SkinStudio is a program that lets you create skins for Windows XP, 2000, 98, and ME which are applied via WindowBlinds. Version 1.6 is a major update to SkinStudio in the following ways:
- It now natively supports SmartButtons (Smartbuttons are designed to replace hard coded buttons like Roll-ups and always on top buttons, A smart button can be set by the user to be any type of button they want. So rather than downloading a skin that has a roll-up button only, the user can switch that button to open up their browser to a specific website for instance).
- It will now let users convert their UIS2 skins (which 99% of WB skins are) into the new UIS1 skin type introduced in WindowBlinds 3.1 (to be made public next week). UIS1 skins aren't as powerful as UIS2 skins but are twice as fast and don't have any known compatibility issues with poorly behaving apps. (the limit on UIS1 skins is that you can't have transparent left, right or bottom borders and they all have to be the same size). Many UIS2 skins can be done as UIS1 and with the new SkinStudio they can become UIS1 in seconds (the speed difference is very noticeable - a UIS1 skin with hardware assist can be FASTER than Windows unskinned in certain cases).
- The preview window is now using the actual WindowBlinds engine which makes it more accurate (instead of constantly having to save your skin and apply it via WindowBlinds to see if you got it right).
- It is now easier to create your own font objects and use them in the skin.
- It is now easier to add standard title bar buttons (before when adding a button it would list every possible type of button WindowBlinds supported -- theyt are like 40 different types when 99% of the time skin authors just want to add a close, min, max, or restore button).
- It is now much easier to alpha blend parts of the GUI. WindowBlinds 3.1, for instance, supports TARGA (.tga) files with an alpha channel.
- SkinStudio will now automatically insert a copyright message into the skin so that anyone thinking of "ripping" will see the "scarey message".
- Now users can insert a Windows XP start bar into their skin without having Windows XP.
- The big one for new skin authors and this needs to be explained a bit: From the template tool, a user can load up a bitmap mockup of what they want to create. From there, they can drag select different parts of their template and assign it to particular parts of the skin. For example, you could load up the down state of a button you created, select it and assign it to be the down state. If you're new to skinning, this is a big deal because button states (up, down, disabled, etc.) in skins are handled as a single bit bitmap that contains all the states in them. It's traditionally been a pain to have to work with them that way. Now you can load up individual states that you created in Photoshop or whatever and assign them and SkinStudio will insert them into the proper state spot in the button bitmap image list. In a nutshell, it means that now new skin authors don't have to memorize all those different states anymore for buttons and checboxes and title bars and whatnot. They simply load up the bitmap they drew and select it, assign it and SkinStudio takes care of the painful part automatically.
Stardock also has available SkinStudio PRO. The Pro version lets users import pieces from other skins and also includes a "widget" library of licensed skin parts (including Treetog's Sputnik skin pieces) that users can use in their skins (i.e. import a scrollbar widget into your skin so that you don't have to create your own from scratch). SkinStudio Pro can be had for $19.95 (or you can get Object Desktop which comes with SkinStudio).
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