SkinStudio 4.5 released

Support for alpha blended Start Menus, better MSStyles support

http://www.skinstudio.net
from WinCustomize Forums

SkinStudio 4.5 has been released.  SkinStudio is a free program that makes it relatively easy for artists/skinners to create their own interfaces for Microsoft Windows. With it, users create visual styles that can then be applied with Stardock's WindowBlinds GUI customization program (www.windowblinds.net). When installed, it also enables users of WindowBlinds to seamlessly make use of visual styles that are in .MSStyles format. It includes support for both the WindowBlinds skin format as well as USF (Universal Skin Format).

Version 4.5 adds support for creating per-pixel alpha blended Windows XP Start menus, random window frames, Unicode support, and vastly improved MSStyles importing options.

Stardock also makes SkinStudio Pro which supports making Windows Media Player skins and soon Firefox skins. The Pro version is also part of Stardock's Object Desktop suite of desktop enhancement utilities (www.objectdesktop.com).

12,303 views 20 replies
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
MSStyles importing options vastly improved, now this i like.
Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Great job. I'm gonna have to do a WB skin again soon.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sounds very exciting!
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Excellent news
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Really great. Waiting for Firefox enabled Version.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Now if I only could figure out how to take an existing skin and make the start menu alpha blended. Any ideas?
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sounds great! Wish I could get it!
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
AT1981, i think you'll have to make new tga images for that particular start panel btw, keep up the good work over at neowin.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
AT1981, i think you'll have to make new tga images for that particular start panel btw, keep up the good work over at neowin.


Arrgggg....I was really hoping we could just open an exisiting theme, play around with a few setting and boom...get some alpha blending
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, just open the panel, convert it to tga, remove the magic pink, put in some sorta aero affect or whatever, then import the image into Skinstudio as a tga.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, just open the panel, convert it to tga, remove the magic pink, put in some sorta aero affect or whatever, then import the image into Skinstudio as a tga.



What do you use to convert a bmp to tga? Photoshop?
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
im actually surprised stardock doesnt have a lil test skin or something for peeps to play with and learn from. how do you guys test this stuff fully without a skin?
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
# 12 Convert the .bmp to a .png. when skinstudio imports the image it will automatically convert the .png to a .tga image.

# 13 There is a test skin included.



Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
# 13 There is a test skin included.


Its called Pearlthane and is now available in the Windowblinds library here on the site.
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Random window frames....normally there are only two sets of windowborders in each set of frame images....active and inactive. With random window frames you can have multiple sets of window frames with in a set of images and windowblinds will randomly choose which windowborders to use.
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
A quick question, I've noticed that UIS1 skins are capable of having blurred shadows in the window title bar font, while UIS2 skins can't. Will we be getting UIS2 skins with blurred titlebar fonts soon?