Summary
Do you publish desktops using Citrix XenDesktop or Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and restrict users from changing display settings via Group Policy? But your users still want the ability to change their desktop background or wallpaper?
Here’s a PowerShell-based method that restores flexibility by allowing users to upload their own background image or choose from three predefined default wallpapers.
Description
The PowerShell script, along with the required images, is stored in a subfolder within the Program Files directory. It can be launched via a Start Menu or desktop shortcut.
When executed, the script generates a user-friendly graphical interface that allows users to either upload their own background image or select from three predefined wallpapers.
You can find the complete script and image structure here:
SetWallpaper_20171004.
Script Features
-
- Three predefined wallpapers
Users can choose from three different built-in background images. - Upload custom wallpaper
Users can upload and set their own background image. - Automatic thumbnail generation
When a custom image is uploaded, the script automatically creates a base64-encoded thumbnail and stores it in the user’s roaming profile.
(Why base64? Images are locked while the PowerShell form is active, preventing modification or deletion. Using a base64 representation allows the thumbnail to be updated dynamically while the form is still open.) - File size limitation
Custom image uploads are restricted by a maximum file size defined in the script. - Graphical User Interface (GUI)
A user-friendly interface makes selecting or uploading wallpapers easy and intuitive. - Adaptive resolution
The script detects the current session’s screen resolution and selects the most suitable wallpaper version accordingly.
- Three predefined wallpapers
Simple and intuitive GUI
The graphical interface is clean, straightforward, and easy for users to navigate—no technical knowledge required.
OK, let’s get started…
Before using the PowerShell script, you’ll need to understand and define a few key variables. These variables determine the script’s behavior and resource locations:
$ProgramPath (script line 32)
Specifies the location of the PowerShell script.
(In this example, the script and image files are stored in the Program Files directory.)
$ProfilePath (script line 33)
Defines the path where user-uploaded wallpaper images and their generated base64 thumbnails will be saved.
$MaxFileLength (script line 34)
Sets the maximum allowed file size for uploaded images.
$WallpaperIcon (script line 37)
Specifies the filename of the icon displayed in the upper-left corner of the PowerShell GUI.
$WallpaperStyle (script line 38)
Determines how the wallpaper is displayed—either “Stretch” or “Center”.
$WallpaperPict1, $WallpaperPict2, $WallpaperPict3 (script lines 39–41)
Define the filenames of the three default wallpaper images available for user selection.
The PowerShell script
The script set your own uploaded or one of the three pre-defined background images/wallpaper on a Citrix published Desktop or Microsoft remote desktop.
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$img2 = [System.Drawing.Image]::Fromfile($wallpaper2); $img3 = [System.Drawing.Image]::Fromfile($wallpaper3); $form1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form $buttonupl = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonimg1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonimg2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonimg3 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonimgOwn = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $label1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label $label2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label $labelupl = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label $InitialFormWindowState = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState $FontFoot = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",7,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Regular) $labelFoot = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label #Import own image from base64 code and generate form object $base64ImageString = [IO.File]::ReadAllText("$ProfilePath\wallpaperownthumb.txt") $imageBytes = [Convert]::FromBase64String($base64ImageString) $ms = New-Object IO.MemoryStream($imageBytes, 0, $imageBytes.Length) $ms.Write($imageBytes, 0, $imageBytes.Length); $imgOwn = [System.Drawing.Image]::FromStream($ms, $true) #---------------------------------------------- # Call "set wallpaper" function #---------------------------------------------- #Define script blocks for function "set wallpaper" $ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI = { Add-Type @" using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using Microsoft.Win32; namespace Wallpaper { public enum Style : int { Tile, Center, Stretch, NoChange } public class Setter { public const int SetDesktopWallpaper = 20; public const int UpdateIniFile = 0x01; public const int SendWinIniChange = 0x02; [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true, CharSet = CharSet.Auto)] private static extern int SystemParametersInfo (int uAction, int uParam, string lpvParam, int fuWinIni); public static void SetWallpaper ( string path, Wallpaper.Style style ) { SystemParametersInfo( SetDesktopWallpaper, 0, path, UpdateIniFile | SendWinIniChange ); RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Control Panel\\Desktop", true); switch( style ) { case Style.Stretch : key.SetValue(@"WallpaperStyle", "2") ; key.SetValue(@"TileWallpaper", "0") ; break; case Style.Center : key.SetValue(@"WallpaperStyle", "1") ; key.SetValue(@"TileWallpaper", "0") ; break; case Style.Tile : key.SetValue(@"WallpaperStyle", "1") ; key.SetValue(@"TileWallpaper", "1") ; break; case Style.NoChange : break; } key.Close(); } } } "@ #End ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI } $ScriptBlockSetWallpaper = {param ($WallpaperPict) If ($CitrixDispHRes -lt 2561) { If ($CitrixDispHRes -lt 1921) { If ($CitrixDispHRes -lt 1681) { If ($CitrixDispHRes -lt 1441) { [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProgramPath\pict\$WallpaperPict"+"_1440_900.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) Write-Host "1440_900" } else { [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProgramPath\pict\$WallpaperPict"+"_1680_1050.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) Write-Host "1680_1050" } } else { [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProgramPath\pict\$WallpaperPict"+"_1920_1200.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) Write-Host "1920_1200" } } else { [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProgramPath\pict\$WallpaperPict"+"_2560_1440.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) Write-Host "2560_1440" } } else { [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProgramPath\pict\$WallpaperPict"+"_2560_1440.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) } #End ScriptBlockSetWallpaper } function wallpaperOwn { & $ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI [Wallpaper.Setter]::SetWallpaper( "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperOwn.jpg", $WallpaperStyle ) } function wallpaper1 { & $ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI & $ScriptBlockSetWallpaper -WallpaperPict $WallpaperPict1 } function wallpaper2 { & $ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI & $ScriptBlockSetWallpaper -WallpaperPict $WallpaperPict2 } function wallpaper3 { & $ScriptBlockWallpaperAPI & $ScriptBlockSetWallpaper -WallpaperPict $WallpaperPict3 } #---------------------------------------------- # Call "make thumb" function #---------------------------------------------- function makethumb { Param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][string]$InputFile, [string]$OutputFile, [int32]$Width, [int32]$Height, [int32]$Scale, [Switch]$Display) #Add system drawing assembly Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Drawing #Open image file $img = [System.Drawing.Image]::FromFile((Get-Item $InputFile)) #Define new resolution if($Width -gt 0) { [int32]$new_width = $Width } elseif($Scale -gt 0) { [int32]$new_width = $img.Width * ($Scale / 100) } else { [int32]$new_width = $img.Width / 2 } if($Height -gt 0) { [int32]$new_height = $Height } elseif($Scale -gt 0) { [int32]$new_height = $img.Height * ($Scale / 100) } else { [int32]$new_height = $img.Height / 2 } #Create empty canvas for the new image $img2 = New-Object System.Drawing.Bitmap($new_width, $new_height) #Draw new image on the empty canvas $graph = [System.Drawing.Graphics]::FromImage($img2) $graph.DrawImage($img, 0, 0, $new_width, $new_height) #Create window to display the new image if($Display) { Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms $win = New-Object Windows.Forms.Form $box = New-Object Windows.Forms.PictureBox $box.Width = $new_width $box.Height = $new_height $box.Image = $img2 $win.Controls.Add($box) $win.AutoSize = $true $win.ShowDialog() } #Save the image if($OutputFile -ne "") { $img2.Save($OutputFile); } } #---------------------------------------------- # Call "upload own wallpaper" function #---------------------------------------------- function wallpaperupload($initialDirectory) { #Remove previous image Remove-Item "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperOwn.jpg" -force Remove-Item "$ProfilePath\wallpaperownthumb.txt" -force #Create new file dialog $OpenFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog $OpenFileDialog.initialDirectory = $initialDirectory $OpenFileDialog.filter = “All files (*.jpg)| *.jpg” $OpenFileDialog.ShowDialog() | Out-Null $OpenFileDialog.filename $Fileuplname = $OpenFileDialog.filename #Open walpaperupload handle and check file length if ((Get-Item $Fileuplname).length -lt $MaxFileLength) { Copy-Item "$Fileuplname" -Destination "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperOwn.jpg" makethumb -InputFile "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperOwn.jpg" -Width $ThumbHeight -Height $ThumbLength -OutputFile "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperThumbOwn" [convert]::ToBase64String((Get-Content "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperThumbOwn" -Encoding byte))>>"$ProfilePath\wallpaperownthumb.txt" Remove-Item "$ProfilePath\$WallpaperThumbOwn" -force } else { Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationCore,PresentationFramework [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("The file size exceeds the maximum size of 1MB.","File size exceeded",0,[System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon]::Error) } $form1.Dispose() GenerateForm } #---------------------------------------------- # Call "form functions" from button click #---------------------------------------------- #Call funtion from ButtonUpload $handler_buttonupl_Click= ${function:wallpaperupload} { #Call funtion from ButtonOwn } $handler_buttonOwn_Click= ${function:wallpaperOwn} { #Call funtion from Button1 } $handler_button1_Click= ${function:wallpaper1} { #Call funtion from Button2 } $handler_button2_Click= ${function:wallpaper2} { #Call funtion from Button3 } $handler_button3_Click= ${function:wallpaper3} { } #---------------------------------------------- # Form code to generate gui #---------------------------------------------- $System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_Size.Height = 373 $System_Drawing_Size.Width = 516 $form1.Icon = $Icon $form1.Font = $Font $form1.ClientSize = $System_Drawing_Size $form1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $form1.Name = "form1" $form1.Text = "Set Wallpaper" $form1.FormBorderStyle = "Fixed3D" $labelHead.Text = "To set a wallpaper on your published Desktop, choose a default wallpaper or upload your own wallpaper." $labelHead.Location = "15, 15" $labelHead.Height = 45 $labelHead.Width = 330 $buttonupl.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $buttonupl.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",12,1,3,1) $buttonimgOwn.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $buttonimgOwn.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",12,1,3,1) $buttonimg1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $buttonimg1.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",12,1,3,1) $buttonimg2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $buttonimg2.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",12,1,3,1) $buttonimg3.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0 $buttonimg3.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font("Microsoft Sans Serif",12,1,3,1) $System_Drawing_Upload = New-Object System.Drawing.Point $System_Drawing_Upload.X = 15 $System_Drawing_Upload.Y = 65 $buttonupl.Location = $System_Drawing_Upload $buttonupl.Name = "Wallpaper1" $System_Drawing_Upload = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_Upload.Height = 49 $System_Drawing_Upload.Width = 152 $buttonupl.Size = $System_Drawing_Upload $buttonupl.TabIndex = 0 $buttonupl.Text = "Upload..." $buttonupl.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True $buttonupl.add_Click($handler_buttonupl_Click) $labelupl.Text = "Max file size: 1MB" $labelupl.Location = "15, 128" $labelupl.Height = 20 $labelupl.Width = 250 $label1.Text = "Citrix Session Resolution: $CitrixDispHRes/$CitrixDispVRes" $label1.Location = "15, 143" $label1.Height = 20 $label1.Width = 250 $System_Drawing_PointOwn = New-Object System.Drawing.Point $System_Drawing_PointOwn.X = 350 $System_Drawing_PointOwn.Y = 128 $buttonimgOwn.Location = $System_Drawing_PointOwn $buttonimgOwn.Name = "Wallpaper1" $System_Drawing_SizeOwn = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_SizeOwn.Height = 49 $System_Drawing_SizeOwn.Width = 152 $buttonimgOwn.Size = $System_Drawing_SizeOwn $buttonimgOwn.TabIndex = 0 $buttonimgOwn.Text = "Own Wallpaper" $buttonimgOwn.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True $buttonimgOwn.add_Click($handler_buttonOwn_Click) $pictureBoxOwn = new-object Windows.Forms.PictureBox $pictureBoxOwn.Location = "350, 15" $pictureBoxOwn.Height = 95 $pictureBoxOwn.Width = 152 $pictureBoxOwn.Image = $imgOwn; $pictureBox1 = new-object Windows.Forms.PictureBox $pictureBox1.Location = "15, 189" $pictureBox1.Height = $img1.Size.Height $pictureBox1.Width = $img1.Size.Width $pictureBox1.Image = $img1 $System_Drawing_Point1 = New-Object System.Drawing.Point $System_Drawing_Point1.X = 15 $System_Drawing_Point1.Y = 302 $buttonimg1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point1 $buttonimg1.Name = "Wallpaper1" $System_Drawing_Size1 = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_Size1.Height = 49 $System_Drawing_Size1.Width = 152 $buttonimg1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size1 $buttonimg1.TabIndex = 0 $buttonimg1.Text = "Wallpaper Citrix" $buttonimg1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True $buttonimg1.add_Click($handler_button1_Click) $pictureBox2 = new-object Windows.Forms.PictureBox $pictureBox2.Location = "182, 189" $pictureBox2.Height = $img2.Size.Height $pictureBox2.Width = $img2.Size.Width $pictureBox2.Image = $img2 $System_Drawing_Point2= New-Object System.Drawing.Point $System_Drawing_Point2.X = 182 $System_Drawing_Point2.Y = 302 $buttonimg2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point2 $buttonimg2.Name = "Wallpaper2" $System_Drawing_Size2 = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_Size2.Height = 49 $System_Drawing_Size2.Width = 152 $buttonimg2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size2 $buttonimg2.TabIndex = 0 $buttonimg2.Text = "Wallpaper fresh-it" $buttonimg2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True $buttonimg2.add_Click($handler_button2_Click) $pictureBox3 = new-object Windows.Forms.PictureBox $pictureBox3.Location = "350, 189" $pictureBox3.Height = $img3.Size.Height $pictureBox3.Width = $img3.Size.Width $pictureBox3.Image = $img3 $System_Drawing_Point3= New-Object System.Drawing.Point $System_Drawing_Point3.X = 350 $System_Drawing_Point3.Y = 302 $buttonimg3.Location = $System_Drawing_Point3 $buttonimg3.Name = "Wallpaper3" $System_Drawing_Size3 = New-Object System.Drawing.Size $System_Drawing_Size3.Height = 49 $System_Drawing_Size3.Width = 152 $buttonimg3.Size = $System_Drawing_Size3 $buttonimg3.TabIndex = 0 $buttonimg3.Text = "Wallpaper fresh-it-Logo" $buttonimg3.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True $buttonimg3.add_Click($handler_button3_Click) $labelFoot.Font = $FontFoot $labelFoot.Text = "fresh-it.info (c) | support@fresh-it.info | Ver. 1.3/roe" $labelFoot.Location = "15, 355" $labelFoot.Height = 40 $labelFoot.Width = 250 $form1.Controls.Add($labelHead) $form1.Controls.Add($label1) $form1.Controls.Add($buttonupl) $form1.Controls.Add($labelupl) $form1.Controls.Add($buttonimgOwn) $form1.Controls.Add($pictureBox1) $form1.Controls.Add($pictureBox2) $form1.Controls.Add($pictureBox3) $form1.Controls.Add($pictureBoxOwn) $form1.Controls.Add($buttonimg1) $form1.Controls.Add($buttonimg2) $form1.Controls.Add($buttonimg3) $form1.Controls.Add($labelFoot) #Save state of the form $InitialFormWindowState = $form1.WindowState #Correct OnLoad event to correct form state $form1.add_Load($form1_StateCorrection_Load) #Display defined form return $form1.ShowDialog() } #Call function GenerateForm if(OnApplicationLoad -eq $true) { GenerateForm | Out-Null OnApplicationExit } #################################################################################### |



















