When you first purchase your cellphone, you probably notice that the display background looks pretty standard and not very exciting. At the very least, it would be nice to be able to put a more interesting background image, like a picture of a warm sandy beach or some ski slopes. Or, how about putting a picture of your girlfriend or favorite party shot? Well, the cellphone world has good news for you: you can do all of this using custom wallpapers. Custom wallpapers are simply small image files that you download onto your cellphone, and then you configure your cellphone to display the image as a background to your cellphone display.

The content of these wallpaper images is limited only by your imagination. You can put images that are very personal to you, like pictures of your friends or family, or you can put images that show off your tastes in music, movies, movie stars, favorite places, etc. basically, if it can be placed into an image the size of your cellphone display, then it can be loaded as a wallpaper into your phone.

So what format are the images? Well, this depends on the type of phone you have. And it should be stated that not every cellphone will support custom wallpapers, so check with your internet service provider to see what sort of wallpapers your phone supports. Once you discover what type of wallpapers your phone can download, you will need to know how to get the wallpapers onto your phone. Some phones will allow you to put your very own digital pictures onto your phone via a data cable. Again, contact your cellular service provider to see if this is possible with your cellphone.

But most of the time, it is a much easier option to download wallpapers from a large ringtone and wallpaper service. It is possible to buy individual wallpapers for anywhere between $1 and $3 each. But if you look around on the web, you can find some services that give you some free wallpapers to start with. You can also find some services that allow you to upload your own images through your web browser, and the service will convert the image into a wallpaper for your phone. But eventually, if you want to get a continuous supply of wallpapers, you will need to pay to get access.

For a small monthly fee you can download lots of wallpapers (and ringtones) to your cellphone. That way you can change your backgrounds to keep your phone fresh and to continually express your individuality to the outside world.

Marc Ilgen is a cellphone software publisher and developer and an expert in cellphone entertainment. His website KewlCell.com provides information on a terrific download program for ringtones.