This one is for the Linux geeks in tha house. If that makes no sense to you, this grub bootsplash tutorial will make even less. With that caveat out of the way...
I've become tired of looking at my black and white, text based grub screen. Not that I have to reboot linux often but when I do (usually under the gaze of a client) I want something that reflects - in some small way - the quality of the computer operating system I'm about to boot into.
Truth be told, as a computer consultant I've had neccessity to boot my computer into any of the three operating systems that I keep at the ready in order to better diagnose my clients computer problems. I can currently triple boot between Linux Ubuntu 7.04 (aka "Feisty"), Windows Vista Ultimate 64 (aka "Grumpy") and Windows XP. Another month or so, I'll most likely add the beta of Ubuntu "Gutsy" 7.10 to the list.
Not very photogenic, but looks great in person
Looking around, I couldn't find any grub backgrounds that I liked. I wanted something simple but classy. Most of the ones that I've seen are either too basic, too busy or too dithered. Usually two out of the three. I figured it couldn't be all that hard. It turns out that it isn't. You just need to follow a few simple rules:
The fewer the colors the better the end result. The final product must be reduced 14 colors. The fewer colors you start with, the less you'll have to toss out later on.
Grayscale graphics and text on a solid color background looks great. People might
want to debate this with me, but they can just go write their own
how-to. You can try gradients for a background but they become very retro looking when reduced to CGA era color pallettes. ("CGA" - I think I just dated myself.)
Use a black border around your graphic, if possible. Having a consistent, thickish border around the other shades in the graphics means fewer transitional shades between the background color and the graphic(s) on top that will have to be tossed out later.
Keep to the edges of the screen, prefereably top and bottom. The text listing your operating system choices occupies the center of the screen, surrounded by a box, with instructional text below. I found that the top 45 or 40 pixels are a good place for text. The most free "white-space" for a logo or graphic is in the bottom right-hand corner of the image.
Use one of the colors in the graphic for the text. Again, the fewer colors used the fewer that will be tossed later.
If you have a widescreen monitor, stretch the logo and text vertically by about 15%. The grub bootsplash will be stretched horizontally onscreen distorting your graphic. In effect, a perfect square becomes a rectangle. By stretching vertically now it will be rendered onscreen proportionatly at boot time.
The final product must be 640 x 480 with 14 colors in .xpm format. The maximum number of colors should be 14. Why 14 instead of 16? No idea, but that's how it is.
Use a simple tool to install and manage your grub bootsplashes. I use "Start-up Manager ". It's a lot easier than editing the grub configuration by hand, with less room for error.
Examples:
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