So, I wanted a new look for my iPhone background lately. Got tired of the same old pictures. I was thinking something simple, kind of dark, but with a nice soft glow, like a halo effect, you know? Seemed cool.
First thing, I poked around online a bit. Typed in “halo iphone background” and stuff like that. Found some, yeah, but none really hit the spot. Some were too flashy, others too complicated, or just not the vibe I was going for. You know how it is, sometimes you just gotta make it yourself to get it right.
Getting Started
Alright, decided to give it a shot myself. Didn’t want to get into anything complex like Photoshop on the computer. Too much hassle. I figured I could probably do it right on my phone. I’ve got a couple of free photo editing apps installed, the kind that let you draw or add shapes. I picked one that seemed easy enough, one I’d used before for quick edits.
I needed a base first. I didn’t want a photo, just colors. A dark background makes the halo pop more, I thought. So, I started a new blank canvas in the app, sized it roughly for an iPhone screen. I went for a dark blue, almost black, but not quite. Maybe a very dark navy gradient, darker at the top.
Making the Halo Bit
Okay, the main part: the halo. How to get that soft glow?
- My first try was using the drawing tool. I picked a light color, maybe a soft gold or white, and tried drawing a circle with a really soft, fuzzy brush. Looked okay, but a bit shaky, my finger drawing wasn’t perfect. Didn’t look like a smooth halo.
- Second attempt. I thought, maybe adding a shape would be better. The app let me add circles. So I added a white circle where I wanted the glow. But it was just a hard circle, not a halo.
- Then I fiddled with the settings for that circle shape. Found a ‘feather’ or ‘blur’ option. Bingo! I cranked up the blur quite a bit. Now the sharp edges of the circle got all fuzzy and soft, spreading out. That looked much more like the soft glow I wanted.
Tweaking and Finishing
Getting the blur was key, but it still needed work. The first halo I made was too big, took up too much space. So I made the circle smaller before blurring it. Then I played with the color. Pure white felt a bit boring. I tried a pale yellow, a light blue, even a soft pinkish color. Settled on a kind of off-white, warmish glow. Looked nice against the dark blue.
I also moved it around. Centered? A bit higher? Lower? I thought about where the clock and widgets sit on the lock screen. Didn’t want the halo right behind the time, might make it hard to read. So I positioned it slightly lower down, maybe just off-center. Looked better there.
Important bit: I kept saving versions. You know, ‘halo_try1’, ‘halo_try2_blur’, ‘halo_final_maybe’. Helps to go back if you mess up.
Once I was pretty happy with how it looked in the editor, I saved the final version to my Photos. Then, the usual process: Settings > Wallpaper > Choose a New Wallpaper. Selected my creation, adjusted the positioning one last time on the preview screen, and set it for both Lock Screen and Home Screen.
And that was pretty much it! Took a bit of fiddling, maybe half an hour messing with the app, but got there in the end. Now I’ve got this custom, simple background with a nice soft halo effect. Feels more personal than just downloading one. Pretty pleased with how it turned out, actually. Might try making a few more with different background colors later.