Skinstudio - Your likes & dislikes

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 by Neil Banfield | Discussion: Skinning

I was wondering what features you use in SkinStudio, what features you do not use, and what features would you really like to see in future versions.

46 Reply 13 Referrals
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Island Dog
Reply #21 Thursday, April 5, 2007 12:02 PM
Speaking from my limited WB skinning experience, I would like to see SkinStudio have a Basic and Advanced editor.  The "basic" editor would allow you to create a basic WB skin with minimal effort.  The "advanced" editor would be more of what it is like today for people willing and able to take on more advanced skinning.

There you have the best of both worlds.

 

vStyler
Reply #22 Thursday, April 5, 2007 12:04 PM
And I import png's to SkS, so if I need to replace a line with filename.tga to filename.png, I do that in the code. I really don't use the dropdown menu for images.


Ditto.

CerebroJD
Reply #23 Thursday, April 5, 2007 12:33 PM
I'd like XP users to be able to easily tweak the horizontal shellstyles... They've been under-used, since nobody knows how to use them.

I.R. Brainiac
Reply #24 Thursday, April 5, 2007 6:33 PM
Brainiac - you can kill the tooltips by pressing alt.


I didnt know that Pixel Pirate...thanks.

That dosnt stop them from appearing,just makes em go away faster.I especially hate the ones that appear while clicking the margin setting spin buttons...they get right in the way of what your working on and show up EVERY time you click.  

-xino
Reply #25 Thursday, April 5, 2007 6:44 PM
How about the option to automatically delete the default images when you import a custom image? This would save some of us from going in and having to manually delete tons of images. Maybe on the import image popup (where it asks if it has all frames in it) having an option to delete the default image upon import.

I would find that useful, along with almost everything people have already stated.

CerebroJD
Reply #26 Thursday, April 5, 2007 6:47 PM
I know that Nail/Adam were working to tame the 'blizzard' of tooltips.  I'm in favor of nuking them entirely, and providing the information in a seperate box that changes as you mouseover stuff.  Same as the tooltip, just stuffed in a box that you can either show or hide as wanted/needed.

vStyler
Reply #27 Thursday, April 5, 2007 7:01 PM
When can we expect an update ?   

Nail


   sorry JD couldn't help that one

PurrBall
Reply #28 Thursday, April 5, 2007 7:08 PM
I edit the code to remove unnecessary PerPixel=0 and Trans=0 lines that make the image not show on Pre-XP machines.

vStyler
Reply #29 Thursday, April 5, 2007 7:10 PM
I would like an option to turn off the auto-renaming of imported images. Nothing more frustrating than searching for images in a mirage of images with 45 letter filenames.

patrick24
Reply #30 Thursday, April 5, 2007 7:27 PM
I agree with just about everything that was said. But the thing I would love to see most is better preview options so exactly what you see is what you get! Also maybe a per-pixel and non-perpixel mode because there is tons of options for skin elements that only work with non-pp items or that just don't work at all. For example, some items with animation attributes don't really animate. Checkbox and radiobutton glow don't work. And that's just a few... Oh, and content margins are so inaccurate. I hate messing with content margins a bunch of times and previewing the skin to see if it's correct. What would be sweet is if there were content and stretching margins in real-time previews of what your editing. I also think being able to have custom preview elements by just drag and dropping items over to you window, or just click on one item and thats all you see, with additional options to show/hide text or different elements.
Oh, and one more thing that would be awsome (if it at all possible) would be the abillity to use Photoshop or Corel files directly in SKS. Then all you'd have to do is pop open the file in PS, do a little editing, and vuala! No more saving .pngs then importing, then going back to edit them, then save and import again. And when the skin is finished and ready to be packaged, SKS just converts all the files automatically. Again, I don't know if thats possible, but it would be SWEET!

starone
Reply #31 Saturday, April 7, 2007 7:18 PM
The progress of SKS is a work of art. I have always loved it and its updates. There have been some good suggestions made for even more. I would like to see more done in the area of WMP. Also there are some definite Vista changes that need to be incorporated into SKS. Would love to see a new update soon. You guys are doing a stupendous job and keep it coming. Looking forward to the outcome.

BONEHEADdb
Reply #32 Saturday, April 7, 2007 8:33 PM
Brainiac - you can kill the tooltips by pressing alt.


Thanks for the tip, that was one of my biggest beefs. Now how the heck did you know that?

PixelPirate
Reply #33 Monday, April 9, 2007 5:30 AM
Thanks for the tip, that was one of my biggest beefs. Now how the heck did you know that?


I can read minds.   

REDstyler
Reply #34 Monday, April 9, 2007 6:57 AM
My Prob with SS is the fact that half the services don't work on some of the Computers I install it on. It nags me too much. Slightly too slow, and it's layout is not all that great either. Although it does the job with no problems, the skin eventually comes out right. Oh and not all of the utilities are easy to find.

I haven't used it much, but as far as I know it's progress is good - and it's coming a long way.

I.R. Brainiac
Reply #35 Monday, April 9, 2007 12:59 PM
code checking could use some updating...it returns errors occasionally for non errors.(things that work or are neccessary like perpixel=1 for perpixel logoff/shutdown images)  

And whats the prob with mismatched window top metrics...windowblinds seems to run fine with skinned and unskinned top metrics mismatched but SKS will nag you with a big bonk sound if you set them diff.(this is necessary for larger tops(skinned)so that dialog menus dont have the buttons pushed down at the bottom)  

danioc
Reply #36 Tuesday, April 10, 2007 9:00 PM
1 - A button to clear the skin cash files (.wb4, BLOCK files).

2 - A button to browse the skin folder in Windows Explorer.

3 - A way to save the skin with it's sub-styles together (this could be a very useful feature).

4 - Better UI icons (32 bit ones)

5 - A way to export the skin code as XML or something like the actual "Generate Documentation" feature but with a HTML that works in Firefox and other browsers than IE.

6 - A button to backup the working skin (just zip a copy of the skin folder), this
could help the skinners when they are experimenting unusual things (graphics or code
tweaks).


Zaknick
Reply #37 Wednesday, April 11, 2007 8:52 AM
Well, I spent countless minutes/hours viewing (why does wincustomize only put 8 skins on each webpage...biased towards high-speed users ?), and downloading/installing skins only to be disappointed and annoyed by something (either its design, hard to read text, or something doesn't work).

Yes, I will only be happy if I create my own skin. Problem is, there are no good tutorials/guides. Why not? I spent all day trying to customize, only to get errors or something simply doesn't work.

Is it like this for all new people?

vStyler
Reply #38 Wednesday, April 11, 2007 8:59 AM
only to get errors or something simply doesn't work.


What wasnt working? What errors are you getting?

MySecret
Reply #39 Wednesday, April 11, 2007 9:01 AM
Well, I spent countless minutes/hours viewing (why does WinCustomize only put 8 skins on each webpage...biased towards high-speed users ?),


Great link to get you started HERE
Subscribers get up 100 skins per page as well as many other goodies Click on The Shop button to get all the info on subscribing

It's My Secret

Zaknick
Reply #40 Wednesday, April 11, 2007 10:36 PM
How does that link help me skin?

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