Help Editing Skins!

from WinCustomize Forums
Hi! Merry Christmas, everybody!

I need help editing skins....

1. Most of the skins I download don't have their own wallpaper or the wallpaper is downloadable by a separate link..... for skins which have no substyles, assigning the wallpapers is not a problem, but how do I do that for skins which have more than one substyle? Do I change it individually for all substyles or can I do it once for all the substyles? (p.s: I own WindowBlinds & SkinStudio, both full registered versions)

2. I am very choosy about the skin & the folder name. For eg: I don't like the skin name to be "sputnik_wb".... I want to rename it as: "Sputnik" i.e I want the name to be clear & should start with a capital letter, or in other words, I want to refine the skin name. Again, for skins with no substyles, I can simply save it using a different refined name I want.... how do I do this for skins with many substyles? When I "Save As" using a different name, only the one substyle I saved as appears in the new renamed skin, the other substyles don't appear in the newly saved skin.

3. Regarding assigning wallpapers, I was told how to do it in these forums as: "Copy the .jpeg file to the folder & edit in SkinStudio-> selectdesktop-> select desktop wallpaper-> adjusted image-> then select the wallpaper from that list". The wallpaper doesn't appear in the list, so I right-click on desktop wallpaper & import the file.... this saves the imported wallpaper as a .bmp file, which takes up a lot of space compared to a jpeg file..... Can't I use a jpeg file directly?

4. Some skins which have their own wallpaper have wallpapers of larger resolutions, eg: 1600*1200... my desktop resolution is 1024*768. So, the wallpaper which is applied with the skin is either unsmooth when I select stretch option in display properties; or is too large & only a part of it is seen when I select "centre" option. Is there any way for WindowBlinds to automatically resize the wallpaper so that it fits smoothly & entirely on my resolution, or do I have to convert all the wallpapers of different resolutions to my resolution & edit the skins in Skin Studio?

That's my queries. Thanks to anyone who helps, & sorry for the sheer volume of this post! I couldn't make it smaller, for wanted to lay every detail on the table. Cheers!
skinning
2,597 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
4. Open WB configuration and choose change my wallpaper - then click the hammer/wrench and select 'smart mode' under the wallpaper mode drop down. - then use WB to apply the wall - I just put a 1600x1200 in 'smart mode' on my 1024x768 and it puts it in pretty nice
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for your input, Bichur. I did that & the image does fit, but the clarity does not equal that of using acdsee to resize pictures & then applying it..... but i guess i cant expect that precision in this. here, the resized image has jagged edges (sort of like running a game without anti-aliasing). but i guess this will do. thanks!
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
how does resizing in acdsee compare to irfanview?
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
by this, you mean Irfanview is better?

i was asking, having not used acdsee.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ohh..... sorry, Bichur. I guess I misunderstood you. I haven't much used irfanview, but I once saw the product info, & by that info I am assuming irfanview is ONLY for editing images..... not specifically meant for applying wallpapers or browsing through your pics, & since ACDSee can do both, I thought you were giving an analogy between the two! (you know, the one totally meant for a thing is far better that one which has a dual purpose..... you get what I'm telling?)   

Never mind! Frankly, ACDSee rocks, especially version 9. It's worth the price, & it also looks great & managing your pics couldn't get easier. I highly recommend you to try it.

And where is this topic going? help me with my questions, people!
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
1) Pretty sure you have to set it for each substyle.

2) I don't know of any easy way to do this. (I actually don't a hard way either, but someone might)

3) I don't if this has changed recently, but in the past WindowBlinds did not recognize wallpapers in any format other than BMP.

4)
Is there any way for WindowBlinds to automatically resize the wallpaper so that it fits smoothly & entirely on my resolution


With the new wallpaper changer in WB Config, the Smart Mode may work for you. I can't say as I haven't tested it much. (I do know it doesn't handle a wall made for a dual monitor correctly).

Sorry I can't be of more help.......



Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
assuming Irfanview is ONLY for editing images..... not specifically meant for applying wallpapers or browsing through your pics,


it will apply pics as walls and in preview mode you can 'slide show' through folders browsing your walls

I've gotten it to do a pretty good resample/resize on occasion

have also had some decent turnouts using PSP8 - open an oversized wall, open a new blank at 1024x768, copy the wall and paste into the blank as a new selection, then resize the selection to fit.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Try this...go to cnet.com and download Irfanview (it's a freebie). After installing it click on wall you want to resize. Irfanview will open it up. Top bar there is image...click on that and a dialogue box appears giving you different resize options.On the right is 1024x768, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200. On the left is custom resize. Click on your screen size your then click on resize/resample and Irfanview will resize with the correct aspect ratio. I use it constantly and have never had a problem.
Hope this helps.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
OH...forgot one thing...Irfanview will handle jpeg, gif, bmp and png formats.