beauty is skin deep

nikos · Moderator Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 12346 Location: UK

This thread was originally posted in the xplorer² Professional forum.
Moved here 19-May-2010 =fg=
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here's the comment area for today's blog entry found at:
www.zabkat.com/blog/06Jan08.htm

Here you can also post your questions on how to create custom skins yourselves, and even show us previews of what your skins look like!

TracyB · Member Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 35

Firstly, very nice! An X² beta... *drool*

Just a suggestion here, and I hope I'm not out of line... have you considered offering X² licenses to the winners - just the few of them whose skins you bundle along with the app. I suggest this coz I've known you to offer licenses to people even for becoming lifelong X² advocates, and an offer like that would reach out to the very-talented non-X² crowd out there! Smile

Can't wait for it to catch on at someplace like deviantart

Mr.Pleasant · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:01 am Post subject:

Well-o-well, Nikos, given in to the 'eye-candy clan'? I guess everyone has his moments of weakness Twisted Evil

No, but serious, I'm actually kind of curious to see the next x2. Normally, I wouldn't want to sacrifice any perfomance nor functionality to good-looks when it comes to software (my Windows is always in 'classic' display, mainly because of higher performance and more efficient use of screen estate). But even I sometimes feel a bit frivolous spin

(oh golly), and change themes on my Firefox browser. Just as long as it isn't really impacting general performance. Of course. And I trust that's in save hands with you!
Plus: the possibillity to use your own customized icons for user commands is really an improvement.
I'm really looking forward to this 'skin competition'. To refer to the words someone used in another topic: we finally can have some lace on our chainsaw! laugh

kunkel321 · Bronze Member Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 134

Hi All,
Just curious... How do you know which buttons (icons) go with which pictures?
I thought there might be an ini file in the download, but didn't see anything... -steve

snakebyte · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:43 pm Post subject:

Hi Steve,

The order of icons in the bitmap is fixed. See APPENDIX COMMAND ORDER in the readme file.

For example if you want to change the icon for refresh button, you just modify the 3rd icon in the toolbar bitmap.
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Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's universe simulator.

kunkel321 · Bronze Member Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 134

Hi Snakebyte,
THanks for the reply. I don't seem to see the readme file... OR maybe I'm going blind, which is possible... In C:/Program Files/zagbat/explorer2 I see:
snap
changes txt
Editor2 txt
editor2_UC exe
editor2_UC.exe.manifest manifest
licence txt
registry txt
Uninstall exe
x2docs pdf
x2help css
x2help htm
x2SettingsEditor exe
x2tips rtf
x2tips txt
xplorer2_UC exe
xplorer2_UC.exe.manifest manifest
Maybe somehow I didn't download it???
Also, I don't know if it's related, but I noticed if I go to the xplorer2 Help Menu and click [Contents] it doesn't do anything... I'll go see if there's another download on the site... maybe an external help file or something...
THanks again for the reply..

kunkel321 · Bronze Member Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 134

Please forgive the reply I just posts, reinquiring about the readme file ... I see now that there is a readme in the folder with the icons!!
SOrry! Embarassed

-steve

pschroeter · Bronze Member Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 95

Just so you know I'm fine with the style and the way the icons look now in xplorer². I hope any new icons fit in with the old ones, they are very clear and unobtrusive. I just want more of them to match practically any command that MenuHack can access. I don't want to look at seven hammers in my toolbar anymore.

xplorer² update, best Christmas present yet!

snakebyte

nikos · Moderator Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 12346 Location: UK

zstoichev · New Member Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 1

Hello Nikos!

Probably now is the time to add support for transparent images in toolbars and menus. Thus you should use PNG SDK images, instead of the BMP ones. Both Windows XP and Vista use transparent images. What are your thos?

And second question about skin images location. Currently uTorrent uses ApplicationData\{appname} folder for its skins files, and not the executable's forder. This is because Program Files is not writable for users under Vista, for example. Maybe this is good to be like?

Regards,
Zdravko

p.s. by transparent I mean alpha-blended, with shadows etc.

nikos · Moderator Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 12346 Location: UK

hi Zdravko

as far as i can tell, plain bitmaps can also have alpha transparency, but i'm no expert! For the 256 color bitmaps I use the "pink" background color for transparency. See the readme file here: http://www.zabkat.com/skinz.zip

it will have to be bitmaps because at runtime, it will be easier to load bitmaps without any extra baggage that PNG or anything else would require

ZoNi · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:39 am Post subject:

GREAT!

Finaly

I came today to my office, after last night celebrating "Serbian" (Orthodox) New Year and saw this nice gift! Wink

Thank you, Nikos! I hope we'll finally have some nice skins (I do not have artistic skills Sad

)
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nikos · Moderator Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 12346 Location: UK

ZoNi · Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: