Getting correct preview images after creating skin

Windowblinds shows wrong preview images

Monday, December 17, 2012 by DocWilson | Discussion: Skinning

Hi all,

I'm just finishing up my latest skin "3D Blues" and after saving it shows up in WindowBlinds with the old preview images.

This is also true when you go to substyles, the wrong preview images show but in the main viewing skin preview window, the skin is right.

What can I do to make SKS generate those new images? I have done some searching but have found nothingn so far.

I also had this same problem with a previous skin I posted. It shows up in the Windowblinds list with a very old first try start menu graphic as it's preview graphic.

gmc2
Reply #1 Monday, December 17, 2012 7:07 AM

windowblinds-skin options-rebuild list

DocWilson
Reply #2 Monday, December 17, 2012 10:12 AM

Thanks for your quick response to my question. I tried rebuilding the list in Windowblinds but the improper graphics are still there.

What I'm looking for is the method using Skin Studio to create updated preview pics for posting with my .wba file.

I even tried making a new .wba file and loading it as a new skin with no change.

I'd sure like to know the names of those preview images so I can possibly delete them and maybe skin studio will re-create new ones based on my finished design.

I'm very new at this and have only posted 2 skins and one DesktopX object so far after 4 months of work learning skin studio and getting better with Photoshop.

Thanks for all help in advance,

DocWilson

2of3
Reply #3 Monday, December 17, 2012 10:29 AM

Go into the skin folder and delete the file SKSPreview.png.

 

I think that should take care of it.

DocWilson
Reply #4 Monday, December 17, 2012 11:32 AM

Thanks for helping 2of3,

I made a copy of my whole skin dir and saved it in another location so i wouldn't lose it. Then I deleted the SKSPreview.png from the skin directory and made a new .wba file.

I went into windowblinds and deleted the skin and then added it again using the newly created .wba file but it didn't change anything. I'm uploading a pic so you can see what I see.

skin preview window

Neither one of these style preview pics are updated and the main picture in Visual Styles is wrong too.

Any other suggestions? There has to be other files or pics that need to be re-created so I get a proper preview when I finish and upload this skin.

Thanks in advance for helping me.

DocWilson

Xiandi
Reply #5 Tuesday, December 18, 2012 2:23 PM

MItch, you have mail. 

DocWilson
Reply #6 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 12:28 AM

Thank you so much for looking into my problem and providing a solution.

This problem is now solved so the issue is closed.

Thanks to all that posted fixes and also for your willingness to help me.

 

EDIT:

The solution I tried didn't work and I am still trying to fix the issue. I just needed a few2 hours to go through the steps Xiandi provided for me.

 If anyone else has this problem and has fixed it please let me know.

2of3
Reply #7 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 4:21 AM

DocWilson
This problem is now solved so the issue is closed.

What WAS the solution?

gmc2
Reply #8 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 6:56 AM

really, WTF is the solution and why do a PM instead of sharing the knowledge.

DrJBHL
Reply #9 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 7:27 AM

Maybe someone could ask Xiandi to reproduce the instructions and post them here and in the Wiki?

DocWilson
Reply #10 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 9:00 AM

It's almost 6am now and I have been up all night trying to fix this problem and Xiandi was kind enough to have me send her the .wba file to come up with a solution.

She provided me with steps that took a few hours to complete so this is my first chance to post that the fix didn't work and I'm still getting the wrong preview images in WindowBlinds for all the skins I've posted.

Xiandi has been kind enough to help me for months now by going over my designs and sending the corrections needed.

I can't begin to tell everyone how much I've learned from her.

Please know that when I post with a problem I will always come back and describe how the problem was fixed.

I'm still only a few months into making skins and spend most of my hours re-learning my Photoshop skills that I had to give up on back in the 90's and the rest of the time has been spent learning Skin Studio so I haven't had much time to post in the forums or make new friends here. The only other person I've had contact with is RedneckDude as he helped me create the DX object that I posted.

Creating skins and DEX objects are my new hobby andf since I'm deisabled and have all the hours in a day to work, That's what I've chosen to do. I come from a 3D animation background back in the 90's and worked as a video game character animator before being put on medications that stopped my whole career right away. It's only been a few months since they came out with a new med that allowed me to pick up programs again and start re-learning the skills I used to have.

Sorry to be so long winded, When I find a fix for this problem it will be posted and yes, I do have a support ticket in with Stardock about this problem and am waiting for a reply.

You all will be hearing a lot more from me as i have time to be social after I learn these programs. I'm even looking into how to post fixes in the Wiki.

DocWilson

DrJBHL
Reply #11 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 9:11 AM

, DocWilson and Xiandi. Thanks for the update.

Xiandi
Reply #12 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 4:16 PM

I applied the windowblind and saw that I was getting the same messed up preview images as Mitch. He used one of his other skins as a template for the new one. There were some duplicate files in windowblind folder that still had the old skin name on them. I deleted those.

I opened SKS and cleaned the skin (tools/clean skin) to get rid of all the unassigned images.

There were a couple colors in the colors section of SKS that were still set for the old skin colors, changed those in both substyles.

Opened Windowblinds, and the preview images were right.

-----------------

I have noticed on skins that I've made, that when you look in the windowblinds folder, some of the files in there still have the old skin name on them. For example, if you use the default template to start a skin, you will find Diamond uis files still in there. I have found that deleting them screws up your skin, since they are not actually duplicate files, but rather like the skin name was never changed on them when you created the skin.

What happened with his skin was that he actually had files from 3 skins in there. Diamond, his new skin name, and his old skin name. I only deleted the ones that had his old skin name on them.

I hope all that makes sense.

 

2of3
Reply #13 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 5:04 PM

Xiandi
I have noticed on skins that I've made, that when you look in the windowblinds folder, some of the files in there still have the old skin name on them. For example, if you use the default template to start a skin, you will find Diamond uis files still in there. I have found that deleting them screws up your skin, since they are not actually duplicate files, but rather like the skin name was never changed on them when you created the skin.

Absolutely!

I always keep those "old" files on my desktop When cleaning out the folder so I can pop them in again if I frakk the skin. You'll also notice that the clean skin function never gets all the extra images....you'll have to go in and delete some manually. My rule is: if the .uis .sss and those files with the ~ after them aren't screwing up your skin......leave them alone. Fact is, every time you edit the skin in sks, it will create new files with the ~ after them anyway.

gmc2
Reply #14 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 7:18 PM

appreciate the clarification, thank you.

DocWilson
Reply #15 Thursday, December 20, 2012 7:24 AM

Ok everyone,

I went back and did the same steps Xiandi  sent me and the result was success. All I can tell you about the fix is to ask Xiandi about this issue if you have problems like I did. I'm very new to skinning and won't give any advice until I know Skin Studio as well as Xiandi does.

This problem is now truly solved! Thanks for all the posts and all advice given.

LightStar
Reply #16 Thursday, December 20, 2012 9:30 AM

Xiandi
I have noticed on skins that I've made, that when you look in the windowblinds folder, some of the files in there still have the old skin name on them.

 

Yeah Cyndie, I reported that issue to Stardock years ago, but no one did anything about it. A new SKS 7.4 came out today, so I will check it out and see if it is fixed in the new release.  The new release does have some installation issues too that I will report.

gmc2
Reply #17 Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:37 AM

LightStar



Quoting Xiandi,
reply 12
I have noticed on skins that I've made, that when you look in the windowblinds folder, some of the files in there still have the old skin name on them.


 

Yeah Cyndie, I reported that issue to Stardock years ago, but no one did anything about it. A new SKS 7.4 came out today, so I will check it out and see if it is fixed in the new release.  The new release does have some installation issues too that I will report.

I have installed the new version with no hic-cups but I'm wondering if there is a revision update notification that describes what changes have been made???

It would also be nice to be able to copy/paste the S/N instead of transcribing it over to the registration label.

I also picked up the update info here, did I miss an official notification of the revision update or...

DocWilson
Reply #18 Thursday, December 20, 2012 3:52 PM

I have installed the new version with no hic-cups but I'm wondering if there is a revision update notification that describes what changes have been made???
It would also be nice to be able to copy/paste the S/N instead of transcribing it over to the registration label.
I also picked up the update info here, did I miss an official notification of the revision update or...

 

I also got the update yesterdayand installed it. What I found is that it installed itself to a different directory so I had to change my shortcuts to get the new version to open.

There's a text file in the folder that hopefully let us know what they changed but I got the upgrade from Startdock Central with no info about the upgrade at all. I'll take a look at it later today.

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!



web-wc01