Is there visual guide to Win UI component names and tga names?
Which are the actual taskbar buttons
Thursday, September 6, 2012 by ed_b | Discussion: Skinning
Among the skins I like the most is Xandar, except for the white-background buttons on the black task bar and notification area. So I loaded it into SSP and tried to find the taskbar buttons that I could then change to a nice darkish gray. The ones I thought were them changed the color of entire sections of the taskbar, so that wasn't it. What I really could use is a visual guide to what the tga file is for each Windows component. Some are obvious, many are not...at least to me.
Alternatively, perhaps someone could tell me what I'm looking for.
Reply #2 Monday, September 10, 2012 7:34 AM
So you're suggesting I import buttons I like from another skin to replace those in this one? I don't see any import function other than "Force image reimport" in upper right-hand corner. I have Photoshop as editor, so I could copy and paste into file there, but I could also just go to folder itself, open the tga file in question and do the same. This file (taskbar_buttons.tga) was the one I tried altering unsuccessfully. The buttons are gradated light gray or light yellow, not the white I see on skin itself, and there is only the one layer. And the layer uses transparency, so I'm wondering if there's another file that contains the white ones. The SS PDF from site is for previous version and doesn't seem to cover this topic.
Reply #3 Monday, September 10, 2012 9:06 AM
Importing images:
You get that option for any image.
Reply #4 Monday, September 10, 2012 9:37 AM
The white one may be the "flashing" state, a seperate graphic.
No, he's suggesting you make your own and import them in.
Reply #5 Monday, September 10, 2012 12:22 PM
With TGA format you have to make your own alpha channels. Using the standard transparency in photoshop, saving as PNG then importing to SKS will save alpha channel data to the file and SKS will know how to handle the image file. Typically importing other entities from one blind to another will most likely cause problems. Sometimes it can be button states sometimes height/width differences, margins/text margins. SKS is very complex but if you put in the time to learn it you will produce very nice blinds 
.
Reply #6 Tuesday, September 11, 2012 11:49 AM
Thanks for the replies. I'm finally beginning to understand the mechanics of the process.
This seems to confirm my wish for a visual guide to what file is for what UI component, although any variation in naming files would be a problem.
The flashing state comment was helpful. When I mouseover the taskbar graphic it does change from light gray to light yellow, so that would be the two states when doing this on Windows taskbar. I see 10 taskbar-related graphics files in this skin, including taskbar_buttons.tga, and none refer to flashing.
Yes, SKS is very complex and it makes my respect for those who have done these skins even greater. I'm just going to have to live with many failed attempts before figuring out what actually works and why.
Reply #7 Tuesday, September 11, 2012 2:03 PM
There are a few things to check before trying. Frame count must match the amount on the image for example the normal window buttons have 5 states so you would set the frame count to 5. Margins must be within the image (normally to prevent distortion).
Although for a start menu it's a great place to start and will give you a good idea of how things are done.
Reply #8 Wednesday, September 12, 2012 3:54 AM
For the Xandar skin, you want to replace the image taskbar_buttons.TGA with another image. It's a 6 image "string" that represents the 6 different states of the button (normal, disabled, pressed, mouseover, active, active mouseover) The flashing button is a single image called flashing.TGA
There is no standard labeling for images it's really up to the artist what he calls each image.....but I usually name mine pretty logically 
Reply #9 Thursday, September 13, 2012 8:35 AM
Are those six states standard on most or all skins?
I modified first button and now it's more gray than white and other states reflect change.
Thanks!
Reply #10 Thursday, September 13, 2012 8:48 AM
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Reply #1 Friday, September 7, 2012 11:01 AM
The names of the images don't really matter, You can import your own. I typically save as .PNG and SKS will automatically do the necessary conversions and so forth. The section you are after is;
Edit Startmenu and Taskbar > Edit Horizontal Taskbars > Taskbar buttons > Buttons.