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TasT
TasT
Join Date 03/2001
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Skin and Wallpaper Guidelines #2

October 24, 2004 6:36:02 PM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

    Having been part of the Windows OS customization community for quite some time, I have watched as people whine and complain when their skin or Wallpaper get a low rating or get moderated.  The purpose of this article is to give the new artist or skinner a heads up on what causes this.  As you read this remember that this is just a guide to assist you, not a hard, fast set of rules.

If you haven't already, you should read the first installment of this guide. Wallpaper Guidelines

     Before we get into the heart of this I want to remind everyone that if you are an Amateur (read: not getting paid to skin) It's all about you.  If you are happy with your skin or wall then that's all that matters. Chances are if you really like it others will to.  You may not get as many downloads as PixStudio, but they are making stuff to make the masses happy.  You should be making stuff to make you happy.  With that said let's get started.

 

Things to Avoid:

Jaggies- Edges that are not smoothed or blended.  I know that some skins are designed with jaggies intentionally but, for the most part one jagged edge in a wall or skin can doom it.

Filters - Kaleidoscope, Swirl and various other filters can be very useful however, they should not be the entire basis for a wallpaper or skin. One tip in this, I you enjoy using various filters to create walls do them in separate layers and experiment with the blending modes.  You can come up with some amazing stuff this way and it doesn't have the "I use one filter to create this" look that is obvious to anyone that has been in the community for very long and will surly get your submission "Moderated".

Text On a Wall - I have saw so many excellent walls that were ruined by text.  The comments will read something like this, "Great wall but the text takes away from the look".  If text is not an integral part of the wall just skip it.  Especially if it is the name of the wall.  Trust me if people like the wall they will remember it's name with no need to remind them every time they look at it.

Text On a Skin - This one really irritates me.  As I said about walls there is no reason to remind people what the skin name is, if it is a good skin they will remember.  The name of the skin does not need to be on the title bar, start panel, start button or anywhere else for that matter.  For those who skin for money this in unavoidable I know. A company is not going to pay if their name is not on the skin so as usual there is an exception. 

Use of Default Graphics - This pertains mostly to WindowBlinds skins. SkinStudio provides a fairly extensive set of default graphics, however these graphics are there to give you an example of how to build that particular piece of the skin.  They are great to use as a template for building your own graphics but, do not leave any of the default graphics in your final skin.

Terrain Generators - I know the power that these programs provide look like the holy grail for the new wallpaper designer.  They are not, believe me, there are few people that can really exploit the full potential of Bryce, Terragen or any of the others.  If you are not one of these few you will get a low rating or moderated.  

Fractal Generators - A person can goof around with a fractal generator and come up with some pretty amazing stuff.  However much like using other filters or graphics generators  a fractal needs something to support it. Something as simple as a gradient background can make all the difference.  The thing here is that just like with a terrain generator anyone can mess with the setting and create something.  The art is how that something is presented most of the time they are presented as a single layer on a solid background, this is boring.  Be creative when using fractals.

 

    As I have stated before these are guidelines, not rules.  I am not and never will be an elite skinner of wallpaper designer.  I offer this article from experiences that I have had or witnessed in the past few years, so that you might be that elite skinner of wallpaper designer.

    If  you fee that there are more guidelines that need to be added to this please either comment or send it to me through email.

My Wincustomize Gallery

My LotsOfSkins Profile

Examples of excellent stuff:

Essorant's Wincustomize Site - WindowBlinds Master

Tiggz Wincustomize Site - Windowblinds, DesktopX and More!

Mormegil's wincustomize Site - The Master of Icons.

MikeB314's Wincustomize Site - All around Excellence

Xoxroth's LotsOfSkins Profile - One of the few masters of the terrain generator

 

Thank you all for reading.  When i have some more time I'll try to put together a positive article on what to do when making skins and Wallpapers. 

beginners
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TasT
Matchbook
Join Date 08/2003
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Reply #1 October 25, 2004 8:16:13 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
I see Terragen being compared to Bryce all the time but I see it as unfair treatment for Terragen. The only similarity TG and Bryce share is the "newb" aspect of it; the user clicking a few buttons and "rendering". The similarities stop there.

The new Bryce user can create a glass orb over some default water and it will look EXACTLY the same as the "expert" who does the same thing. There's no real science involved for that.

I can, however, immediately tell the difference between a "mountain and sky" piece from a newbie and the same terrain from a Terragen "expert". Accurate atmospheres, wonderful surface maps, a total cohesion of design skills and true-to-life texturing. A good example of a Terragen expert is:
http://www.begann.de
Some people spend years trying to perfect Terragen and never attain it. In my opinion, from using both, Terragen is the far more difficult program to render truly awe-inspiring images in. No "newbie" would ever, even accidentally, render images like Markus [begann.de].

My point? I suppose I tire of seeing Terragen and Bryce always mentioned together - it almost serves to devalidate the incredible works of true Terragen masters the world-wide. [I'm NOT one of them hehe ]

Another wallpaper gripe I have is the preoccupation of some in guestimating how long any given wallpaper "must have taken to make". To me it's absolutely irrelevant. Some of my greater download numbers and comments have been from, literally, 3-minute Bryce abstracts. The public doesn't care what filters were used or what tools/plugins were implemented - they just want cool backgrounds for their desktops. Sometimes simple IS effective here. While I agree that the person should be as creative as possible and go that extra mile to make their work even more than it could be, I don't think a wallpaper should be judged overly harshly just because some Photoshop or Bryce lover can pinpoint some of the tools used to create it. It just seems unfair. If the wallpaper "works", meaning it's not too cluttery, if the wallpaper is of a cohsive design [it all goes together] and doesn't contain jaggies and such, there's really nothing wrong with it, EVEN IF you can see that he/she used the "so and so" filter.
Most of what I write today isn't geared at the author of this article, but moreso an observation of the "wallpaper community".

Overall I agree with all of these rules -- well written. -- Thanks for sharing mate.
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TasT
TasT
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #2 October 25, 2004 9:18:44 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
The article is written to let the new designer know the pitfalls of certain things, Bryce and Terragen are both programs that take considerable practice to master. Bryce does lend it's self to abstract's and is easier to learn.

the user clicking a few buttons and "rendering"


This is what I am trying to warn about.

and Thanks for adding your thoughts.
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TasT
Tiggz
Join Date 08/2003
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Reply #3 October 30, 2004 8:56:21 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
interesting article and thanks for the flattery of linking to my homepages (even if the actual link goes to Essorant's page, hehe)
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TasT
TasT
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #4 October 30, 2004 9:02:55 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Sorry Tiggz

It's all fixed now...
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TasT
Tiggz
Join Date 08/2003
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Reply #5 October 30, 2004 1:53:28 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
no worries
sorry I ignored your advice about skin names on the start panel
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TasT
Corky_O
Join Date 04/2004
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Reply #6 November 1, 2004 3:01:09 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Question on the following line:

"Edges that are not smoothed or blended. I know that some skins are designed with jaggies
intentionally but, for the most part one jagged edge in a wall or skin can doom it".

Any advise for Photoshop user on this one?

What tools or methods work best for smoothing or blending (other than Gaussian Blur, which seems inefficient for actual blending of outer lines)?


Any ideas would be welcome.
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TasT
TasT
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #7 November 1, 2004 5:09:26 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
I use vectors, they smooth the edges for you... but I also use PaintShop Pro. I have to fiddle with different blur filters each time I do something in photo shop to get things to look the way I want. Maybe someone else have a proven method?
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TasT
Tiggz
Join Date 08/2003
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Reply #8 November 1, 2004 6:05:17 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
I use photoshop and have quite a good trick for anti-aliasing jagged edges. I normally use masks alot rather than areas of colour, as it makes it easier to change the colour at will, and the anti-aliasing tip is to do with smoothing out the edges of the mask. Unlink the mask from the layer and, making sure the mask is selected and not the actual layer, apply a gaussian blur, anywhere from 1 or 2 pixels to 4 or more (if you want to round off some corners too for example). Then hit ctrl-L to adjust the levels. Drag the sliders towards the centre until the desired balance between smoothness and fuzziness is achieved. If the pair of sliders are towards the left you will increasethe size of the selection slightly, and if they are towards the right you will decrease it.

It's a bit tricky to explain, I hope I made it clear enough. It's a very handy technique that I use all the time.
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TasT
Corky_O
Join Date 04/2004
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Reply #9 November 1, 2004 6:06:19 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Thanx.

Question on vectors. I have PaintShop Pro also, and my question is: do you make your design as a vector layer - and do you set up the tools before creating to prevent ragged edges?

Then rasterize? Or remain as vectors and save as PNG for instance?
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TasT
TasT
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Reply #10 November 1, 2004 6:40:12 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
I do the design work in Vector layers with the anitaliasing on, therefore eliminating the jagged edges and save it that way, then save as a raster format such as jpg or png, through the export optimizer tools in the file menu.

You can also eliminate the edges in a raster piece by using the smodge, push or soften brushes on the tools toolbar. By using one of the brushes you have fine control over what your smoothing. Though Tiggs method would be easier and quicker. With excellent results as you can see from his gallery!
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TasT
Corky_O
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Reply #11 November 1, 2004 8:33:23 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Tiggz and TasT,

Thank you very much.

I believe I understand both ideas in a basic way, and should be able to play around with both methods to learn them.

Again, I would like to express my gratitude for the help.
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TasT
I.R. Brainiac
Join Date 05/2003
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Reply #12 November 2, 2004 8:06:55 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums
Much good advice here...tho I break one of one of your guidelines nearly all the time(valid tho it is)...I cant seem to refrain from putting text on walls and WB's. I'm trying to cut back or at least make it less obstrusive...truth is,it has probably been responsible for more rejected walls than anything.

I like it when a WB and matching wall have the name of the skin on them...if done well.(I'm still working on that,hehe)
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