DX Themes
Common Resolutions
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 by PuterDudeJim | Discussion: Skinning
I have a question for all of you. Since I don't know how to make a resolution independent theme, should I continue making them at my res., expecting others to tweak to suit their own systems (as I must do when using themes made by others), or should I make them at a common size? Just a question. Please feel free to give me your input. Thanx, Jim. 
SirSmiley
Reply #2 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:34 PM
Reply #2 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:34 PM
You've got some different dimensions.
Guess the real question is do you have time & desire to it?
I'm sure it would be very appreciated. Personally I'm like you and figured if someone took the time to make & share it then a little bit of tweaking is the least of my concerns.
Guess the real question is do you have time & desire to it?
I'm sure it would be very appreciated. Personally I'm like you and figured if someone took the time to make & share it then a little bit of tweaking is the least of my concerns.
PuterDudeJim
Reply #3 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:41 PM
Time? Occaisionally. Desire? I feel that the best thing I like about sharing is positive feedback. Everyone likes a pat on the back. I am learning and hope, someday, to be a skinner. In the meantime, naturally I make themes to fit my res. I realize it's not a common size. It really don't take much effort to tweak it to a common size, I may just do some 1280's and 1024's just to see how it affects my downloads. I have done a few custom themes, emailed directly to the one requesting, but I cannot always do custom sizes. Food for thought. Thanx for responding.
That said, let me say one more thing. I really do owe most of the credit for my work to others who allow use of their work. I am not so good with creating graphics. I do seem to have a flair for manipulating pre-existing graphics. I know absolutely nothing about scripts, layers, etc. I want to acknowledge the following for their help with my work:
I owe thanx to vStyler, I.R. Brainiac, Fairyy, SKOriginals, JJYing, messiah1, Zubaz, Bilbo, Z71, Night Train, Treetog, rast2005, amongst others....I wish to thank you all for help and understanding ( and for putting up with me as I try to be more like you).
Reply #3 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:41 PM
Guess the real question is do you have time & desire to it?
Time? Occaisionally. Desire? I feel that the best thing I like about sharing is positive feedback. Everyone likes a pat on the back. I am learning and hope, someday, to be a skinner. In the meantime, naturally I make themes to fit my res. I realize it's not a common size. It really don't take much effort to tweak it to a common size, I may just do some 1280's and 1024's just to see how it affects my downloads. I have done a few custom themes, emailed directly to the one requesting, but I cannot always do custom sizes. Food for thought. Thanx for responding.
That said, let me say one more thing. I really do owe most of the credit for my work to others who allow use of their work. I am not so good with creating graphics. I do seem to have a flair for manipulating pre-existing graphics. I know absolutely nothing about scripts, layers, etc. I want to acknowledge the following for their help with my work:
I owe thanx to vStyler, I.R. Brainiac, Fairyy, SKOriginals, JJYing, messiah1, Zubaz, Bilbo, Z71, Night Train, Treetog, rast2005, amongst others....I wish to thank you all for help and understanding ( and for putting up with me as I try to be more like you).
Bichur
Reply #4 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:43 PM
Reply #4 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:43 PM
Make them for you.
Then maybe toss one in at a common size..like....ummmm... 1024x768
Then maybe toss one in at a common size..like....ummmm... 1024x768
Philly0381
Reply #5 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:46 PM
Reply #5 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 11:46 PM
Bichur, would that be the resolution you run at?
PuterDudeJim
Reply #6 Thursday, November 8, 2007 6:53 AM
I apologize if I left anyone out, I get a lot of help from a lot of real skinners.
Reply #6 Thursday, November 8, 2007 6:53 AM
I owe thanx to vStyler, I.R. Brainiac, Fairyy, SKOriginals, JJYing, messiah1, Zubaz, Bilbo, Z71, Night Train, Treetog, rast2005, amongst others....I wish to thank you all for help and understanding ( and for putting up with me as I try to be more like you).
I apologize if I left anyone out, I get a lot of help from a lot of real skinners.
ZubaZ
Reply #7 Thursday, November 8, 2007 7:55 AM
Reply #7 Thursday, November 8, 2007 7:55 AM
Zubaz is so honored (and out of place) in that list of folks. But thank you.
milksama
Reply #8 Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:31 AM
Reply #8 Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:31 AM
One other thing to consider-- laptops are generally widescreen these days, I think very few would support 1280x1024 (at least at its native aspect ratio). By including a few additional lines of code, you open up your theme to a new market.
Given all the themes that currently exist that do not support an arbitrary resolution, I think it would definitely help make your themes stand out from the crowd. I find it refreshing to find themes where I see the artist has gone the extra mile and would be likely to pay special attention to themes released by them in the future.
Don't forget you can list the resolutions you've tested it on within the theme's description, thereby making it easier to find in a search I can tell you that from working in support, resolution-independent themes are in pretty high demand 
By the way (if it hadn't been offered), I would be happy to offer my assistance in making resolution independent themes.
-Mike
[Stardock Support]
PuterDudeJim
Reply #9 Thursday, November 8, 2007 9:40 AM
I hate to sound stupid, but I do not know what that means...lol. I may take you up on your offer to help with resolution independency.
Reply #9 Thursday, November 8, 2007 9:40 AM
By including a few additional lines of code
I hate to sound stupid, but I do not know what that means...lol. I may take you up on your offer to help with resolution independency.
ZubaZ
Reply #11 Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:03 AM
Reply #11 Thursday, November 8, 2007 10:03 AM
How well can the images scale if you script them to resize based on workarea?
sViz
Reply #12 Friday, November 9, 2007 4:31 AM
Reply #12 Friday, November 9, 2007 4:31 AM
I like your themes, Jim, but I'm on 1024 so I can't use em. Resolution independent themes would be good but it's really up to you.
In my limited experience, rez independence requires scripting. It's not too difficult. You simply position the objects in relation to system.screenwidth or system.screenheight.
Something like:
You can also set the width of some of your menu backgrounds based on screen width:
DesktopX.Object("myobject").width = system.screenwidth
I've often arranged objects, evenly spaced, by dividing up the screen width etc.
I use screenwidth/height but you can also use VScreen or Workarea (as seen in the link above)
Here are some useful DX links:
DX Developer's Guide
Wincustomize Wiki
RomanDA Step by Step Tutorial Listing
sViz DX Tutorial Index
Even more DesktopX Tutorials
In my limited experience, rez independence requires scripting. It's not too difficult. You simply position the objects in relation to system.screenwidth or system.screenheight.
Something like:
Sub Object_OnScriptEnter
DesktopX.Object("myobject").left = system.screenwidth - 100
DesktopX.Object("myobject").top = system.screenheight - DesktopX.Object("myobject").height
End Sub
You can also set the width of some of your menu backgrounds based on screen width:
DesktopX.Object("myobject").width = system.screenwidth
I've often arranged objects, evenly spaced, by dividing up the screen width etc.
I use screenwidth/height but you can also use VScreen or Workarea (as seen in the link above)
Here are some useful DX links:
DX Developer's Guide
Wincustomize Wiki
RomanDA Step by Step Tutorial Listing
sViz DX Tutorial Index
Even more DesktopX Tutorials
PuterDudeJim
Reply #14 Saturday, November 10, 2007 11:02 PM
I know absolutely nothing about scripts. ( Didn't know you were working with a complete idiot, huh? )
Reply #14 Saturday, November 10, 2007 11:02 PM
How well can the images scale if you script them to resize based on workarea?
I know absolutely nothing about scripts. ( Didn't know you were working with a complete idiot, huh? )
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Reply #1 Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:28 PM
Again I feel it's totally up to you, but if you did offer up a few other resolutions, you don't have to try and cover everyone, you might find that your downloads go up. Just doesn't sound right, I quess that also means your uploads can go down!