All About Tumblr Backgrounds
The reason way I love Tumblr as a content management system because of how simple it is to use and customize. One of the easiest ways to spruce up your current Tumblr template is to change your Tumblr background image. Easy enough, right? So today’s post is dedicated to helping you find some cool Tumblr backgrounds and show you how to install it.
Why Should I Change My Background?
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of Tumblr templates available online and the best way to set your tumblog apart from all the rest is by changing your Tumblr background. A new background image can easily add a bright and interesting look to your Tumblr template without much effort.
200+ Free Tumblr Backgrounds
Here I have complied a list of more than 200 hundred free Tumblr backgrounds which can be downloaded and installed into your theme within minutes.
GypsyGarden (1 pattern)
Pattern 2 (14 patterns)
Patterns 2 (6 patterns)
Textured Stripes (6 patterns)
Photoshop Pattern (4 patterns)
Pattern Part1 (9 patterns)
Patterns .24 (33 patterns)
Lace Patterns: the prelude (6 patterns)
Untitled patterns 03 (12 patterns)
Patterns .23 (33 patterns)
Green Patterns (6 patterns)
Patterns .27 (50 patterns)
Patterns 3 (6 patterns)
Softly Plaidly- Peachy Keen (11 patterns)
Black – White patterns (13 patterns)
PINKgossip_04 patterns (13 patterns)
Additional Tumblr Background Image Resources
- Over 1,002,864 user-created seamless patterns from Colour Lovers
- 1000+ Free Background Patterns
- Background Pattern Designs from Behance
- 100+ Seamless Patterns Great for Creating Website Backgrounds
How to Change a Tumblr Background
Now that you have picked out your new Tumblr background and downloaded it to your local computer, it’s time to add it to your theme. There are two ways to add a background to your Tumblr theme. I will discuss them both below.
Option 1: Appearance Panel
If you can add a new background through your Tumblr Customize > Appearance Panel choose this option.
- Login into your Tumblr account and click CUSTOMIZE in the right side of your dashboard.
- When the customization section opens, click APPEARANCE at the top of the page.
- When the panel opens you simply click the UPLOAD button to select your theme from your local computer and you’re done! If you have the option for repeating your background choose “repeat-y” if you pattern needs to repeat vertically (from top to bottom). Select “repeat-x”, if you background need to repeat horizontally (from left to right). Choose “repeat-xy”, if you image needs to repeat both vertically and horizontally. You can also choose “no-repeat”, if you have a really large background image that doesn’t need to be repeated.
Option 2: Hand-coding Custom HTML
Use this option if you do not have the Tumblr Appearance Panel available with your theme.
- Login into your Tumblr account
- You will need to upload your new background image onto Tumblr’s Static Image Server
- After uploading your file, make note of your image url. You can copy it to NotePad or SimpleText for safe keeping.
- Return to your Tumblr Dashboard and click CUSTOMIZE in the right side of your dashboard.
- Select THEME from the top menu.Click the USE CUSTOM HTML buttonLook for the BODY tags. This is the code we will be editing. (Your coding won’t be exactly like this, so you should look for something similar near the top of the code.)
body { background: #f8f7e5 url(wdw-bg.jpg) no-repeat center top }
- Paste your image url into the CSS
body { background: #f8f7e5 url(http://safe.tumblr.com/theme/3383425/) no-repeat center top } - You may need to adjust your background image by changing your background color and whether it repeats or not.
body { background: #f8f7e5 url(http://safe.tumblr.com/theme/3383425/) no-repeat center top }Choose “repeat-y” if you pattern needs to repeat vertically (from top to bottom). Select “repeat-x”, if you background need to repeat horizontally (from left to right). Choose “repeat-xy”, if you image needs to repeat both vertically and horizontally. You can also choose “no-repeat”, if you have a really large background image that doesn’t need to be repeated.
- Click the UPDATE PREVIEW button in order to see your changes.
- If you are satisfied with the results click the green SAVE & CLOSE button at the top right of the page.
- Your Done!
Additional Resources
Free WordPress Themes for Download
This has been a hectic year and yet I have loved every minute of it. The sole purpose of this blog was to give back all the knowledge I acquired through the years as a web designer, for free. With that in mind I decided to collect some of my favorite Wordpres themes and have them available for download directly from my site.
As a designer, I come across hundreds of free quality themes and it’s only fair I pass them along to my readers. So download and enjoy! Check out the Free Templates section and let me know if you have any problems.
Currently there are only WordPress templates available, but I will be adding free Joomla, Blogger and Tumblr themes soon.
Free High Quality Photos from PicApp
While visiting one of my favorite sites Lost Ball in High Weeds, I learned about a new site that has high quality photos to spruce up your website, called PicApp. I’m always interested in giving my readers access to valuable freebies for website building, so I immediately took a look and was pleasantly surprised. They have some of the best quality photos online, by far and they are all for FREE!
No more “borrowing” images from your favorite blogs. Now you have access to the same great photos they do without the risk of copyright infringement.
From the PicApp website:
Add the best news and stock photos to your blog.
Picapp is all about more opportunities and choices:
Where You– the publisher get access to millions of premium, legal images, updated by the minute and can use them in your posts- for free!
Where You– content owner enjoys this innovative yet monitored distribution channel to reach new users and increase revenue
Where You– advertiser reaches targeted, well segmented audience and access to premium ad inventory
A true Win-Win.
We have over 20 million premium images, editorial and creative, covering any imaginable category—from news, sports, to celebrity, travel fashion and more.
Our content partners include Getty Images, Corbis, Splash News, Pacific Coast News, Newscom, Image Source and more. We support the largest blog platforms: WordPress, Blogger, TypePad and more.
What’s also great about PicApp is that they already have a super cool WordPress plugin, which allows website owners to easily add photos to their websites or blogs directly from the PicApp database.
Here are a few video videos to get you started with using their service.
How to Use the PicApp WordPress Plugin
How to Search for Images on the PicApp Website
In addition to the WordPress Plugin, they also have a PicApp Toolbar which enables you to search for free images from your Firefox browser.
Try them out and let me know what you think! This is a definite add to my recommendations page.
