Set up a dynamic desktop

1 Create a folder

Open Finder and go to the Pictures folder in your home folder. Open the File menu and select ‘New Folder’. Create a folder and give it a descriptive name like ‘My Desktop’.

2 Find a photo

Open the Photos app and find one or more photographs that would look good as a desktop wallpaper. Select it and then go to File>export or Export Unmodified Original.

3 Your desktop

We will use just one photo, but you could use several images. If you do not have a photo you would like to use, browse the free images at online libraries like pixabay.com.

4 Copy the photo

If you are using just one image, select it, press cmd+c and then cmd+v to paste it. Make copies of the photo and rename them if necessary so that there is a numeric order.

5 Open in Preview

Double-click the first photo to open it in Preview and click Tools>adjust Colour. Dynamic desktop images change throughout the day, so use the tools to darken the image.

6 Dawn to dusk

Open each of the photos in Preview and use the controls to adjust each image to make it look like a time of the day, from dawn until dusk. This is a bright mid-day shot.

7 Choose a desktop

Open System Preferences and click ‘Desktop & Screen Saver’. Select the Desktop tab and the current desktop image will appear. We need to add our own folder of images.

8 Select the folder

To add a folder, click the ‘+’ icon at the bottom of the left column and then navigate to the folder containing the desktop images. Click the ‘Choose’ button to select it.

9 Test the desktop

Thumbnails are displayed after adding the folder. Tick the ‘Change picture’ box at the bottom and set it to ‘Every 5 seconds’ to test it. If it is OK, set the time to ‘Every hour’.