How do I make skins/themes?

Friday, September 21, 2007 by FilterKid | Discussion: Skinning

I just installed the free trial of WindowBlinds, and it's great. Anyway, I was wondering; how do you guys make these skins/themes? What stardock software do you use? Is it easy? I want to get started and make them.
12 Reply 6 Referrals
kaazz1337
Reply #1 Friday, September 21, 2007 4:42 AM
Well, you need to have SkinStudio in order to create your own windows GUI skins for xp/vista. You can have that by buying the Object Desktop, you will have accese to WB 6 and Skin Studio 6 aswell.

ZubaZ
Reply #2 Friday, September 21, 2007 7:55 AM
Is it easy?
Creating ugly, buggy skins is hard.  Creating great skins is very hard.

Good places to start: http://www.skinning.net/nexus/page.php?5 and http://wiki.wincustomize.com/wiki/Skinning_for_WindowBlinds

CraigSnedeker
Reply #3 Friday, September 21, 2007 10:31 AM
yeah, im still learning. the best thing you can do is practice.

mrSkope
Reply #4 Friday, September 21, 2007 10:48 AM
I think it would be better to wait until skinstudio 6 is out, then it would be easier to learn. I cant count how many times i've opened the current skinstudio and went "um..!" Of course being good at photoshop or corelDraw is an advantage.

FilterKid
Reply #5 Friday, September 21, 2007 12:27 PM
I'm a graphic artist, I've been using photoshop for over 3 years now, will that help?

Island Dog
Reply #6 Friday, September 21, 2007 1:08 PM
I'm a graphic artist, I've been using photoshop for over 3 years now, will that help?


It definitely won't hurt. I would recommend taking a look through the WinCustomize Wiki for information about WindowBlinds, SkinStudio, etc.  There is quite a bit information and tutorials there.

http://wiki.wincustomize.com





Adam Michael
Reply #7 Friday, September 21, 2007 5:03 PM
Reply number one best decribes this business of skinning. Try running any skin you create for a couple of weeks too. I agree that you should wait until skin studio 6 is released. Start off using that version and with your understanding of photoshop the only real limitation you might have would be lack of imagination, which doesn't sound likely. Have fun and enjoy skinning at four am.  

Adam Michael
Reply #8 Friday, September 21, 2007 5:05 PM
oops, I meant reply #2

elvee
Reply #9 Friday, September 21, 2007 5:48 PM

Check out all the resources available to you, noted above. SkinStudio 6 will be released soon, there should be a 'free' or 'try it' version. The biggest advice is to have fun with it.  


FilterKid
Reply #10 Sunday, June 1, 2008 12:03 AM
Sorry to bring this thread back up from the dead, I don't want to make a new thread, I would rather continue it inside this one.

What kind of coding do you need to have? I'm very good with C++. Is this an entirely different type of coding?

vStyler
Reply #11 Sunday, June 1, 2008 12:16 AM
depends what your making.. if its a windowblinds theme... Zero coding.

DaRkFuSsIoOn
Reply #12 Sunday, June 1, 2008 12:37 AM
C++ would be useful for DesktopX codes, windowsblinds is more coordinates and margins. You're a graphic artist, just try   

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