Western Background Generator
Make a western background: red rock mesas and buttes at sunset, a desert day with cacti, golden-hour buttes, sunset plains, cactus silhouettes at dusk, a starry desert night, or rustic wood planks with painted stars and a rope border. Pick a preset or set your own: the scene, how many mesas and buttes, how many cacti, the scrub on the ground, how much the far rocks fade into the haze, the time of day, the clouds, the sun, the moon and the stars; for the wood: the wood, the plank direction and the painted stars. Every picture comes from a seed number: the same seed and size always give the same picture, and New seed gives you a new desert. Choose desktop, 4K, phone, a 16:9 video-call background (for Zoom, Teams or Meet), tablet, square, banner or your own size up to 4096 pixels. It is artwork drawn by our code, not a photograph. Download a PNG or JPG, or a PDF to print. Nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
The preview is the same picture drawn smaller. PNG and JPG download at the full size; the PDF fits the picture on one page.
Picture
Desert
Sky
Wood
Finish
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing you type is uploaded or saved. Every mesa, cactus, plank and star is drawn by our own code from the seed; it is artwork, not a photograph. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a western background
- Pick a preset: mesas at sunset, buttes, desert day, starry desert night, sunset plains, wood planks and more.
- Choose the scene: mesas and buttes, open plains or wood planks.
- Set how many mesas, buttes and cacti, and the scrub on the ground; press New seed for a new desert.
- Choose the time of day, the clouds, the sun, the moon and the stars.
- For wood: pick the wood, the plank direction and the painted stars; add a rope border to any scene.
- Choose a size and download the PNG or JPG, or the print PDF.
What you can use it for
- Party and event invitations, signs and banners
- Desktop and phone wallpapers
- Video-call backgrounds
- Slides, posters and book covers
- Social posts and photo-booth backdrops
- Game and video backdrops
The 14 presets
| Preset | Scene | Time of day | What is in it | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesas at sunset | Mesas and buttes | Sunset | 5 mesas and buttes, 4 cacti | 1920 × 1080 |
| Buttes at golden hour | Mesas and buttes | Golden hour | 4 mesas and buttes, 3 cacti | 1920 × 1080 |
| Red rock desert day | Mesas and buttes | Clear day | 6 mesas and buttes, 6 cacti | 1920 × 1080 |
| Starry desert night | Mesas and buttes | Starry night | 4 mesas and buttes, 3 cacti, 1,100 stars, moon | 1920 × 1080 |
| Sunset plains | Open plains | Sunset | 2 mesas and buttes, 5 cacti | 1920 × 1080 |
| Cactus silhouettes at dusk | Open plains | Dusk (blue hour) | 1 mesa or butte, 9 cacti, 120 stars | 1920 × 1080 |
| Moonlit mesas | Mesas and buttes | Dusk (blue hour) | 5 mesas and buttes, 2 cacti, 300 stars, moon | 1920 × 1080 |
| Wood planks and stars | Wood planks (rustic) | – | Grey barn boards, 7 painted stars | 1920 × 1080 |
| Barn wood with rope border | Wood planks (rustic) | – | Red barn paint, one big star, rope border | 1920 × 1080 |
| Dark planks, gold stars | Wood planks (rustic) | – | Dark walnut, 14 painted stars | 1920 × 1080 |
| Golden plains in a rope frame | Open plains | Golden hour | 2 mesas and buttes, 4 cacti, rope border | 1920 × 1080 |
| Video call: soft desert day | Mesas and buttes | Clear day | 4 mesas and buttes, 2 cacti | 1920 × 1080 |
| Phone wallpaper: desert night | Mesas and buttes | Starry night | 3 mesas and buttes, 3 cacti, 900 stars, moon | 1170 × 2532 |
| 4K sunset mesas | Mesas and buttes | Sunset | 6 mesas and buttes, 5 cacti | 3840 × 2160 |
Worked out by the tool.
Sizes
| Size | Pixels | Width ÷ height |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | 1170 × 2532 | 0.462 |
| Desktop | 1920 × 1080 | 1.778 |
| 4K | 3840 × 2160 | 1.778 |
| Video call background | 1920 × 1080 | 1.778 |
| Tablet | 2048 × 2732 | 0.750 |
| Square | 2048 × 2048 | 1.000 |
| Banner | 1500 × 500 | 3.000 |
Every size is drawn at its own pixels, not stretched.
Mesas and buttes
| Shape | Width ÷ height | In the presets | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa | 1.26 to 3.92 | 23 | Wide flat top, cliffs, a long apron of fallen rock |
| Butte | 0.23 to 0.68 | 19 | Narrow flat top, tall cliffs |
Worked out by the tool from every mesa and butte in the presets (each counted at its own preset size).
How the far rocks fade
| Layer (far to near) | Mixed towards the haze | Colour | Brightness (0–255) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distant range | 82 % | #c27c77 | 138 |
| Butte 1 | 64 % | #c07268 | 130 |
| Mesa 2 | 46 % | #b46359 | 116 |
| Mesa 3 | 33 % | #ab584e | 105 |
| Butte 4 | 16 % | #9f4b40 | 92 |
| Mesa 5 | 9 % | #9b453a | 87 |
Worked out by the tool for the Mesas at sunset preset: the distant range first, then every mesa and butte from far to near.
The 5 woods
| Wood | Plank colour | Painted star colour |
|---|---|---|
| Grey barn boards | #8a7a68 | #f2e6cf |
| Honey pine | #c08a4e | #7a1f1a |
| Dark walnut | #4a3020 | #d9a441 |
| Red barn paint | #8e2f26 | #f4ead8 |
| White painted boards | #d8d0c2 | #9a3b26 |
Every plank gets its own shade, grain and knots from the seed.
What downloads
| Download | What is in it |
|---|---|
| PNG | The still picture at the full size you chose, every pixel exactly as drawn |
| JPG | The same picture as a smaller JPG (quality 92) |
| One Letter or A4 page with the picture fitted inside 10 mm margins |
| Paper | A 4K picture prints at | Sharpness |
|---|---|---|
| Letter (landscape) | 259.4 × 145.9 mm | 376 px per inch |
| A4 (landscape) | 277.0 × 155.8 mm | 352 px per inch |
For a plain wood texture with no stars, use Wood Texture; to change the size of a picture afterwards, the Image Resizer.
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Desert mesas, cacti, plains or wood planks with stars | Western Background Generator (this page) |
| A wanted poster with your photo | Wanted Poster Maker |
| A seamless wood grain or plank texture | Wood Texture |
| Cacti to colour in | Cactus Coloring Pages |
| A painted sky with no land | Sky Background |
Other tools: the Wanted Poster Maker for an old-style poster with your own photo, and the Phone Wallpaper Maker to fit a photo of your own to a phone screen.
More free tools
More desert and rustic backgrounds?
Picture and print tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a photo?
No. Every mesa, cactus, plank and star is drawn by our own code from the seed: it is artwork, not a photograph.
What is the difference between a mesa and a butte here?
On this page a mesa is wider than it is tall, with a long apron of fallen rock, and a butte is narrower than it is tall. Both have a flat cap rock, steep cliffs and bands of rock. The table below gives the width-to-height range of every one in the presets.
Why do the far rocks look paler?
Each mesa and butte is mixed towards the haze colour of the time of day, more the farther away it is; the distant range on the horizon gets the most. The table below gives the numbers for the first preset.
What cacti does it draw?
Three kinds of our own: tall column cacti with up to three arms, pad cacti with stacked round pads, and small round barrel cacti. In daylight they are green with a lit side; at sunset and night they are dark silhouettes.
Can I make a rustic wood background?
Yes. Choose the Wood planks scene: five woods, planks across or up and down, with grain, knots, nails and up to 40 painted stars (1 gives one big star in the middle). Add the rope border for a frame.
Can I use it as a video-call background?
Yes. Choose Video call background (16:9, 1920 × 1080), download the PNG or JPG and pick it as a virtual background in your video-call app.
What does the seed do?
It fixes where every mesa, cactus, bush, plank and star goes. The same seed and size give exactly the same picture, pixel for pixel.
How big does the PDF print?
The picture is fitted on one Letter or A4 page inside 10 mm margins, turned to suit its shape. The table below gives the printed size of a 4K picture.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Every pixel is worked out by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved when you close the page.