Pixel Soup

Where is the app after I open it?

Pixel Soup lives in the menu bar (the pixel bowl) and has no Dock icon. It also puts a small circle on the left edge of your screen, the ladle. Click the circle for quick actions, and click again to open the editor. You can move it to the right edge from the menu bar icon.

How do I make a wallpaper?

• Open the editor from the circle or the menu bar icon.
• Pick a shape, then a palette on Color and a dither style on Dither. The preview is a draft until you press Apply.
• Choose Still for a desktop picture, or Animated for a wallpaper that moves slowly behind your icons.

Can I use my own photo?

Yes. Pick the Image tile and choose a photo. Pixel Soup copies it into its own folder so the wallpaper keeps working after you move or delete the original. JPEG, PNG and HEIC all work. From photo on the Color tab reads a photo's main colours into a palette of your own.

What is Fresh Bowl?

A new wallpaper on its own, every hour or every day. Turn it on or off from the menu bar icon under Fresh Bowl. Previous Wallpaper brings back the one before.

Does the animated wallpaper use much battery?

It is drawn by your Mac's graphics chip at a low frame rate, pauses when windows cover the desktop, and slows down further in Low Power Mode. If you want no animation at all, choose Still; it costs nothing once applied.

How do I save a wallpaper as an image?

In the editor, press the download button next to Shuffle and choose a size: this display, 6K, iPhone or square. The PNG is saved where you choose.

How do I get my old wallpaper back?

Choose it in System Settings › Wallpaper. To stop Pixel Soup changing it again, set Fresh Bowl to Never or quit the app from its menu.

Something is broken

• Email [email protected] with what happened, a screenshot if you can, and which Mac and macOS version you are on.
• Requests are welcome, especially shapes, palettes and dither styles you wish were in the pot.