets your PHP projects can use.

Get it: http://lesscss.org

Sass

On their website, Sass claims to make CSS fun again. To be honest, I must admit that what this project is capable of is very interesting. Like Less CSS, it allow the use of variables and have a simplified syntax. Sass is definitely a great tool, unfortunely only available for Ruby, as far as I know.

Get it: http://sass-lang.com/

Turbine

If like me, you’re a PHP Lover, here is a css preprocessor made for your favorite language. I haven’t tested it yet, but Turbine looks very cool. It allow a minimal syntax, automatically gzip multiple css, fix cross-browser issues, and a lot more. A must check if you’re into PHP.

Get it: http://turbine.peterkroener.de/index.php

Switch CSS

Switch is a full featured, production ready CSS preprocessor. It runs under Apache with mod_python, or as an environment-agnostic command line tool.

Get it: http://sourceforge.net/projects/switchcss/

CSS Cacheer

CSS Cacheer is a very cool preprocessor which allows developers to create plugins. It requires PHP and Apache with mod_deflate and mod_rewrite in order to work.

Get it: http://retired.haveamint.com/archive/2008/05/30/check_out_css_cacheer

CSS Preprocessor

Another interesting preprocessor, written in PHP 5. Among other things, this tool allow you to use expressions such as margin-left: (200px * 3/2 – 10px); in your stylesheets.

Get it: http://pornel.net/css

DT CSS

DtCSS speeds up CSS coding by extending the features to CSS. Such as nested selectors, color mixing and more. DtCSS reads the CSS file with special syntax written for DtCSS, and outputs the standard CSS. It also comes with a smart caching system.

Get it: http://code.google.com/p/dtcss/

CSS PP

Unfortunely, CSS PP is still in alpha status, but the authors says the code will be released very soon. One of the good points of this projects is that it will be available in PHP, Python and Ruby. Great news for developpers who work with all of these languages.

Get it: http://csspp.org/

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8 CSS preprocessors to speed up development time