diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4fe5275..8bfd2b6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ IMPORTANT NOTE: This version only works on CACTI 1.x++!
 
 --- develop ---
 
+* feature#298: Fit or stretch background images within the map canvas
+
 * issue#289: Load viewer helpers explicitly before rendering maps
 
 * issue#288: Preserve dynamic editor labels and cycle countdowns
diff --git a/lib/WeatherMap.class.php b/lib/WeatherMap.class.php
index daf2ea8..f2f677f 100644
--- a/lib/WeatherMap.class.php
+++ b/lib/WeatherMap.class.php
@@ -3911,6 +3911,11 @@ function DrawMap($filename = '', $thumbnailfile = '', $thumbnailmax = 250, $with
 
 		wm_debug('Finished Post-Processing Plugins...');
 
+		$background_sizing = $this->get_hint('background_sizing', 'image');
+		if (!in_array($background_sizing, ['fit', 'stretch', 'image'], true)) {
+			$background_sizing = 'image';
+		}
+
 		wm_debug('=====================================');
 		wm_debug('Start of Map Drawing');
 
@@ -3936,8 +3941,10 @@ function DrawMap($filename = '', $thumbnailfile = '', $thumbnailmax = 250, $with
 				if (!$bgimage) {
 					wm_warn('Failed to open background image.  One possible reason: Is your BACKGROUND really a PNG?');
 				} else {
-					$this->width  = imagesx($bgimage);
-					$this->height = imagesy($bgimage);
+					if ($background_sizing === 'image') {
+						$this->width = imagesx($bgimage);
+						$this->height = imagesy($bgimage);
+					}
 				}
 			} else {
 				wm_warn('Your background image file could not be read. Check the filename, and permissions, for ' . $this->background);
@@ -3975,7 +3982,22 @@ function DrawMap($filename = '', $thumbnailfile = '', $thumbnailmax = 250, $with
 			wimagefilledrectangle($image, 0, 0, $this->width, $this->height, $this->colours['DEFAULT']['BG']['gdref1']);
 
 			if ($bgimage) {
-				imagecopy($image, $bgimage, 0, 0, 0, 0, $this->width, $this->height);
+				if ($background_sizing === 'image') {
+					imagecopy($image, $bgimage, 0, 0, 0, 0, $this->width, $this->height);
+				} else {
+					$source_width = imagesx($bgimage);
+					$source_height = imagesy($bgimage);
+					$dest_width = $this->width;
+					$dest_height = $this->height;
+					if ($background_sizing === 'fit') {
+						$ratio = min($dest_width / $source_width, $dest_height / $source_height);
+						$dest_width = max(1, (int) round($source_width * $ratio));
+						$dest_height = max(1, (int) round($source_height * $ratio));
+					}
+					$dest_x = (int) floor(($this->width - $dest_width) / 2);
+					$dest_y = (int) floor(($this->height - $dest_height) / 2);
+					imagecopyresampled($image, $bgimage, $dest_x, $dest_y, 0, 0, $dest_width, $dest_height, $source_width, $source_height);
+				}
 				unset($bgimage);
 			}
 
diff --git a/lib/editor.actions.php b/lib/editor.actions.php
index a7d6405..2fa38fd 100644
--- a/lib/editor.actions.php
+++ b/lib/editor.actions.php
@@ -472,6 +472,11 @@ function setMapProperties($mapfile) {
 		$map->background = wm_editor_sanitize_file(stripslashes(get_nfilter_request_var('map_bgfile')), ['png', 'jpg', 'gif', 'jpeg']);
 	}
 
+	$background_sizing = get_nfilter_request_var('map_background_sizing');
+	if (is_string($background_sizing) && in_array($background_sizing, ['fit', 'stretch', 'image'], true)) {
+		$map->add_hint('background_sizing', $background_sizing);
+	}
+
 	db_execute_prepared('UPDATE weathermap_maps
 		SET titlecache = ?
 		WHERE configfile = ?',
diff --git a/locales/po/cacti.pot b/locales/po/cacti.pot
index 7ffedf7..3def007 100644
--- a/locales/po/cacti.pot
+++ b/locales/po/cacti.pot
@@ -1051,6 +1051,22 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "Background Image Filename"
 msgstr ""
 
+#: weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
+msgid "Background sizing"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
+msgid "Fit to map"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
+msgid "Stretch to map"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
+msgid "Use image size"
+msgstr ""
+
 #: weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
 msgid "Timestamp Text"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/tests/Support/BackgroundSizingEngineRegression.php b/tests/Support/BackgroundSizingEngineRegression.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98ad1a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Support/BackgroundSizingEngineRegression.php
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Copyright (C) 2004-2026 The Cacti Group, Howard Jones                   |
+ |                                                                         |
+ | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or           |
+ | modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License             |
+ | as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2          |
+ | of the License, or (at your option) any later version.                  |
+ |                                                                         |
+ | This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,         |
+ | but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of          |
+ | MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the           |
+ | GNU General Public License for more details.                            |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Cacti: The Complete RRDtool-based Graphing Solution                     |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | This code is designed, written, and maintained by the Cacti Group. See  |
+ | about.php and/or the AUTHORS file for specific developer information.   |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | http://www.cacti.net/                                                   |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+*/
+
+require dirname(__DIR__) . '/bootstrap-unit.php';
+$plugin = dirname(__DIR__,2);
+chdir($plugin);
+require $plugin . '/setup.php';
+require $plugin . '/lib/WeatherMap.class.php';
+require $plugin . '/lib/editor.inc.php';
+require $plugin . '/lib/editor.actions.php';
+
+if (!defined('MESSAGE_LEVEL_INFO')) {
+	define('MESSAGE_LEVEL_INFO',0);
+}
+function wm_engine_assert($value,$message) {
+	if (!$value) {
+		throw new RuntimeException($message);
+	}
+}
+$directory = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/wm-engine-' . bin2hex(random_bytes(8));
+mkdir($directory);
+
+try {
+	$bg = imagecreatetruecolor(200,100);
+	imagefill($bg,0,0,imagecolorallocate($bg,255,0,0));
+	imagepng($bg,$directory . '/background.png');
+
+	foreach (['fit'=>[120, 120], 'stretch'=>[120, 120], 'image'=>[200, 100], 'invalid'=>[200, 100]] as $mode=>$size) {
+		$map             = new WeatherMap();
+		$map->width      = 120;
+		$map->height     = 120;
+		$map->background = $directory . '/background.png';
+		$map->add_hint('background_sizing', 'image');
+		$map->WriteConfig($directory . '/' . $mode . '.conf');
+		$GLOBALS['__test_nfilter_request'] = [
+			'map_title'            => 'Background test', 'map_legend' => 'Traffic', 'map_stamp' => '',
+			'map_htmlfile'         => '', 'map_pngfile' => '', 'map_width' => '120', 'map_height' => '120',
+			'map_bgfile'           => $directory . '/background.png', 'map_background_sizing' => $mode,
+			'map_linkdefaultwidth' => '7', 'map_linkdefaultbwin' => '100M', 'map_linkdefaultbwout' => '100M',
+		];
+		setMapProperties($directory . '/' . $mode . '.conf');
+		$saved = new WeatherMap();
+		$saved->ReadConfig($directory . '/' . $mode . '.conf');
+		wm_engine_assert($saved->get_hint('background_sizing') === ($mode === 'invalid' ? 'image' : $mode), $mode . ' editor persistence');
+		if ($mode === 'invalid') {
+			$saved->add_hint('background_sizing', 'invalid');
+		}
+		$saved->DrawMap($directory . '/' . $mode . '.png');
+		$image = imagecreatefrompng($directory . '/' . $mode . '.png');
+		wm_engine_assert([imagesx($image), imagesy($image)] === $size,$mode . ' canvas');
+		$pixel = imagecolorsforindex($image,imagecolorat($image,60,1));
+		wm_engine_assert(($pixel['red'] === 255 && $pixel['green'] === 0) === ($mode !== 'fit'),$mode . ' fit proportions');
+		imagedestroy($image);
+	}
+
+	foreach (['fit' => [120, 120], 'stretch' => [120, 120], 'image' => [200, 100], 'invalid' => [200, 100]] as $mode => $size) {
+		$map = new WeatherMap();
+		$map->width = 120;
+		$map->height = 120;
+		$map->background = $directory . '/background.png';
+		$map->add_hint('background_sizing', 'stretch');
+		$map->postprocessclasses = ['SizingOverride'];
+		$map->plugins['post']['SizingOverride'] = new class($mode) {
+			public function __construct(private string $mode) {}
+			public function run($map) {
+				$map->add_hint('background_sizing', $this->mode);
+			}
+		};
+		$file = $directory . '/post-' . $mode . '.png';
+		$map->DrawMap($file);
+		$image = imagecreatefrompng($file);
+		wm_engine_assert([imagesx($image), imagesy($image)] === $size, $mode . ' post-processor canvas');
+		$pixel = imagecolorsforindex($image, imagecolorat($image, 60, 1));
+		wm_engine_assert(($pixel['red'] === 255 && $pixel['green'] === 0) === ($mode !== 'fit'), $mode . ' post-processor proportions');
+		imagedestroy($image);
+	}
+
+	print "PASS\n";
+} finally {
+	foreach (glob($directory . '/*') as $file) {
+		unlink($file);
+	}rmdir($directory);
+}
diff --git a/tests/Unit/BackgroundSizingEngineTest.php b/tests/Unit/BackgroundSizingEngineTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a022dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/BackgroundSizingEngineTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Copyright (C) 2004-2026 The Cacti Group, Howard Jones                   |
+ |                                                                         |
+ | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or           |
+ | modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License             |
+ | as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2          |
+ | of the License, or (at your option) any later version.                  |
+ |                                                                         |
+ | This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,         |
+ | but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of          |
+ | MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the           |
+ | GNU General Public License for more details.                            |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Cacti: The Complete RRDtool-based Graphing Solution                     |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | This code is designed, written, and maintained by the Cacti Group. See  |
+ | about.php and/or the AUTHORS file for specific developer information.   |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | http://www.cacti.net/                                                   |
+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+*/
+
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\RunInSeparateProcess;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\PreserveGlobalState;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+final class BackgroundSizingEngineTest extends TestCase {
+	#[RunInSeparateProcess]
+	#[PreserveGlobalState(false)]
+	public function testPersistsAndRendersBackgroundSizing(): void {
+		ob_start();
+
+		try {
+			require dirname(__DIR__) . '/Support/BackgroundSizingEngineRegression.php';
+			$result = ob_get_contents();
+		} finally {
+			ob_end_clean();
+		}
+		self::assertSame("PASS\n", $result);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap-unit.php b/tests/bootstrap-unit.php
index 0d36d94..6b99540 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap-unit.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap-unit.php
@@ -264,6 +264,26 @@ function cacti_log($m, $p = false, $t = '', $l = 0) {
 	}
 }
 
+if (!function_exists('cacti_count')) {
+	function cacti_count($value) {
+		if (isset($GLOBALS['__test_cacti_count']) && is_callable($GLOBALS['__test_cacti_count'])) {
+			return ($GLOBALS['__test_cacti_count'])($value);
+		}
+
+		return is_countable($value) ? count($value) : 0;
+	}
+}
+
+if (!function_exists('clean_up_name')) {
+	function clean_up_name($value) {
+		if (isset($GLOBALS['__test_clean_up_name']) && is_callable($GLOBALS['__test_clean_up_name'])) {
+			return ($GLOBALS['__test_clean_up_name'])($value);
+		}
+
+		return preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9_\\-.]/', '_', $value);
+	}
+}
+
 if (!function_exists('cacti_sizeof')) {
 	function cacti_sizeof($a) {
 		return is_array($a) ? count($a) : 0;
diff --git a/weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php b/weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
index ec5acee..f8880c9 100644
--- a/weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
+++ b/weathermap-cacti-plugin-editor.php
@@ -646,6 +646,18 @@
 								</select>
 							</td>
 						</tr>
+						<tr>
+							<td><label for='map_background_sizing'><?php print __('Background sizing', 'weathermap'); ?></label></td>
+							<td><select id='map_background_sizing' name='map_background_sizing'>
+							<?php
+							$background_sizing = $map->get_hint('background_sizing', 'image');
+							if (!in_array($background_sizing, ['fit', 'stretch', 'image'], true)) { $background_sizing = 'image'; }
+							foreach (['fit' => __('Fit to map', 'weathermap'), 'stretch' => __('Stretch to map', 'weathermap'), 'image' => __('Use image size', 'weathermap')] as $value => $label) {
+								print '<option value="' . $value . '"' . ($background_sizing === $value ? ' selected' : '') . '>' . html_escape($label) . '</option>';
+							}
+							?>
+							</select></td>
+						</tr>
 						<tr>
 							<td><?php print __('Timestamp Text', 'weathermap'); ?></td>
 							<td><input id='map_stamp' name='map_stamp' type='text' class='ui-state-default ui-corner-all' size='40' value='<?php print html_escape($map->stamptext) ?>' /></td>