StyleSkin creates skins from a template. This template defines, by color, the different areas of a skin. e.g. By default any areas which are pure green are turned into display areas, and any areas which are pure red are turned into buttons. You can read more about skins and the concepts behind skinning, as well as an overview and step-by-step guide to using StyleSkin in Help. You can press F1 at any time to bring up help.
Creating Your Template
You will be presented by default with a template you can edit right in StyleSkin, you can just adjust the template to suit you. You can add new shapes by clicking on "Draw New Shape" and drawing the shape, or by copying and pasting existing shapes. Alternatively, as you become more advanced, you could draw your template as a bitmap in a graphics editor. This allows you to have any shape you desire for the different areas of your template.
Choosing Your Skin Properties
StyleSkin allows you to set all the different features of your skin. From the texture, to the colors, to the depth... to all the rest, StyleSkin allows you to adjust them all. Just experiment with the different sliders and textures to gain an appreciation of what they do. If you find you have adjusted things to a state where you do not like the effect you are getting, you can always click on the Effects menu and choose from a range of predefined settings!
Render Your Skin!
When you are ready to render your skin you can click Render, Complete Skin. This will cause StyleSkin to run through and render all the different elements of your skin. If you are not happy with a particular element, remember you do not have to re-render the entire skin. To render a particular element, just click Render, and then click the element you wish to render. Have Fun!
Finding More Help is Easy
If at any time you wish to find out more about any part of StyleSkin, you can press the F1 key to bring up Help. If you want specific help on any element of the display, simply click "What's This" on the "Help" menu (or hold Shift and press F1), and then click the field you are interested in. If you wish to find out more about any menu item, simply highlight the menu item with your mouse and click F1. Don't forget to check out the Tip of the Day for more hints and help!
