How do you get pictures to look right as wallpapers, on an Android?

There's something about spring, don't you think? Everyone has their particular perception of the season, but spring makes me think sun and bright, long skirts and daisies. Of course that means it's time to update my Android's wallpaper, from the Dr. Seuss quotes page (Dr. Seuss' birthday was March 2nd) to fresh and beautiful daisies.

A few Androids allow you to set your wallpaper as locked, so that the image is repeated as you swipe between your homescreens; but most spread the image across all the screens, so you see just a portion on each, as demonstrated by my lovely daisies (Is there a more cheerful flower? I think daises are widely undervalued.). That means that the size of the photo you set as your wallpaper is important. You don't have to be precise, but you'll want the shape of your picture to be approximately right, because when you set it as the wallpaper it has to fit a fixed shape. You can determine the correct resolution yourself, by taking the display size of your screen (which can be found in any specs list), and doubling the second number. For example, the Nexus 4 screen size is 768 x 1280, so the wallpaper size is 1536 x 1280; the Samsung Galaxy S III screen size is 720 x 1280, making the wallpaper size 1440 x 1280. Googling "Nexus 4 wallpaper size" is also a viable option. While optimal images will be exactly that size, the issue is really just shape, so keep the ratio approximately right and your images should fit nicely.

If you are setting a picture already on your phone as the wallpaper, crop it to the approximately-correct shape, then either touch and hold or hit menu to bring up the Set picture as option. Choose Wallpaper, and then adjust the crop to your preference. Depending on the phone, you will see options like setting the picture as your lockscreen also, and scrolling or keeping the picture static. Hit OK and enjoy.

If you need to first get the picture from your computer to your phone, start by plugging your phone into your computer via micro USB. In the AutoPlay that comes up on your computer, click "Open device to view files." Right-click the folder DCIM, and create a new folder called Wallpapers. Next, locate the picture in your computer's Pictures folder (if it's not there yet, well then you'd best put it there), and then drag and drop it from its original location to the Wallpapers folder on your phone. Now proceed to set the picture as your wallpaper, from your phone.

If you found a picture in your phone's browser, or if perhaps the picture was sent to you in an email that you are viewing on your phone, you need to save it to your phone first. This will be done by either touching and holding, then hitting Save or Download, or else by opening the menu and hitting Save attachments. Now the picture will be in a Downloads folder, in your gallery, from which you can again set it as your wallpaper.