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Did you know you can install high-quality animated wallpapers on your PC without paying outrageous amounts or risking malware? And on top of that, did you know you can change these wallpapers to minor details? Indeed, all this is possible with the Wallpaper Engine app, available on Steam.

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In short, the Wallpaper Engine app runs animated wallpapers on top of your default desktop wallpaper. Users can download and install wallpapers through the app with one button click and change their properties via slider settings. Eager to learn more? We'll show you how it works!

Where Can I Find Wallpaper Engine?

The Wallpaper Engine page in the Steam Store.

You can access Wallpaper Engine through the Steam Store. Furthermore, the app is the first result when you type "Wallpaper Engine" in the search bar. You can also manually browse the store for the app. In this case, you'll find Wallpaper Engine in the Software section of the store, under the Utilities category.

There is a small fee to purchase the Wallpaper Engine app. When writing this article, the price is four dollars USD.

How To Subscribe To A Wallpaper

Wallpaper Engine's Workshop page, featuring the Akuma | Tekken 7 wallpaper by Nikosen.
Akuma | Tekken 7 Wallpaper by Nikosen.

Once you download and install the Wallpaper Engine app, you can start browsing its massive catalog. There are three sections to peruse:

  • Installed: These are wallpapers you have installed on the app. In addition, you'll find some pre-installed wallpapers ready to go.
  • Discover: This section showcases some of the newest and most popular wallpaper creations. For instance, you'll find featured creators and collections based on different themes, such as the best wallpapers for mobile devices, etc.
  • Workshop: This section contains all of the user-created wallpapers included in Wallpaper Engine's catalog. If there is a specific wallpaper you're looking for, you can search for it here.

When you find a wallpaper you're interested in, click on it. A tab on the right side of the page will list details such as the creator, user score, file size, and other features offered by this wallpaper. Finally, click the Subscribe button to download the wallpaper for your desktop.

Wallpaper Settings

The Akuma | Tekken 7 Wallpaper gets shifted to a greenish hue in Wallpaper Engine.
Akuma | Tekken 7 Wallpaper by Nikosen.

One of the most excellent parts of Wallpaper Engine is that it allows you to customize various aspects of your wallpaper. After subscribing to a new wallpaper, scroll down the right tab to the Properties section. Here, you can change wallpaper properties such as:

  • Scheme Color: The accent colors used for windows, the start bar, dialog boxes, etc.
  • Volume: If the wallpaper has sound, this setting adjusts its volume.
  • Playback Rate: This option changes the speed at which animated wallpapers playback.
  • Alignment: This trait dictates how the wallpaper aligns with the monitor. Options include Cover, Fill, Center, Stretch, and Free.
  • Position: This option changes the position of the wallpaper on the monitor. With free alignment enabled, users can adjust the position vertically, horizontally, and by the amount of zoom.
  • Color Options: These settings adjust various wallpaper color traits, including:
    • Brightness: The amount of light reflected in the wallpaper. Brightness affects the darkest parts of the wallpaper.
    • Contrast: The contrast in luminance between the darkest darks and lightest lights. Contrast primarily affects the brightest parts of the wallpaper.
    • Saturation: This setting adjusts how intense the wallpaper's colors are.
    • Hue: This setting shifts the wallpaper's colors.

Once you've tailored the settings to your preferences, you can save these settings to a preset. However, if you wish to apply these settings to this wallpaper only, you can click OK, and you will exit the app. Lastly, pressing Reset will revert the wallpaper to its default settings.

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