Windows 8 Phone Tip and Trick: Custom lock screen photo

Each of us have our own unique sense of style. We customize our phones to match our style with ringtones, cases and wallpapers. Today I am going to show you how to make your own wallpaper for your Windows 8 phone. If you are handy with photoshop this will be a breeze along with newbies.044

As much as I love cupcakes, this lock screen image just isn’t going to do it for me. I need something else like the background picture for www.somegadgetguy.com banner! Take a sip of coffee and let’s get started!

Step 1: You will need a pc or mac with photoshop or a photo editing software. Today I will be using photoshop.

Step 2: Take a screen shot of your lock screen by pressing the on and off button and pressing the windows logo at the same time. If successful you will see “Saving to screen shots” at the top of your screen.

Step 3: Upload your screen shot then open photoshop or the other software you will be using.

Step 4: When you have photoshop up and running open the folder where you saved the screen shot. Open the picture and find the image size. In photoshop if you right click you will see the image size. My phone is the Nokia Lumia 521 so the image size will be 480 X 800 *Note: Your screen size will vary*Capture

Step 5: In photoshop go to the menu bar and select file and when the drop box appears choose new. When the image size box appears type in the size of the screen shot.Capture6

Step 6: As you can see in this screen shot of the picture I will be using the dimensions are a little bit too large for my liking. This is a simple fix. Right click on the image and change the Height dimension to 800 or the height of the lock screen dimension of your screen shot from your phone.and make sure the check box for constrained proportions is marked so the image will remain in proportionCapture7

Step 7:  After adjusting the image size, slide the picture over into the new template. Once you have made your adjustment to where you like it, you can throw in some text and effects to jazz it up a bit. In this screen shot I added text with an outer glow.Capture5

Step 8: Save your new lock screen picture in a PSD format just in case you would like to edit it later down the road. Then save the same picture as a JPEG file.

Step 9: Plug your phone into your computer and drag the file to your phone so you can access it.

Step 10: Go to settings, lock screen, change photo, select your new photo and click the check mark button on the screen. You are done!

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That is pretty much it! I now have a pretty cool www.somegadgetguy.com lock screen photo for my Windows 8 phone!

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acxphotoChristopher Trimble is a voice over artist, graphic designer and logistics expert currently residing in sunny Orlando Florida. He is currently producing and narrating an audiobook while exploring the boundaries of tech gear.

You can find Chris on Twitter, Instagram and his Official site.