Conky Blur Background

A bash script intended to be run from a conky config to create a blurred conky background image based on the underlying desktop wallpaper.

Compatibility

The script is currently limited to the following desktop environments.

• Cinnamon & MATE

• Developed and tested on Cinnamon 5.2.7 - Linux Mint 20.3 with conky version 1.10.8

• Further development and testing with Cinnamon 5.2.7 on Manjaro with conky version 1.12.2

• Tested on MATE 1.26 - Linux Mint 20.3

It is intended to add support for additional Desktop Environments in future.

Contributors

• smurphos
• Koentje

Screenshots

How to use

The script is shipped with a basic conky config for demonstration purposes. It can also be used with any conky config that has the following characteristics.

The conky.config section must include :

• own_window = true,
• own_window_type = 'desktop', or own_window_type = 'dock',
• own_window_title = '<unique-name>', this should be an unique name for every conky config if you use more than one. Do not use spaces.
• own_window_class = 'Conkyblurred',
• own_window_transparent = true,
• own_window_argb_visual = false,

To ensure the conky blurred background updates in a timely manner following a wallpaper change a short update_interval is also recommended

The text section of the conky must include:

In the first line :

${image ~/.conky/conky_blurred_background/<unique-name>.png -n -p -1,-1} (<unique-name> is the same name you use for own_window_title above)

Anywhere in the body of the conky text:

${exec conky-blur-background.sh}

conky-blur-background.sh can also be executed from your conky with optional arguments. These are

• -blurradius= (Integer between 0 and 10)

• -blursigma= (Integer between 0 and 40)

• -brightness= (Integer between -100 and +100. The - or + sign must be included)

• -contrast= (Integer between -100 and +100. The - or + sign must be included)

• -curviness= (Integer between 0 and 40. Sets the roundness of the conky background corners)

• -help (This argument is only valid if the script is executed from a terminal)

For more information about the image characteristic arguments see see https://imagemagick.org/script/command-line-options.php#blur and https://imagemagick.org/script/command-line-options.php#brightness-contrast

Example of a command within the conky text using arguments:

${exec conky-blur-background.sh -blurradius=0 -blursigma=8 -brightness=-15 -contrast=+0 -curviness=30}

Dependencies

The script requires the packages conky-all, wmctrl, imagemagick & dconf-cli to be installed.

The commands xrandr and xwininfo must also be available on the system. The packages that provide these commands varies by distro.

Installation via the terminal.

Create directories for install if they don't already exist.

• mkdir -p ~/.local/bin

If ~/.local/bin/ didn't exist prior to this installation a log off and back on will be required to ensure the system adds this directory to your $PATH before you use the script from a conky config.

Download the current release

• wget https://github.com/smurphos/conky-blur-background/raw/main/releases/current/conky-blur-background.zip

Extract files from the zip

• unzip -o conky-blur-background.zip

Copy the script to ~/.local/bin

• cp -r ./conky-blur-background/script/conky-blur-background.sh ~/.local/bin/

If you want to test with the sample conky config that is included:

Create directories for install if they don't already exist.

• mkdir -p ~/.conky
• mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart

Copy the conky files to ~/.conky

• cp -r ./conky-blur-background/conky-blur-sample/ ~/.conky/

Copy the desktop file to ~/.config/autostart

• cp -r ./conky-blur-background/autostart/conky-blur-sample.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

Log off and back in

Reporting issues

If you need to raise a issue reporting a problem with the script please attach the following information in your bug report.

1. A screenshot!
2. Output of terminal command cat ~/.xsession-errors run during the session the bug occurred.
3. Output of terminal command ls -a ~/.conky/conky_blurred_background run during the session the bug occurred.
4. If using your own conky config a copy of that config.