Windows Classic

from Stardock Forums
Hello all,
I have been experiencing lots of trouble trying to create skins.
Basically what i would like to do is start from a windows classic-windows standard coloring set and modify a few elements:
-make the windows titles thinner
-make decent looking sliders(standard scrollbars are fine though)
-make windows borders as thin as possible(1pixel black square is fine)
-get it fast
-reduce all parts that take space to a minimum(aka small borders)
-leave the rest as is

I tried editing the windows classic skin in skinstudio but it would go haywire.
I tried editing existing skins but they would all eventually start getting crashy(i had to restart quite a few times because of validated skins that made the whole windows ui unusable).
I tried every single option in the create new skin but they either come with "bloated" parts that i didnt want or parts that could not be deleted.
Another thing i noticed is that windowblinds does not seem to be working for per-apps if the main skin is windows classic.
And another thing is that windowblinds doesnt seem to respect at all the preferences i give it in "Basic settings".(It does respect a few but most get just ignored, like even if i untick "scrollbars" they get modified)


That's all,
Thanks for any help,

DeathWolf
windowblinds
3,160 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Windows Classic is not a WindowBlinds skin, so it can't be edited in the same way, except for the modifications you can make using the Display Properties Appearance dialog when WindowBlinds is not running.

Having Windows Classic and the XP Theme listed as if they were "skins" in the WBConfig dialog is a little counterintuitive & might lead you to think WindowBlinds could "apply" them just like any other WB skin, but that is not the case. WB uses that method (selecting Classic or XP) as a convenient way to "unload" itself & stop skinning. When you are in Classic or XP, WindowBlinds is not running, which is why per-app settings are ignored, and you are limited to what changes the OS itself will let you do.

In order for the GUI to have the attributes you list above, you would need a skinning engine (WindowBlinds) running a skin that has been designed to look like Windows Classic but with the characteristics you want, such as the single-pixel borders and narrower Titlebar. I don't know if any such skins have been created, but I know of at least one skin that incorporates all the characteristics you desire (using the least possible screen real estate for the GUI elements) except one: it doesn't look like Windows Classic.

It happens to have been published by... (drumroll, please)... Daiwa. It's called Crisp and you can download it from WinCustomize - just type Crisp in the search box of the WindowBlinds gallery. If it's not to your taste in terms of color or other aspects, you can modify it to your heart's content (for personal use, of course) using SkinStudio to get just the GUI you want.

Good luck.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
great response Daiwa!

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
thanks!
on a side note, is that a skin i can directly edit?
most skin i found so far would bug when i edited them with skinstudio(non validating parts even just after opening them)

EDIT: i found a nice one that's called 521design too, although it has a left border that woudl be nice to remove(i tried but it's one of these skins that seem to make skinstudio go unhappy)
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Editing the skin involves editing the graphics and modifying the sizing margins and content margins. There's no way to give you specific instructions because every skin is a little different, but some rules of them when editing will help avoid WB crashing.

Probably the most important one is making sure that the tiles of each graphic are of the same size. Most of the graphics WB uses are composites, so to speak, of the images for all the possible states of the screen element being painted (normal, mouseover, pressed, disabled, etc.) with each image being a "tile" and with the tiles usually arrayed horizontally & sequenced from left to right. Some, however, are vertically tiled so you have to pay attention. In general, using images of even-number size will work out better, but that's not mandatory strictly speaking - as long as the tiles are all of the same dimension, you'll not ordinarily have difficulty.

The other thing to realize is that you can't just change the graphic for the left border only, for instance, because in the case of the borders, the right and left ends of the Titlebar are actually part of the right & left border images and they have to "match up" to look right. You'll usually have to modify one or two other contiguous sections of graphics - there is virtually always a domino effect.

You can also get a lot of information from the WB tutorials - links to them are in a side panel toward the bottom right of the WinCustomize home page. That would be a good place to start, then spend some time exploring the graphics & attribute settings for a skin or two to see what/how others have done.

Good luck.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The Edit link is still broken here, but what I meant to say in line 2 above was "some rules of thumb..,".

Also, yes, you are welcome to edit Crisp. The easiest way to do that is by using SkinStudio.