Day Two- My Windowblinds Anti-tutorial Tutorial

All Is Not Well

By Po' Smedley Posted January 4, 2006 14:16:58

So I have begun with the Start Menu and Task Bar.
This is my final Draft of the START MENU. This is at the size I want it to ‘appear’ in the finished blind. (I have no idea if this is a mistake or not.)

Next, we have the Start Menu in slices. (Each one saved as a separate bitmap.)

Now, in my final draft, I added the so-called ‘magic pink’ to the background. Why? Because after an initial test, I found that my ‘corners’ were showing white where I wanted nothing.

When starting in SkinStudio, you have the option to create from a New Skin or from a Template. I chose the first, which opens up a default skin similar to WinXP Blue. With each graphic, you have the option of editing each individually…or…you can open up your own graphic. This is done from the tabs in the preview window. However, when you open your own graphic you will be expected to ‘cut’ what you need from it. Follow? Well, I found out that opening the ‘entire’ start menu draft I had done and trying to cut the required slices from it was impossible for me. That is why I created slices in Photoshop and opened each one individually..THEN cut from each. (Which basically meant making sure each was the ‘exact’ size I needed, as I had layed out.)

What I did was cut them to the size I had saved them at, which meant just tightening up the edges, so to speak. After applying them all for the ‘START MENU’…this is what I got. I have the original intent nest to it.

My original is W300 x H457. What SkinStudio created from my input is W359 x H 768. I tried messing with the ‘tile, stretch’ controls, etc…but it either got worse or totally whacked. Obviously, what I got is NOT what I intended. I am currently going over my BMP’s and settings.

Of note is the ‘MAGIC PINK’ that is not all that magic. (For any unfamiliar…WB should read it as transparent….however….anti-liaising and shadow effects and Bevel and Emboss effects will do things to the edge of your graphics that will change what WB reads…should it OVERLAP the magic pink. Magic Pink should be set at 255/0/255. The slightest variance will make it visible.) I noticed this right away and had gone back and THOUGHT I had made clean copies of all the bitmaps and then re-applied the Magic Pink, but apparently not.

Finally…if you look at what SS created…you will see ‘white lines’ that outline my slices. I have NO idea why.

Problems.
1. Sizing
2. Magic Pink
3. Slice borders

4 months is starting to look like a possibility.

AND…just for laughs….the practiced/achieved skinners will get a laugh out of this. This next pic is a vector of what I really wanted. It actually worked better than this one, with the exception of the bottom bar..it refused to conform in any way…and the magic pink. No matter what I did I could not make it ALL go away.

I would have liked to go with this one, but it is way beyond me. It was something special I wanted to do for Valentines Day that would have made it possible to personalize the skin in a way I have yet to see it done. Oh, well.
Final Note: The Icon Pack to match the blind that doesn't exist is complete. 140 plus icons that I refuse to let see the light of day until this *@!$#@ blind is done.

+27 Karma 27 Replies 17 Referrals

Nick, can I see your template for PHotoshop? I'm currently working on a concept for a skin, almost done. You can see it at my wc site (http://pailhead.wincustomize.com). But I'd like to see how you did everything if that's ok.

Thanks...

For those that have trouble seeing the images, right-click on the "x" where the pic would be, click Properties, then copy the url to a separate window. Once I opened each image separately, I refreshed this window and all was as it should be.

Thanks for the tip!

Sign Up or Login and this ad disappears!
There are many great features available to you once you register. Sign Up for a free account and browse the forums without ads.