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Island Dog
Island Dog
Join Date 06/2003
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ATTENTION SKINNERS: New Skin Preview Recommendations

August 3, 2020 12:28:12 PM from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

As some of you might have already noticed, we have made updates to the preview images on WinCustomize. There was a couple of reasons this was changed, and one of those is for in-app browsing of skins.

With these changes made, and that we have several apps already supporting in-app browsing, we are asking all skinners and uploaders to now upload preview images in a 16:9 format.

We are specifically recommending (and this has been noted on the upload page) a 1920x1080 resolution for your preview images.

Right now we want to get the word out about the changes, but in the coming weeks this will become more of a requirement to ensure a consistent preview experience.

Thanks for your support and for all the wonderful creations you share with the community!

 

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teddybearcholla
Island Dog
LightStar
Join Date 12/2002
+1513
Reply #1 August 3, 2020 12:57:52 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Thanks Spencer, mine are in 2560 x 1440 format, you think they should be reduced to 1920 x 1080 then? Also, some of my older skins that I am updated were 1920 x 1200 and they show Win 7/8/10 stuff, and I am only using Windows 10 now and cannot redo the images for the 7 and 8 stuff, can I leave them as is?

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Island Dog
Island Dog
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Reply #2 August 3, 2020 1:10:02 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Yeah pretty much anything 16:9 should be good. We're just using 1920x1080 as a general recommendation just as we used to require that previews be at least 1024x768.

16:9 aspect ratio: 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160, 5120×2880, 7680×4320

I don't think it's necessary to update any older screenshots unless someone wants to. We're just wanting people to get into the new resolutions going forward.

 

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Island Dog
Neil Banfield
Join Date 04/2001
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Reply #3 August 3, 2020 1:23:25 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

The key thing is unusual shapes like taller than wide images are less than ideal and 4:3 aspect ratios are rather dated.

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Island Dog
LightStar
Join Date 12/2002
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Reply #4 August 3, 2020 1:57:49 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Understood, thanks ...

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Island Dog
AzDude
Join Date 11/2002
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Reply #5 August 3, 2020 2:05:11 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Got It 16.9 previews ( mine have been 16.9 for a long time now ...

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Island Dog
Neil Banfield
Join Date 04/2001
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Reply #6 August 3, 2020 3:10:22 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

There is one other request.  Don't make the first line of your description the exact same text as the skin / dream title.  This can lead to two lines of identical text being next to each other which doesn't look ideal.

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Island Dog
LightStar
Join Date 12/2002
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Reply #7 August 3, 2020 6:09:23 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Neil Banfield,
reply 6

There is one other request.  Don't make the first line of your description the exact same text as the skin / dream title.  This can lead to two lines of identical text being next to each other which doesn't look ideal.

The skin title within the first line of text at all, or just the first word in the description Neil?

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Island Dog
Dcrew57
Join Date 09/2007
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Reply #8 August 3, 2020 7:05:45 PM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

2560 x 1440 myself. Business as usual then. This must be what was driving the post asking peoples resolutions for wallpapers.  

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Island Dog
2of3
Join Date 10/2006
+816
Reply #9 August 4, 2020 6:44:23 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Are you requesting that we don't do 3 frame stacked previews as well? Like in this example:

The total image is 1920 x 3240 = 3 frames of 1920 x 1080

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Island Dog
Neil Banfield
Join Date 04/2001
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Reply #10 August 4, 2020 6:57:39 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting 2of3,
reply 9

Are you requesting that we don't do 3 frame stacked previews as well? Like in this example:

The total image is 1920 x 3240 = 3 frames of 1920 x 1080

Reduced 37%
 
Original 1920 x 3240


The problem with those is they are very tall so the in app UI can't show them well.  Ideally we would allow multiple screenshots per theme as it would avoid the need.

The only possibility to handle those would be for the app to realise the aspect ratio is that of 2/3/4 or whatever stacked images and break them up locally.

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Island Dog
2of3
Join Date 10/2006
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Reply #11 August 4, 2020 7:50:55 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Neil Banfield,
reply 10

The problem with those is they are very tall so the in app UI can't show them well. Ideally we would allow multiple screenshots per theme as it would avoid the need.
I would love the function of multiple screenys.

would 4 frames in "window pane" format like this be an option?

 

 

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Island Dog
Neil Banfield
Join Date 04/2001
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Reply #12 August 4, 2020 8:08:31 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting 2of3,
reply 11


Quoting Neil Banfield,
reply 10

The problem with those is they are very tall so the in app UI can't show them well. Ideally we would allow multiple screenshots per theme as it would avoid the need.

I would love the function of multiple screenys.

would 4 frames in "window pane" format like this be an option?

Reduced 87%
Original 960 x 540

As thats still 16:9 yes it would show better than the tall version.

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Island Dog
2of3
Join Date 10/2006
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Reply #13 August 4, 2020 8:20:56 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Quoting Neil Banfield,
reply 12

As thats still 16:9 yes it would show better than the tall version.
Thanks.

I'm sure that you understand that it's not always possible to show off the different aspects of one's skin in a single 1920x1080 shot. I will keep this in mind on my future uploads.

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Island Dog
Island Dog
Join Date 06/2003
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Reply #14 August 26, 2020 9:23:39 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

Just an update to this. Thanks to all the skinners who have been adjusting their previews for their new uploads.

Starting over the next few days, we're going to start making this more of a requirement for uploads.   

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Island Dog
neone6
Join Date 12/2010
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Reply #15 September 13, 2022 8:24:10 AM
from WinCustomize ForumsWinCustomize Forums

K' -Gotit   

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