nitrogen

wallpaper browser and setter for X Window desktops

TLDR

Browse wallpapers from a directory

$ nitrogen [path/to/directory]

Set wallpaper with automatic sizing

$ nitrogen --set-auto [path/to/file]

Restore previous wallpaper

$ nitrogen --restore

Set wallpaper scaled to fit

$ nitrogen --set-scaled [path/to/file]

Set wallpaper centered

$ nitrogen --set-centered [path/to/file]

Set wallpaper tiled

$ nitrogen --set-tiled [path/to/file]

SYNOPSIS

nitrogen [--restore] [--set-auto|--set-scaled|--set-centered|--set-tiled|--set-zoom file] [directory]

nitrogen is a wallpaper browser and setter for X Window desktops. It provides a graphical interface for browsing and selecting wallpapers, with support for multiple monitor configurations.The tool saves wallpaper settings that can be restored on login using the --restore flag. It supports various scaling modes and works with Xinerama/RandR multi-monitor setups.

PARAMETERS

--restore

Restore previously set wallpaper

--set-auto _file_

Set wallpaper with automatic sizing

--set-scaled _file_

Set wallpaper scaled to fill screen

--set-centered _file_

Set wallpaper centered on screen

--set-tiled _file_

Set wallpaper tiled across screen

--set-zoom _file_

Set wallpaper zoomed to fill

--set-zoom-fill _file_

Set wallpaper zoomed and cropped to fill

--save

Save current settings

--head _n_

Set wallpaper on specific monitor (Xinerama)

INSTALL

sudo apt install nitrogen

sudo dnf install nitrogen

sudo zypper install nitrogen

nix profile install nixpkgs#nitrogen

CAVEATS

Only works with X Window System, not Wayland. Settings are stored in ~/.config/nitrogen/. For startup restoration, add "nitrogen --restore &" to autostart scripts.

HISTORY

nitrogen was developed as a lightweight wallpaper setter for window managers that don't include built-in wallpaper functionality. It is commonly used with tiling window managers like i3, bspwm, and openbox.