How to find desktop background image file

Question

How to find desktop background image file

I am preparing an old PowerBook G4 laptop to be sold. I had previously lent it to a friend and I am selling it to another friend. The friend to whom I lent it asked me for the desktop image file so he can use it as his desktop on the Mac he owns.

I shot that photo years ago and I can't find the original .jpg for it, so I am hoping that I can find the desktop version of it before I finish preparing my PowerBook for sale. I have searched everywhere, but that image file does not show up on the PowerBook.

I figure that since I can see the photo when I am logged in, it must be somewhere, but where? I originally had it in iPhoto, but it was deleted from there at least two years ago. This PowerBook only has one account, so there's not a lot of places to look through.

If anyone has any pointers on how to find an image file on a PowerBook running Mac OS X 10.4.11, please let me know.

Dual Processor 2.5GHz G5, 15-inch MacBook Pro 1.83GHz, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Jul 7, 2008 3:50 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 7, 2008 12:04 PM in response to Stanley Horwitz

HI Stanely,

Try going to System Preferences/Desktop&ScreenSaver. Click the Desktop tab. Now, go thru the folders listed there to see if the image shows up there. If it does, then go to Spotlight and type in the name of the folder where the image was. Spotlight will populate a list for you. At the top of the list click where it says: Show All. A pane will open. Look for the folder, then on the right click the little white circle with an "i" in it. That will give you the path to find the folder where the image resides.

You can search Spotlight by typing in these extensions: jpg tiff png pict gif bmp psp that's another way to search for an image.

Also, open a Finder window and look in the Sidebar on the left. Click where it says: Pictures. Might be in there also.

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 2

Jul 7, 2008 7:06 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carolyn for your help. I checked everywhere you suggested, but I came up empty handed. I spent the better part of an hour looking for that missing .jpg image tonight, but nothing turned up. I am marking this question solved only because I have spent enough time on it, so I will chalk it up to one of life's little mysteries.

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Answer 3

iBod

Level 7

29,351 points

Jul 8, 2008 1:35 AM in response to Stanley Horwitz

Hi,

I'm not on a Mac to verify this, but I believe it's cached somewhere under the Home > Library > Caches folder. However, it's not cached as the raw file type, but specifically as a cache structure file so searching for jpg/png/tiff/etc. won't reveal it.

Your simplest solution is probably to just remove all the icons from the Desktop, hide the Dock take a screenshot (shift command3) and then trim off the menu bar in a graphics program. 🙂

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