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[Skinner]

Why is there no minimize button on the Mini-Me skins?  And how can I add one by editing the xml document?

[Skinner]

By the way, I just figured out how to add a minimize button, because I am amazing.  But it is still interesting as to why they didn't put in there in the first place.

[Doof]

It depends on the skinner. The two that I ported had minimize buttons, and the one that ZRocker posted had one as well.

[ZRocker]

Try these.

[Doof]

Here's my two...

Windows XP
Goo

[tdillard]

Doof,
    Maybe it's just my browser but I don't think so, click on the links you posted for your skins and got a file not found error.

[Doof]

Ah, got it. Thanks.

Those links work now.

[EdJones321]

Hey Doof, how were u able to convert windows media player skins to media jukebox?

[Doof]

I had to edit the graphics a bit. The graphics style of WMP8 skins are very similar to that of MJ. By that I mean that they both may have a button image that's 3 or 4 images in a row, each representing a different state of the button. So that wasn't too bad.

I also had to create an XML file to put it all together.

I'm working on doing this with the default Sonique skin as well. It's not as easy, though, because I can't get the images directly out of the skin like I can with WMP skins. WMP skins are basically just zip files with a different extension, just like MJ skins. With Sonique, though, I have to take screenshots of each button in each state.

Of course I wouldn't have to plagiarize quite so shamelessly if somebody would teach me how to draw cool stuff with Photoshop.

[Shawn Rebelo]

What do you want to know?
As far as PS. What version of PS do you have?

[Doof]

I have Photoshop 6.

What I want to know is... How do I create stuff?

I've just seen some really amazing things come from people using Photoshop and I can't believe that it's all hand drawn. There's got to be some sort of trick to it. Like metallic effects or that weird green gooey look on that Goo skin. I just don't understand how people can draw something, pixel by pixel and make it look like shiny aluminum or something. So I figure there's got to be a trick to it.

So is there? Or do I really just not have an artistic bone in my body?

[Shawn Rebelo]

Alot of it is plugins. Alien Eye candy can give you the glass, metal, and beveled effect. But there are other ways of getting the beveled effect.

These 3 are created using alien eye candy:






For a bevel effect.
Go to your color options for the paint bucket:

Make one a dark color and the other a light color.

Then go to your pain bucket, click it and select the graient tool:


Create a box with the marquee tool:

Your pointer will be a little plus icon. Go to the bottom of the box, click and drag it to the top.

In my picture, dragging from top to bottom makes the dark color on the dop and the light color on the bottom. So basically the background color box will be on the top. Dragging from bottom to top will be reveresed.

Thats your bevel effect.

To make things look like buttons.
Make a box on one layer. Make a new layer and change opacity to 30%:

Change your paint color to white.

Now, on the top of the image draw a line across the top, maybe using marquee and paint inside of it with paint bucket, make a white line. Do the same on the left. Now on the bottom and rght side do black.
So it should look like this.


Now, you can keep doing this bevel effect for each pixel. Just keep going to the center and making the black lighter and the white darker. This will give you a deeper bevel effect.


The way i did my gradient gives it somewhat of an inset effect. Reversing it would give you an outset effect.

Once you get to know how to use the tools you can look at other people work and get an idea of how they did it.

You can find alot by searching for photoshop tricks. SOme sites give alot of detail and how to work with tools.

[Doof]

Hey, thanks! That's a big help. I wish I could get more PS for dummies lessons this way, but I'm sure you've got better things to do.

Know of any good tutorials on the web anywhere?

[Shawn Rebelo]

http://www.designsbymark.com/pstips/index.shtml
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/9571/tips.html

Are just a couple I just found.

[sekim]

Shawn,

Does the full blown version of PS have layer styles and the like? I've got PS Elements, and to make a beveled example like what you show above, is simply a matter of sizing image and dragging whatever type of bevel from the layer styles on to your image. Trying to say - It doesn't take me as many steps as you. Of course gradients and the like are also available.

[sekim]

A few quick examples.