Windowblinds themes for the visually impaired
Saturday, April 17, 2004 by TheD2JBug | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Any idea if anyuone has made a Windowblinds theme that allows for the use of large high visibility fonts? I would like to apply one for someone who uses this PC and has vision difficulties so she can use something other than Luna Silver.
Thanks.
Reply #23 Wednesday, April 21, 2004 1:05 PM
It's difficult to tell for sure because of the artifacts between screen captures and jpg transformation, but I'm guessing the development went something like this:
1. Vector object rectangle with rounded corners, stroke black 1 pixel, fill solid color, antialias enabled.
2. Convert to raster, then use a bevel filter, round profile, with white light color and angle 315 degrees to give the impression of depth. (This step may have come later).
3. New layer, vector object or text tool, X-shape, stroke white 1 pixel, fill black, antialias enabled.
4. Convert X-layer to raster, merge layers, save as bitmap.
The process may have been slightly different, but I think I'm close.
At any rate, that antialiasing is why the colored versions are more fuzzy and indistinct, and the white stroke around the X is adding to the fuzz-factor. Below is an edited version of your screenshot where I tried to show what would happen if you eliminated the antialiasing and white stroke effects. I think it's quite a bit cleaner, and is not any more difficult to do. Just my opinion.

PS: The button colors may appear to be slightly different than the original. That's a result of trying to eliminate the antialias and white effects and having to make an educated guess at the original fill color. They also may appear a bit flatter, and thats because I used a gradient fill instead of a bevel filter to get the depth, since I didn't want to play around with filters to get the point across.
[Message Edited]
Reply #24 Wednesday, April 21, 2004 4:03 PM
| Steps 1. thru 4. |
That''s a pretty good guess, if I only new how to do that
Let''s just say that there''s a lot of work in MS Paint involved in making those buttons
I do like how much clearer your buttons came out and I understand about the anti-alias and the white stroke around the "X". What I don''t understand how to do, though I''ve seen plenty of buttons use it is the gradient fill that you''ve used. I am using PaintShopPro7.
Reply #25 Wednesday, April 21, 2004 4:04 PM
1. Start Panel =>Programs List
2. Start Panel =>Places List
3. Controls => Edit Box
4. Controls => Combo Box (Address Bar)
5. Controls => Group Box
6. Controls => Tab Pane
7. Task Panel => Special Panel Content Title Bar
8. Task Panel => Special Panel Content
9. Task Panel => Panel Content Title Bar
10. Task Panel => Panel Content
13. Window Content
14. MDI Window Content
15. Tool Tip Content (Everywhere except TaskBar Tool Tips are using Font #0)
14. Window Icon Text
15. Desktop Icon Text
Items where I can change the font, but now need to enlarge the size of the item, but can''t find a way in SkinStudio:
1. Controls => System Buttons
2. Controls => Tab Items
I set Font #0 to the size and type I want as my Standard Font size (Basically the Font I am using everywhere except for Window Frame Title Bar). I also set the Font in Fonts for Classic Widgets
Reply #26 Wednesday, April 21, 2004 4:09 PM

Reply #27 Friday, April 23, 2004 11:36 PM
Sorry to be so tardy in responding to you, but life beyond the messageboard has gotten in the way the past couple days. First of all, let me say that if you made those buttons mostly in MS Paint, then I tip my hat to you, for both the quality of the product as well as the dedication it would take to spend that kind of time making those buttons. Second, I have to say...
Dude! You need to start learning PSP... You''''ve done a great job learning Skin Studio from what I''ve seen so far. You''ll be a lot more productive, and I think happier with your results when you start learning to use PSP. If you would like some help, links, tutorials, or anything along those lines, just give a shout, and I''ll be happy to do what I can.
As for the gradient fills, it''s not that difficult a trick to learn the basics, and PSP7 has a very good set of gradient tools for you. I''m not sure what aspect of it you''d like to learn, but if you could be more specific, I''d be happy to help.
For those particular buttons, I just made a rectangular Selection 3 pixels in on all sides from the visible border of your buttons. I then flood filled the Selection using a foreground-background gradient of what I thought was the primary hue of your buttons. My foreground and background colors were just set to light and dark shades of that hue. My gradient was set on sunburst type, with the focus quite high in the upper left (H 15, V15 I believe). All of these settings apply to PSP, by the way, and the Foreground-Bacground Gradient is a standard setting in PSP.
Hope this helps, and if there is anything else I can do to help, you have only to ask.
[Message Edited]
Reply #28 Saturday, April 24, 2004 5:29 AM

Reply #29 Saturday, April 24, 2004 4:37 PM
Another categorized link site that also has links to some excellent tutorials is psplinks.com http://www.psplinks.com/ . It''s not quite as well run as Robin''s site, and they occasionally have some bandwidth problems, so if you get a 404 error, try back a few minutes later. They do however, have some links that you won''t find at Robin''s site, and the tuts have user ratings as well, which can be useful. They also have links there to some worthwhile downloadable goodies for PSP as well.
+PSP Links http://www.pluspsp.com/cgi-bin/in/index.cgi?display is also a categorized listing of tuts and other resources, but it''s geared more toward the tagging and scrapbooking crowd in my opinion and not quite as good as the other two. Still, there are some links there you won''t find elsewhere.
Some of the best sites for learning how to make buttons, bars, and other interface parts as well as learning basic techniques are:
Pinoy 7 http://www.dumlao.cc/psptutorials/default.htm Outstanding tutorials for metallic and mechanical looking parts. In my opinion, better to try these after you become a bit more familiar with your tools, as some are fairly advanced.
State of Entropy http://www.state-of-entropy.com/home.htm A very good series on making basic interface parts here, especially if you like the mechanical look. Don''t overlook the PSP6 and even some of the PSP5 tuts either. The lessons are still valid even though the tools have changed slightly in PSP7.
Extenuation.net http://www.extenuation.net/psp/ is now hosting Joe Cilinceon''s tutorials and effects now that New Dawn Micro is closed down. He has an excellent tutorial there for making Aqua type buttons and bars among other things. Joe also has some great filters for PSP that really come in handy. His Eliminate Black filter is priceless in my opinion.
Randy Mann''s site http://www.mannmadeimages.com/ is also an excellent source for PSP tutorials, but here again, I''d suggest trying them after you''ve become a bit more familiar with the basic tools.
Nanson''s Place http://nansons-place.com/psp/tutindex.htm also has some very good tutorials for making glassy and metallic finishes. It is an outstanding site for learning some more advanced techniques with PSP. The guy is a real wizard with gradients.
PSP Interactive Zone http://www.pspiz.net/tutorials/ also has some very good tutorials in the PSP6 section that are worth checking out. The PSP 7 tutorials are all from State Of Entropy, though and referenced above.
If you want some more links to tutorials and resources for PSP, I''d also check out the PSP Users Group http://www.pspug.org/ and Digital Art Resources http://www.digitalartresources.com/PSP/ArtResources/tutorials.htm Both are active current sites which are well run and growing.
Also, if there is anything you need in terms of personal assistance via e-mail or a messaging program, give me a shout. I''ll be happy to help any way I can.

[Message Edited]
Reply #30 Saturday, April 24, 2004 5:08 PM

Reply #31 Saturday, April 24, 2004 9:52 PM

Reply #32 Sunday, April 25, 2004 3:11 AM
We all learn in different ways. Some learn better by observation, some through the written or spoken word, some learn only through hands-on. When it comes to a craft though, you can''t say you''ve learned it until you''ve done it. Don''t just read the tutorials and say to yourself, "OK, I''ve got that." I call that cheating yourself.
Make yourself go through the exercise. Follow along with the steps, and actually produce something. Then do it again. Then change things up a bit and expand on it. Then combine it with something else you''ve learned. The more that you physically use the tools with the goal of actually making something, the more those skills become really yours.
There are some people who are naturally gifted, and can produce great work with very little training. But most of us have to pay our dues, learn the lessons, and practice, practice, practice. And the thing is, after a while, as your skills improve, you find out that it''s a lot more fun than it is work. At least, that''s how it is for me. I hope you find it that way too.

Reply #33 Sunday, April 25, 2004 3:43 AM
It is fun, frustating because it seems everytime you learn something new, you hit a new wall, a new challenge you''ve got to figure out, but still fun. My very first attempt, pathetic even then, was done entirely in MS Paint, everything was white with a one or two pixel blue trim. That experience got me pretty comfortable with SkinStudio and helped me to focus on trying to get things to look and function right in a WB vs. how pretty does it look. That''s why it always kills me when I see these skins that have great concepts and pretty decent graphics (light years beyond what I can do) look so bad because the skinner hasn''t go a handle on SkinStudio. Thanks again for all your valuable assistance.
It really helps having you point me in a direction instead of me just meandering around at the low end of it all until I stumbled into the right direction.Reply #34 Wednesday, April 28, 2004 5:25 PM
Reply #35 Wednesday, April 28, 2004 7:12 PM
<= determined look 
Reply #36 Thursday, April 29, 2004 10:46 AM
Reply #37 Thursday, April 29, 2004 8:25 PM
I look forward to seeing the next "step" in creating this wb. I also hope it's going to end up in the libraries, as my dad is vision impaired and I'd love to set him up with something viewable and pleasant.

Reply #38 Thursday, April 29, 2004 11:30 PM
I haven't had a lot of time lately, but I have been trying to figure out if there is anyway to do anything in Skin Studio re: your post #25. Unfortunately, I too have come up blank on the font sizes for the 15 items you listed. I think there are only two ways to adjust the size of those fonts and neither of them can be set in a skin.
One way is to use the User Overrides in WB through the WB config or going through Display Properties>Appearance Tab>Advanced Settings, which amounts to the same thing in the end.
The other way would be to use the Accessibility Wizard or manually setting Accessibility Options through Control Panel. For WinXP users, Here is a good site for finding out about how to acess those features: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/default.aspx
One thing about both of those methods of changing font size, unfortunately, is that if you set the fonts too large, you are going to have some ugly things happen with skinned elements. I've only just started to explore where the limits are on that, but I promise I'll get back to you as soon as I can when I have some more definitive results.
Of course there is another way to make everything more visible, which is to change the monitor resolution and/or dot pitch of the monitor. But that really wouldn't affect the skinning aspect overmuch, at least as far as WB is concerned.
As for the system buttons and tabs you referred to in your post, I have a couple ideas there as well, but I need to check them out before I say more.
I guess, I don't have much good news for you, in this post, but like you, I'll keep trying to do what I can to help. I think it's a very worthwhile project.
P.S. Thanks, SNK, for your input on the All Programs hover thread on the skinning board. With your help, I got it figured out and posted my results over there. You are rapidly becoming a real expert in Skin Studio, and I appreciate your help.

Reply #39 Friday, April 30, 2004 3:04 AM
I agree and I am going to upload it here when it's done.Shameless....on the font sizes that's what I thought, I just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing anything. So I am going to focus on getting the fonts to look correct in the skin. I am fortunate that I have the ability to test on three different monitor sizes 15, 17 and 19.
Can anyone recommend a resolution that someone with difficulty with vision might use in all three monitor sizes. I'm guessing...
15inch => 640x480
17inch => 800x600
19inch => 1024x768
Reply #40 Friday, April 30, 2004 6:37 AM
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Reply #21 Wednesday, April 21, 2004 9:05 AM