Couple photoshop q's

i have a 14" widescreen on my laptop. what do i photochop the dimensions of a photo to so it wont stretch (to use as a desktop). also, how do i do that, considering when I change the height it automatically changes the length?

also, is there a way to sharpen photographs?

I’m not sure what size you use for a desktop. When you go into image > image size, just uncheck the box that says “constrain proportions” and it will let you adjust height, width independently. For sharpening, the best I can suggest is go to filter > sharpen, but it rarely makes it look much better.

what is your resolution on the desktop?

Werd to what Jrex said… about the shapening, I believe there are plugins that do a pretty good job (you’ll have to buy them most likely though)… I seen a few in a photography magazine and it looked pretty good between the before and after shots.

other than that, not sure what to tell ya… sometimes adjusting the brightness and contrast of the image will help with that

very important! you can have a 30-inch horizontal monitor and still have 320x240 resolution (which is pretty dumb, but some people might do it…lol) or you can have a 17-inch diagonal and have 1280x1024 (which is decent)

easiest way to check the settings: right-click on the desktop, click properties, and click the settings tab. You can see your resolution there. And THAT’S the size of the photo you want for your wallpaper if you don’t want to stretch it.