Skin Studio: Custom Start Menu shapes and background
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 by aldog | Discussion: WindowBlinds
How do I go about making my startmenu have a full background as opposed to the top and bottom being seperate, and the middle 2 parts being seperate.
aldog
Reply #3 Tuesday, January 31, 2006 10:08 PM
Reply #3 Tuesday, January 31, 2006 10:08 PM
to: po smedley
I'd really like to read through your tutorial, but none of your pictures are showing up for me
to: night train
I get how I would compile the image, I just don't know how to make skin studio read the file like that. right now it tiles my bottom bar, my programs list, my top bar and my places list.
I'd really like to read through your tutorial, but none of your pictures are showing up for me
to: night train
I get how I would compile the image, I just don't know how to make skin studio read the file like that. right now it tiles my bottom bar, my programs list, my top bar and my places list.
Daiwa
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 11:19 AM
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 11:19 AM
aldog -
Once you specify the image, you can set the sizing & content margins & set the painting method to stretch or tile, in the attributes pane of SkinStudio (upper right). You can then also verify that the size settings for the individual graphics match the sizes of your images & adjust them if they don't. You have to experiment with the various settings, save the skin, reload the skin & take a look at the actual StartPanel to see for sure what the results are. The SkinStudio preview image is helpful but not 100% accurate in depicting the results of changes.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Once you specify the image, you can set the sizing & content margins & set the painting method to stretch or tile, in the attributes pane of SkinStudio (upper right). You can then also verify that the size settings for the individual graphics match the sizes of your images & adjust them if they don't. You have to experiment with the various settings, save the skin, reload the skin & take a look at the actual StartPanel to see for sure what the results are. The SkinStudio preview image is helpful but not 100% accurate in depicting the results of changes.
Cheers,
Daiwa
aldog
Reply #5 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 2:43 PM
Reply #5 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 2:43 PM
neat, thanks daiwa. I'll try this once I get home and hopefully will be problem free.
might have to come back here though, hopefully not
garsh i love makin' skins.
might have to come back here though, hopefully not
garsh i love makin' skins.
Daiwa
Reply #6 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:37 PM 
It's either a lot of fun or a terrible addiction - I'm not sure which.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #6 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:37 PM
It's either a lot of fun or a terrible addiction - I'm not sure which.Cheers,
Daiwa
NightTrainthedark
Reply #7 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:51 PM
Alot of addiction or terrible fun.
Reply #7 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:51 PM
| It's either a lot of fun or a terrible addiction - I'm not sure which. |
Alot of addiction or terrible fun.
aldog
Reply #8 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 11:21 PM
Reply #8 Wednesday, February 1, 2006 11:21 PM
ok i have a image that i want to use as my startmenu, can someone specify how i make it my startmenu?
i'm sooo confused
i'm sooo confused
Daiwa
Reply #9 Thursday, February 2, 2006 12:58 AM
Reply #9 Thursday, February 2, 2006 12:58 AM
"Slice" the image up into the component parts the way NightTrain shows in reply #2. Give the separate images corresponding names & save them in the skin folder. Open the skin in SkinStudio, go to the StartPanel section (XP Taskbar) & click on the relevant section in the Preview image, the Places List for instance. In the Attributes section (upper right) click on the entry for the image (Places List image in this case). In the bottom right pane of SKS (below the Preview image) you'll see a ComboDropdown Box with a label to the left of it that reads "Adjusted Image:". Click in the box or on the dropdown button and the list of image files in the skin folder will open up - scroll to the image you want to use & click on it. Do this for each section of the Start Panel, selecting the corresponding image for each. Save the skin, reload it, check out the Start Panel, rinse, repeat.
Have fun.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Have fun.
Cheers,
Daiwa
aldog
Reply #10 Thursday, February 2, 2006 1:33 AM
Reply #10 Thursday, February 2, 2006 1:33 AM
woohoo, I got a custom start menu working. woohoo
still some small questions though, like, how do i change the mouseover effect?
right now it's the windows blue, i don't know what my options are, but maybe if i could define an image for the mouseover to display, that'd be cool. or invert the colors...i dunno. any suggestions?
still some small questions though, like, how do i change the mouseover effect?
right now it's the windows blue, i don't know what my options are, but maybe if i could define an image for the mouseover to display, that'd be cool. or invert the colors...i dunno. any suggestions?
NightTrainthedark
Reply #11 Thursday, February 2, 2006 2:14 PM
Thats exactly what you need to do. Skinstudio doesn't have a default image for the mouseover so you need to import it to the Start Panel/Item section.
I should also add that the template seen above matches the default image sizes in the Skinstudio Luna template.
Reply #11 Thursday, February 2, 2006 2:14 PM
| but maybe if i could define an image for the mouseover to display |
Thats exactly what you need to do. Skinstudio doesn't have a default image for the mouseover so you need to import it to the Start Panel/Item section.
I should also add that the template seen above matches the default image sizes in the Skinstudio Luna template.
Daiwa
Reply #12 Thursday, February 2, 2006 4:52 PM
Reply #12 Thursday, February 2, 2006 4:52 PM
aldog -
Most of the images are "compound" - they include "tiles" which are the actual images for the various "states" of the control (normal, mouseover, pressed, etc.). When you have an image selected in SkinStudio in the upper right Attributes pane, you should see the Help text in the lower left pane. This will tell you how many tiles are required for the image's possible states and in what order they should be placed. Most of the time they tile left to right, but sometimes they tile top to bottom as with the TitleBar.
Another trick you can try for images you haven't created yet is to select the element (say the Close Button) in the upper right pane, then click on the Template tab in the Preview Pane - the default Luna image will be assigned and you can then edit that image in Paint or whichever image editor you choose, then save it with the appropriate name. Using the template images is a good place to start as they have the correct number & orientation of tiles. Some things need to be the exact size if the templates (Trackbar Slider Thumbs for one) in order to display properly, but many of the images can be of a different size if you prefer - each tile of an image must be exactly the same size, however, or WB will have problems with the math. It is generally a good idea to use tiles of even-numbered dimensions wherever possible.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Most of the images are "compound" - they include "tiles" which are the actual images for the various "states" of the control (normal, mouseover, pressed, etc.). When you have an image selected in SkinStudio in the upper right Attributes pane, you should see the Help text in the lower left pane. This will tell you how many tiles are required for the image's possible states and in what order they should be placed. Most of the time they tile left to right, but sometimes they tile top to bottom as with the TitleBar.
Another trick you can try for images you haven't created yet is to select the element (say the Close Button) in the upper right pane, then click on the Template tab in the Preview Pane - the default Luna image will be assigned and you can then edit that image in Paint or whichever image editor you choose, then save it with the appropriate name. Using the template images is a good place to start as they have the correct number & orientation of tiles. Some things need to be the exact size if the templates (Trackbar Slider Thumbs for one) in order to display properly, but many of the images can be of a different size if you prefer - each tile of an image must be exactly the same size, however, or WB will have problems with the math. It is generally a good idea to use tiles of even-numbered dimensions wherever possible.
Cheers,
Daiwa
PoSmedley
Reply #13 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:01 PM
Or me either. This seems to come and go, and I don't have a clue why.
Reply #13 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:01 PM
| to: po smedley I'd really like to read through your tutorial, but none of your pictures are showing up for me |
Or me either. This seems to come and go, and I don't have a clue why.
Daiwa
Reply #14 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:07 PM
Reply #14 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:07 PM
BTW -
The All Programs item in the Start Panel is a special case; same with the Logoff/ShutDown buttons in the Bottom Pane. When you are ready to tackle those, post back.
Cheers,
Daiwa
The All Programs item in the Start Panel is a special case; same with the Logoff/ShutDown buttons in the Bottom Pane. When you are ready to tackle those, post back.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Daiwa
Reply #15 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:09 PM
Have you uploaded the images to a web server somewhere & linked to them? They won't appear if you have just linked to images on your hard drive.
Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #15 Thursday, February 2, 2006 5:09 PM
| to: po smedley I'd really like to read through your tutorial, but none of your pictures are showing up for me Or me either. This seems to come and go, and I don't have a clue why. |
Have you uploaded the images to a web server somewhere & linked to them? They won't appear if you have just linked to images on your hard drive.
Cheers,
Daiwa
aldog
Reply #16 Friday, February 3, 2006 10:55 AM
Reply #16 Friday, February 3, 2006 10:55 AM
ok, i've now went through and done most of my mouseover/hover/click effects for my images, but one i'm still stuck on is the mouseover effect for the start menu. I have my text looking right, but the part i'm getting stuck on is the blue bar mouseover. I don't know how i get to this effect in skinstudio
Alpha Tellurian
Reply #17 Friday, February 3, 2006 11:31 AM
How bout a terrible fun addiction?
Reply #17 Friday, February 3, 2006 11:31 AM
| It's either a lot of fun or a terrible addiction - I'm not sure which |
How bout a terrible fun addiction?
Daiwa
Reply #18 Friday, February 3, 2006 1:41 PM
Reply #18 Friday, February 3, 2006 1:41 PM
aldog -
In the left Explorer Pane of SKS, drill down to Start Panel/Item. It's a horizontal two-tile image, Image (normal) & Mouseover states only.
Cheers,
Daiwa
In the left Explorer Pane of SKS, drill down to Start Panel/Item. It's a horizontal two-tile image, Image (normal) & Mouseover states only.
Cheers,
Daiwa
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Reply #1 Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:39 PM
Link
I am just starting my own skin. Let me know if any of this helps.