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This guide is for Fireworks. It may also apply to other programs, but the steps will be different.
When making custom wallpapers for Sakura, you have to take into consideration that the DS screen can only display 262,144 colours. That means that most images will look like an 8-bit bitmap. Most 8-bit images (especially the ones that use gradients) look very bad. But, there is a way to improve the quality of these wallpapers greatly. It's called dithering, and it's something your going to need when making wallpapers for your DS.
How to enable dithering
This will lead you though the steps to enable dithering in Fireworks which is a program commonly used to design wallpapers and websites.
To enable dithering, you first need to save your image as an 8-bit BMP file. Once you have opened your image, click on Save As under the File menu and select BMP from the drop-down Save as type list. After you have done that, press the Options... button to bring up another window. The window should contain a preview of your image as well as various controls on the left hand side.
In the top-left corner, there should be another drop down list that should currently say BMP24. Click on it and select BMP8. Make sure the colour table is set to Adaptive. The preview should show you something like this:
As you can see, it looks pretty bad. That's why we need to enable dithering. Under BMP8 there should be a check box that says Dithering. Enable it, and make sure it is set to 100%. You should end up with something like this:
Much nicer, and, best of all, it'll look just like that on the DS screen. It's also still an 8-bit BMP. So now you can click OK and save your image wherever you want. Put it onto your card, open it with Sakura, and press START. A loading bar should come up, and once it is finished you will have your custom wallpaper.
Do not convert it to any other format, otherwise the dithering will be negated.
When making custom wallpapers for Sakura, you have to take into consideration that the DS screen can only display 262,144 colours. That means that most images will look like an 8-bit bitmap. Most 8-bit images (especially the ones that use gradients) look very bad. But, there is a way to improve the quality of these wallpapers greatly. It's called dithering, and it's something your going to need when making wallpapers for your DS.
How to enable dithering
This will lead you though the steps to enable dithering in Fireworks which is a program commonly used to design wallpapers and websites.
To enable dithering, you first need to save your image as an 8-bit BMP file. Once you have opened your image, click on Save As under the File menu and select BMP from the drop-down Save as type list. After you have done that, press the Options... button to bring up another window. The window should contain a preview of your image as well as various controls on the left hand side.
In the top-left corner, there should be another drop down list that should currently say BMP24. Click on it and select BMP8. Make sure the colour table is set to Adaptive. The preview should show you something like this:
As you can see, it looks pretty bad. That's why we need to enable dithering. Under BMP8 there should be a check box that says Dithering. Enable it, and make sure it is set to 100%. You should end up with something like this:
Much nicer, and, best of all, it'll look just like that on the DS screen. It's also still an 8-bit BMP. So now you can click OK and save your image wherever you want. Put it onto your card, open it with Sakura, and press START. A loading bar should come up, and once it is finished you will have your custom wallpaper.
Do not convert it to any other format, otherwise the dithering will be negated.
