BOOT SKIN BIT

First of all, the bootscreen itself needs to be a 4-bit (16 color) BMP. Only the preview image should be a JPG.

Second, You don''t need to use Skin Studio to convert the image to 4 bit. You can do this quite easily in Photoshop and with more control.

Third, the key is to use as few colors as possible in the original image. 4-bit 16-colors means that there may be a maximum of 16 colors total in the final image. The more colors you use in the original image, the more colors will be eliminated by averaging in the final image. So try to keep your color depth down as you create the original, and you won''t be nearly as disappointed with the results after conversion. In fact, if you create the image as a 4-bit graphic to begin with, you won''t need to convert at all.

By the way, gradients, shadows, and antialiasing are among the most likely culprits for adding colors to your graphic. Even if all you use is one hue of blue, there are 65,536 tones and shades of that hue. No matter how much lighter/darker or saturated/unsaturated the shade is, it counts as a different color, even if your eye can''t see the difference.

Thank you very much for your quick and detailed response Shameless D. I have just two question? When you say I can save it in PS7 is it autimatically 4-bit when I save in BMP are do I have to do something special before saving it. (What are the steps to saving it in PS7) Also you mentioned 2 bootskins 1 BMP and 1 JPG can you explain how to use 2 of them?

Thank you for your time, and a message to all of you here your work is outstanding!!!

Thank you...

the image the program bootskin uses is a bmp and you have to tell your software what level of color you want to use, by default, I think it will save as a 24-bit bmp. The jpg is the preview image that is uploaded along with, but separately from your bootskin and it is recommended that it be made from the 4-bit bmp so that the true appearance is shown in the preview.

Okay thank you I do understand what you''re saying. I just went and made a bootskin in PS7 and saved it in BMP but the lowest I can get it is 16 bit. How do I set it to save in 4 bit so it ready to load?

You are also correct about the default it is 24 bit which the JPG was saved in.

Please tell me what programs you use to make them and maybe that will give a better idea of how to control the bit...

Thank you very much i do appreciate the help...

Markess

Make sure the image you are working with is already 640x480 bmp. Then go to Image => Mode => Indexed Color. Change the number of colors to 16. The program will choose a custom 16-color palette for you. If you are also using a progress bar make sure it has the same custom 16-color palette.

Yes that's it thank you... I just need to watch my color ions and the highlights that I add and I should be fine.

Thank you very much,
Markess