WOW!

We only get these threads on days ending in 'Y'....so they're pretty uncommon....

lol...I just made an interesting observation and it turned out to be a bashing between 2 ideas regarding having or not having master skins.

But that aside I think we need to get more skinners involved as almost everyone here have pointed out...there are not many left...

We used to have a lot of skinners but some quit as it conflicted with real life, some quit because they got pissed and some quit because it started getting harder as the OS's progressed.

And some quit because their skinning program of choice has been sunsetted....  

(But then, this thread is about Master WB skinners. Not DesktopX Masters.) 

What I find revolting and disgusting is that whenever someone brings in a valid concern or option they get treated like shit by the select elite. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I didn't see anyone saying that master skins should be eliminated. People just want what used to be the norm here. Some valid points were made and instantly poo-poo'd leaving the individual in an un-welcome state. Nice PR.

Yes it's sad that only a small small handful still do WB skins and it does explain the gallery overload of pay-to-play content. That, in and of itself tells the tale of the ultimate demise of WB in general at this current trend. 

I think there should be a "How To Manual" of SkinStudio, not necessarily with pictures but with a list of how to's.

Example: How To change the Min,Max and Close buttons, than the answer would include the location where you can find it in SkinStudio and a brief description on what has to be done. Or even a part of SkinStudio with a search or help button.

If more people knew how to use it (including me) there would be more skinners. It's basically the only program that I have ever downloaded that doesn't have any instructions. I know I can ask questions here, but it might get repetitious after a while or you have to wait until someone reads it. 

 I have downloaded the SkinStudio Tutorial zip it's a little out dated and hard to find without asking someone even if it still exist.

I don't have a problem with MasterSkins, I say if you enjoy doing it and it helps pay the bills go for it.

2cents

and for the record, I DO agree with that statement.

Another thing to consider regarding the amount of skinners is how much new blood or young blood takes their talents to smartphones and tablets, hell of alot of very nice work gets done on customization apps. Lets face it desktops have been fading for years and will continue to, taking talented artists to other platforms.

Myself I do tend to buy most Master that fit my likes, would I like more free ones, sure of course. Should masters give away their work for free? That is up to them IMO, I do know that I wouldnt go and work 40 hours for free. 

To all the skinners past and present I would like to say thank you, masters and not you make my time in front of my monitor interesting. 

I fall into the pissed off category. Although there are other contributing factors the main one is this.

I made the attempt to stay with the program by purchasing WB/SKS10, only to find out that the program I use the most was no longer skinable (PSP7). It wasn't broken and could have remained within the program but it was just tossed. I sniveled about this and was told to basically "get over it". I did just that by removing myself from the mix. I still skin as it is a hobby but I won't share anymore. You refuse to support my needs so I refuse to support you.

As far as masterskinners selling blinds, that is their option. They do deserve the right to do this and have worked hard to achieve this level. 

Rather than complaining, maybe learn to skin. DaveBax is a good source to request help from (sorry Dave), but mostly it is trail, error and fix. It's not something that's learned over night. I've been skinning for more than a decade and learn new things almost daily.

I'll be at that age in January, good to hear that I'm not the oldest.

Too sad to hear you're not going to share anymore Greg.  [e digicons]:'([/e]

-I wish you would consider learning Photoshop, I can tutor you Not a problem.

PM or mail Me.

Andrew

You better be eating a big cake on your bday Greg  (huggles)  

I made a skinstudio tutorial with pics and everything GMC2 even helped by putting it up on the wincustomize wikki

But I dont know where it is anymore or how to find it....

I still have a copy of that and sent ID a copy long ago but I don't think there is a concerted effort from WC to provide tutorial help.

I had a copy once but gave it to Anna. Too old to go through all those hoops once again, but thanks for the offer. 

Making a Windowblinds skin takes many hours of hard work. Many (semi) retired skinners like me have not lost the interest in skinning, we just no longer have the time. I wish I did.

It's a shame there aren't more new skinners coming forward. What to do about that?

Perhaps people are no longer interested [e digicons]:'([/e]

neone6

reply 56

Quoting Fuzzy Logic,

reply 55

Perhaps people are no longer interested

The new generation just don't know it exists 

You are correct Andy, Stardock does wayyyyyyyyy too little advertising of its products, software and games included. I could go out on the street and ask a ten thousand people if they have ever heard of Stardock Corporation, opr Windowblinds, and I bet maybe only 1 or 2 would say they had. When I show friends my work locally, I tell them how they can get the software. In the past other Windowblinds skinners I am sure contributed to that same type process, but with only a few of us left, Stardock needs to definitely step up its advertising campaign somehow.

P.S. Hint, hint Brad. 

It's when not if as far as WB's. The money is in the games. Nobody I know could care less about WB's or even Windows. Most of the people I know who have computers have Macs. All they want to do is turn the thing on and surf the internet. The others want a PC to play games. I think Microsoft is to blame when it comes to the demise of skinning Windows.

It also seems like WC isn't as much fun as it used to be. Sigh.

I am considering beginning to skin WBs. I will, no doubt, be asking for help.

IF I can get back "into" skinning, after having lost interest. Winter is upon us, I should have lots of spare time soon.

And yes, some will be paid skins, eventually,  And some will be free.

Also, I have a PC sales and repair shop on it's baby legs, that will hopefully take some of my time. Building gaming rigs has been my new hobby, since skinning lost me. Hopefully, I can come back to skinning. Before it is a lost art.