WindowBlinds Web Site (new skins!) WindowBlinds Discussion Forum Learn about ObjectDesktop.net!

Creating a Skin

Believe it or not, it's relatively simple to create your own custom personalities for WindowBlinds. In their most basic form, a personality consists of a text file defining the location of bitmaps, functions for the skin, and its buttons. 

All you really need is a text editor (even Notepad will do :) and a program that can save .BMP files (MS Paint). However, you can get fancy in the creation of the graphics with almost any program you like. Some people use Adobe Photoshop, other swear by Paint Shop Pro, and some people even go so far as to render all their graphics in higher-end packages.

BuilderBlinds is an application available from Stardock that simplifies the skin creation process. Object Desktop users can download it via the Component Manager or you can find it on our website at http://www.stardock.com/products/BuilderBlinds. Stardock also maintains a newsgroup for discussion of BuilderBlinds on our news server at news://news.stardock.com/stardock.windowblinds.builderblinds

Look at how your favorite skins are put together to see how they work their magic. Visit http://www.windowblinds.net for links to a tutorial and the complete skin format guide. 

Keep those great skins coming!