One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part IV
Putting It Together : Start Menu
Friday, February 3, 2012 by PoSmedley | Discussion: WindowBlinds Tutorials
We're going to take a break from One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part III for just a moment and get into the assembling of the windowblind in SKS. There are a few reasons for this that you may have picked up on if you have been following along.
- We've been making sections of the blind without putting them into SkinStudio as we go along. A majority of skinners will go back and forth between their graphics program (Photoshop, Paint, etc.) and SKS as they go along. That method hasn't worked for me in the past and I wanted to go through the actual design of several areas without the added confusion of SKS.
- There comes a point, once you get past the Start Menu and Window Frames and start getting into the Edit Controls, buttons, etc., that you need to see what they are going to look like and if they will work they way they should. I tried to just keep making the graphics without going into SKS but it's just too much detail and in this particular case, with a lot of the areas we'll be getting into, 'size does matter'.
One of the main reasons that I may have not mentioned for doing the Start Menu and Task Bar areas first is also to assist visually in determining how the overall windowblind will look (per Tim's suggestion). This will actually help a great deal when you get into the buttons, header bars, and other details and you're trying to determine the best colors and other design details.
The way in which I am approaching this is something I came up with some help from 2of3(aka Tim). As I said, not all skinners do it this way and the opinions I offer are just that (my opinions) and by no means written in stone (or sand, Lucite, chalk, crayola, etc.) It if it helps anyone, let me know.
We'll be going back and forth between this thread and Part III. There will also, more than likely, be another thread where we can go over testing the skin and putting on the finishing touches. In this thread we'll be going over the assembling of the Start Menu.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS as to why something is done this way and not that or anything pertaining to the Start Menu ask them here. We will try to explain as we go along and may miss some things that you consider important or problematic.
If you're looking for Part I, II, III you can find them here:
One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part I
Design : Start Menu and Taskbar
One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part II
Design: Title Bars & Window Frames
One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part II
Design: Edit Controls
PLEASE :
- I am open to suggestions but may not use any of them. Please, don't be offended if I don't use yours.
- Keep the image posting to the skin(s)
- If you want to make a skin to go with this, PM me for the files. My PSD's tend to be a mess, but I save everything and will be happy to share. I am uploading the actual files to the Graphics Gallery here on Wincustomize.
- We'll be skinning for Windows7, maybe Vista. If someone wants to do XP, PM me and I will get you what you need.
- Any files you request will come as I complete them. I won't be jumping ahead. Please be patient.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The PSD files for the previous threads are in the Graphics Gallery.
Roan WB Title Bars and Window Frames
Roan WB Taskbar Buttons
ROAN WB Start Panel UPDATED
 |
|
Page 2 of 18 | |
|
|---|
Reply #22 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:34 PM
First go to substyle management. click yes when prompted to save. Delete the Vista and xp substyles.
Reply #23 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:35 PM
I don't understand why anyone would want to start a new skin with 3 finished substyles....they gotta go!
Reply #24 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:35 PM
Also, I love you guys. In a manly sort of way. Unless we were in prison and you had cigs or something.
Reply #26 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:42 PM
ha......you haven't "upgraded" to the newest version of skinstudio. Version 7.3
Reply #27 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:44 PM
That version comes with 3 completely skinned substyles (which makes no sense to me).
I will only start a new substyle when the first (main) style is 100% complete.
Reply #29 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:50 PM
Awful picture in my head of you sneaking up on me in the shower saying 'Hey, anybody come at you yet? Anybody get to you yet? Hey, we all need friends in here. I could be a friend to you. '
*shudder
Reply #31 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:52 PM
I upgraded WB from the Stardock Store after the Impulse switch and it f***ed my system up. I haven't upgraded anything since. I'm waiting for the new server or whatever.
Should I close SKS and get the upgrade?
Reply #33 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:56 PM
All right.
Open the start panel section and start importing your images into the 5 sections. You can get all the images in and we'll adjust the settings afterwords.
Reply #34 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:58 PM
ZubaZ: There will be a quiz afterward so pay attention to the skin and stop thinking about Po and I naked in the prison shower!
Reply #35 Friday, February 3, 2012 1:05 PM
Too late. Installed latest version. Want to make sure this is all current.
Created new advanced skin>Went into Substyle Management>Deleted XP and Vista substyles
Importing Start Panel images now.
***PNG's all imported.
2of3: [narrating] His first night in the joint, PoSmedley cost me two packs of cigarettes. He never made a sound.
Reply #37 Friday, February 3, 2012 1:13 PM
Cool. There are a couple of extra (unneeded) sections there.
find the code editor tab and delete all the code for the following sections:
Search mode top
Expanded start menu
All programs mode
Search mode bottom
Expanded start menu
bottom bar right
search mode bottom
and the very last item, search mode
Reply #39 Friday, February 3, 2012 1:18 PM
Search mode top
Expanded start menu
All programs mode < CAN'T FIND THIS
Search mode bottom
Expanded start menu
bottom bar right
search mode bottom
and the very last item, search mode
Zubaz: So even I could learn how to make a skin?
2of3: What're you talking about?
Zubaz: Hope.
2of3: Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
|
|
Page 2 of 18 | |
|
|---|
Reply #21 Friday, February 3, 2012 12:33 PM