Wallpaper Veil

A calmer desktop, with your photos still in view.

Wallpaper Veil is a small macOS utility for making photo wallpapers less distracting without replacing the photographs.

The same wallpaper, with less glare. Choose a veil colour and strength while keeping the original photograph in view. A separate setting synchronises brightness between a pair of displays.

Original photograph of a bird above a snowy mountain panorama
OriginalVeil off
The same snowy mountain photograph with a light black veil
A little quieterBlack · 20% strength
The same snowy mountain photograph with a stronger black veil
More subduedBlack · 50% strength
The same snowy mountain photograph under a warm custom colour veil
A warmer toneCustom colour #CBA16A · 30% strength

Illustrations of colour and transparency using my photography. The veil sits over the wallpaper; desktop items remain above it.

One adjustment. Two displays.

Adjust brightness on the primary display. The paired display follows automatically.

Illustrated primary display
Primary displayAdjust
Illustrated paired display following the primary brightness adjustment
Paired displayFollows automatically

Illustrated configured pair. Display brightness sync is separate from the wallpaper veil. Matching 50% values are an illustrative example.

Brightness sync requires native macOS brightness control. Third-party monitor support is not guaranteed.

Look for ◐ Veil in the menu bar.Menu-bar preview. The label changes to ○ Veil when the veil is off.

Quietly in the menu bar

Choose a colour and strength, or synchronise display brightness across a pair of displays. The controls stay close without taking over the desktop.

App settings and the repository are a few clicks away.

Main controls, simplified. Menu illustration.

From a small inconvenience to an app

I wanted to keep my rotating photos without letting the brightest images dominate the desktop. What began as a custom desktop setup now runs as a standalone menu-bar app, with its own controls, settings and identity.

Inside the experiment

  • Choose a tint colour and adjust its strength while keeping the wallpaper in view.

  • Save custom colours and switch the veil on or off from the menu bar.

  • Explore display-brightness synchronisation and optional desktop-widget controls.

Wallpaper Veil is an open-source work in progress under the MIT licence. Its standalone builds are previews, with compatibility and distribution still being refined. Follow the code, report an issue or contribute on GitHub.

View Wallpaper Veil on GitHub