Taskbar Sizing Bar Transparency

True Trans Possible?

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Daiwa | Discussion: WindowBlinds

Currently using XPP SP3, WB7.

I tried importing a totally transparent .png as the sizing bar for my current skin & it 'works' sorta - but it just substitutes the underlying wallpaper for the bar.  Using Auto-Hide, there is a strip of wallpaper where the sizing bar should be when the taskbar pops up.

Is there a setting that I'm missing?  Both transparency & translucency are enabled.  Using non-perpixel frames.

Thanks!

jazzymjr
Reply #1 Thursday, April 1, 2010 4:36 PM

For the XP sizing bar, I found I had to use a bmp, not a png, even though the taskbar itself is a png...go figure!  Try making it a bmp and use magic pink for the bar.

Daiwa
Reply #2 Thursday, April 1, 2010 4:39 PM

Thanks, jazzy.  I'll give it a go.

Daiwa
Reply #3 Thursday, April 1, 2010 4:51 PM

  No love - same results using magic pink with translucency disabled.

Xiandi
Reply #4 Thursday, April 1, 2010 9:09 PM

I have found that WB/SKS do not like completely transparent images. Try this: make the resizing bar a one pixel line and take the opacity down to somewhere around 10% to 20%. See if that does it for you.

I.R. Brainiac
Reply #5 Thursday, April 1, 2010 9:47 PM

xp doesnt do true trans behind taskbar elements...it IS a snapshot of the wallpaper.

jazzymjr
Reply #6 Friday, April 2, 2010 4:39 AM

I have never made my XP sizing bar a transparent image.  I always do a traditional bmp image, usually a 3px high edge.  The sizing bar disappears anyway when you lock the taskbar.  I also have found that with SKS 7, that you can't make the system tray completely transparent either...you have to have at least a 1 by 1 pixel image/color in it. 

Vampothika
Reply #7 Friday, April 2, 2010 5:22 AM

i tried both png and bmp recently in xp and got grief in both results, but it was only until i made the taskbar go straight across (not cutting off on the edges like the diamond style) that it worked out okay for me.  but thats not a solution i know.

Daiwa
Reply #8 Friday, April 2, 2010 11:04 AM

Thanks, guys/gals.  An opaque sizing bar isn't as elegant but will have to do - a transparent but functional sizing bar for AutoHide would be very nice, which was what I was shooting for.  My particular circumstances require I use as much screen real estate as possible for max'd apps, hence the motivation.

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