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Sleep-Screen Studio

Xteink X4 & X3 wallpaper maker

Turn any photo into a device-ready sleep screen for the Xteink X4 or X3 — cropped, dithered for the e-ink panel, and ready to drop on your SD card. It all runs in your browser, so your photo never leaves your device.

  • Free, no account
  • Runs in your browser
  • Nothing uploads
  • X4 · X3 sizes
Open the studio How to install it →

Now install it on your reader

Made your image above? Pick the software your Xteink is running and follow the exact steps. Not sure? Most readers ship on the stock (factory) OS.

The software your Xteink shipped with, before flashing anything.

Format
BMP or JPG
Size
480×800
Set from
on-device picker

  1. Make & download your image

    Make your image in the tool above and download it. The recommended stock format is a 480×800 BMP — exactly what you get here. (JPG is also accepted, but the dithered BMP looks cleanest.)

  2. Copy it anywhere on the SD card

    Put the file in any folder, or the card root — stock has no special wallpaper folder. (Dropping a sleep.bmp at the root does nothing here; that’s the CrossPoint method, not stock.)

  3. Open Folder, preview, and set

    On the device, use the Open Folder menu to reach the folder with your image. Select the image — it opens a preview. Click the preview, choose “Set as Power-off Screen,” then tap Select to confirm — that sets it.

On many stock builds, choosing Settings → Power-off Screen → Custom gives you no way to pick a file. Set it from the file browser instead: Open Folder → select your image → click the preview → “Set as Power-off Screen” → Select.

Flashing a custom firmware first? See the firmware directory. New to the device? Start with the firmware help & FAQ.

Xteink wallpaper FAQ

The sizes, formats and folder names people ask about most when making a custom sleep screen for the X4 and X3. Got a Kindle, Kobo or Boox? Use the e-reader screensaver maker instead.

What size should an Xteink X4 wallpaper be?
The Xteink X4 sleep screen is 480×800 pixels; the smaller X3 panel is 528×792. This tool resizes to the exact panel size for you, so you don’t have to match it by hand (and it’s 480×800, not the “500×800” you’ll sometimes see repeated).

Does this work with the stock (factory) OS on the Xteink X4?
Yes. Stock firmware accepts a plain BMP, which is what this tool exports, so you don’t need to flash CrossPoint. The reliable way to set it is the file browser: copy the BMP anywhere on the SD card, then on the device use the Open Folder menu to reach the image, select it to open the preview, click the preview, choose “Set as Power-off Screen,” then tap Select to confirm. (Note: choosing Settings → Power-off Screen → Custom doesn’t always give you a file picker.) See the firmware picker above for the full steps.

What file format does the Xteink sleep screen use?
CrossPoint and most of its forks want a 24-bit, uncompressed BMP — exactly what the download button produces. Stock firmware also accepts JPG, and forks like inx read PNG directly. When in doubt, the BMP works everywhere.

Can I use this for a Kindle, Kobo, Boox or other e-reader?
Not this page — it exports the BMP the Xteink X4/X3 want. For a Kindle, Kobo, Boox, reMarkable or other reader, use our companion Kindle & e-reader screensaver maker, which has ready sizes for those devices and exports a dithered PNG.

Why do my wallpapers look grainy or banded on the e-ink screen?
Because the panel shows only 4 grey levels — an ordinary photo collapses into flat blocks or visible banding unless it’s dithered first. This tool dithers every image (Floyd–Steinberg or Atkinson) to those 4 levels, calibrated to how the panel actually renders, so the preview is exactly what shows on the device. It’s automatic — nothing to set.

Why does my wallpaper look washed-out on the device?
That’s the e-ink panel itself: it’s reflective, so its “white” is really a light grey and it tends to lift the bright parts of a photo until they blow out. Counter-intuitively, the fix on this panel is to lower contrast, not raise it — that pulls the washed-out highlights back toward mid-grey. The “Optimize for e-ink” toggle (on by default) does exactly that, gently. If a photo still looks off, drag Contrast down a bit more in Fine-tune, or start from a punchier image.

What kind of image makes the best e-ink wallpaper?
High-contrast, simple images look best, because the panel only shows four shades of grey. Works great: a bold single subject that stands clear of its background, near-black-and-white photos, silhouettes, line art and logos, and simple layouts with lots of empty space. Tends to struggle: smooth gradients and open skies (they band into stripes), busy scenes full of similar mid-greys, and anything relying on fine detail or small text. A quick rule of thumb: if you could almost describe the image in black and white, it’ll work. Not sure? Start from one of the ready-made wallpapers in the maker above — they’re picked to hold up on e-ink.

I set the sleep screen to Custom but my image isn’t showing up — why?
By far the most common cause is the wrong BMP encoding — a PNG renamed to .bmp, a compressed or paletted BMP, or the wrong dimensions. CrossPoint silently falls back to its Dark screen with no error. After that it’s usually the wrong folder, or the screen still set to a built-in image instead of Custom. Exporting from this tool removes the format and size pitfalls — then re-check the folder and the Custom setting.

How do I preview it — the screen never seems to change?
The sleep screen only appears once the reader actually sleeps. To trigger it, press and hold the power button for about 3 seconds. If it still shows the old image, you’ve likely hit the format or folder issue above.

Can I set more than one wallpaper, or have them rotate?
Yes, on CrossPoint and its forks — drop several BMPs into the .sleep folder and the reader cycles through them at random each time it sleeps (plenty of owners keep a handful going). Make each one here and copy them all into the folder. On stock firmware you set a single image at a time from the Power-off Screen menu.

Sleep screen, screensaver, wallpaper — what’s the difference on the Xteink?
They’re the same thing: the image shown while the reader is asleep. Stock firmware and the community forks each pick a different word — sleep screen, screensaver, lock screen, power-off screen, or wallpaper — but they all point at the one image slot this tool makes a file for.

Does this upload my photos anywhere?
No. Everything — decoding, cropping, dithering and export — happens in your browser. Your photo never leaves your device and nothing is sent to a server. It’s also free, with no account.

While you're here

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