Ultraspan

• Combined single-span wallpaper utility

Ultraspan is a command-line tool that aims to be a true workaround to the blurry wallpaper bug in Linux Mint Cinnamon when using multiple monitors.

It pre-renders the final image using ImageMagick, bypassing Cinnamon's caching and scaling.

Demo: https://youtu.be/hQV6NugUXEQ

Note- make sure to restart cinnamon or reboot after updating script

Features

• Spans a single image across all monitors

• Zoom, fit, and center modes

• Random rotation

• command-line interface

Requirements

• ImageMagick (convert, identify)

• xrandr - usually installed by default with x11

• gesettings

• sha1sum

• bc

Install dependencies

sudo apt install imagemagick x11-utils bc

Installation

1. Download Ultraspan script

   • click on ulstraspan script and go to the right of where it says raw then click download raw file

2. Move it to ~/.local/bin/

   • if you don't see .local right click and show hidden files

3. Make the script executable

   • Open a terminal by going to menu and searching terminal

   • Type and hit enter

     chmod +x ~/.local/bin/ultraspan
     

   • Then type

     ultraspan
     

to bring up help menu

How to use

Type in terminal: ultraspan COMMAND [arguments]

Commands

Command	Description
set IMAGE_PATH [MODE]	Set wallpaper from image file, optionally with a mode (zoom/fit/center).
mode [MODE]	Show or set default mode (zoom, fit, center).
bg-type [TYPE]	Show or set background type (blur, solid).
blur [0-100]	Show or set blur amount (default 15).
color [HEX]	Show or set solid background color (e.g., #000000).
random DIRECTORY [MODE]	Start random rotation from a folder of images.
random-stop	Stop the running random rotation.
random-status	Show status of random rotation.
interval [MINUTES]	Show or set random rotation interval (default 30).
list	List recent wallpapers and cached files.
status	Display current settings, monitor layout, and active random rotation.
info IMAGE_PATH	Show image details and preview dimensions for current monitor layout.
restore	Restore default system wallpaper (if found).
clean	Delete all cached wallpaper images.
help	Show this help message.

Examples

• Set a wallpaper with default mode (zoom)

  ultraspan set ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg
  

• Start random rotation every 15 minutes using center mode

  ultraspan random ~/Wallpapers center
  ultraspan interval 15
  

• Set with fit mode and solid background

  ultraspan set ~/Pictures/landscape.jpg fit
  
  ultraspan color "#3498db"
  

Set at start

In order for auto-refresh feature to persist past reboot you will need to add ultraspan to startup applications with a command.

1. menu>start up applications

2. hit the + (add) custom command

3. search for ultraspan in ~/.local/bin/ and then click open

4. You then need to add to the end of the command:

    refresh-start 180
   

   (eg. /bin/ultraspan refresh-start 180)

This will run the refresh command at launch and reapply current wallpaper every 3 hours (can change to users pref)

How it works

1. xrandr determines the total bounding box of all monitors

2. The source image is processed with ImageMagick

3. The resulting image is saved with a filename derived from the image hash, settings, and monitor dimensions.

4. gsettings tells Cinnamon to use this static file with picture-options=spanned.

5. Auto-refresh resets wallpaper at set time intervals just in case

Ultraspan cinnamon applet installation

Copy the ultraspan@hisovereign folder and place it in ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets

-Create a new folder in ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets and name it ultraspan@hisovereign

-download the applet.js and metadata.json and palce it in folder you made

-restart cinnamon (alt + F2, type r then hit enter) or restart pc

-Right-click on panel > click on applets> add ultraspan applet to panel

-Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt0MeMsr9tA

Acknowledgments

• Monitor geometry logic detection adaptaded from fade-monitors script