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[dypsis]

This is a great skin, but how did you get the slim bar at the top of your screenshot?

PS: I would love to see this style of skin with a Vista look about it.

[Dotpitch]

...how did you get the slim bar at the top of your screenshot?

That's mini-mode, doubleclick somewhere in the main window to toggle it.

[dypsis]

...how did you get the slim bar at the top of your screenshot?

That's mini-mode, doubleclick somewhere in the main window to toggle it.

Thanks mate... 

[Rah'Dick]

By the way, I didn't receive the source files (yet), so the skin's online on the Support Site without them for now. tniemi, would you be so kind as to send them to support at xmplay dot com?

[tniemi]

Ok! I just sent version 1.2 of this skin to Ian. Should be updated shortly. Changed things include:

• Main screen improvements (at least I think so...)
• Small tweaks here and there. Nothing major.

I was unable to solve the queue number problem. The same color value is used in both list screens, and one of those screens have dark background, the other white...

Anyway, I made a new color variant (see image below) that is not-so-XP as the original version. The new version does not have the queue number problem.

Sources for both versions will be available from the support site. (Sending them right away...)

Again, comments and improvements are welcome. I try to read this forum more closely for the following few days, but direct email (see skin author link in XMplay) works best.

Have fun!

[dypsis]

It looks great tniemi. Keep them coming. 

[tniemi]

Of course NOW I figured out how to fix that pesky little queue thing!!!!!

(resending everything... )

[fromatoz]

veeeery refined looking skin.

bravo!

[Zarggg]

Hooray! If you were female I'd hug you.

[dypsis]

The Sterling Silver variant is excellent.

[Pike84]

Hooray! If you were female I'd hug you.

Hey, this is internet, the poster could be any gender in reality (but it doesn't mean you'd get to hug them anyway )

[tniemi]

Hooray! If you were female I'd hug you.

Hey, this is internet, the poster could be any gender in reality (but it doesn't mean you'd get to hug them anyway )

Or any sexual orientation. (This Is The Internets!) But, hey! There is nothing wrong with awkward man-to-man hug that is totally platonic and not even closely sexually related or gay!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUdWApwbudQ

A platonic man-to-man kiss, on the other hand....
(Isn't that a European habit? Or was it Russian? My cultural knowledge fails me.)

[saga]

it should be ancient greek (hence "platonic" )

[Auren]

it should be ancient greek (hence "platonic" )

Anyway, it is still widely used here in Ukraine and Russia.

[Bistzack]

Anyway, it is still widely used here in Ukraine and Russia.

It seems like in Belarus as well. I can feel it more than enough.

[tniemi]

Anyway, it is still widely used here in Ukraine and Russia.

It seems like in Belarus as well. I can feel it more than enough.

Ah yes, that's it! It was one of those unexpected things to expect when travelling east!

[shamka]

i see a lot of variations that have been uploaded. very good job! can you consider making a shiny black version? pretty please! 

[tniemi]

Hey! You were faster than me!

i see a lot of variations that have been uploaded. very good job! can you consider making a shiny black version? pretty please! 

Let's see... Hopefully I made something better than that. These were the old variations:
    Sterling XP (the original)
    Sterling Silver (light grey)

After that I made this one:
    Sterling Blue (dark blue) (Actually Windows Media Center glassy blue)
and then I converted that one into a Sterling Skinning Kit (!) that will be available via support site.

With that kit I made 7 more variations in about 2 hours. It's way too easy now... The best ones are these:
    Sterling Slate Grey (dark grey)
    Sterling Army Green (green/grey)
    Sterling Baby Blue (light blue)
    Sterling Pink (pink)

The rest of them are bit more like tests and jokes, and will be also available via support site:
    Sterling Winter Camo
    Sterling Hot Dog Stand
    Sterling Zune  Brown

The skinning kit is a bit too fat to fit as an attachment here (1.1 Mb in .7z format), but it contains one smartly layered photoshop image, and a crop-and-save script (requires ImageMagick). The script turns that .psd into working a skin.

This means that 90% of color combinations can now be achieved by the following procedure (from the README.TXT):

The Five Easy Steps
===============

1.  Unzip the Skinning Kit into a new directory under the XMPlay directory.

2.  Open the "skin.psd" template file with your favorite graphics editor.

3.  Adjust the image as you want. It is layered for easy editing!
    Just remember:
        * Keep the green transparency color (00ff00) clean.
        * Keep images where they are. No moving!

4.  Save the image as "skin_variation.png" (or .psd, or something).

5.  Create the skin by executing the following command:
        $ makeskin.bat "skin_variation.png"

Now... I said 90% of color combinations. There are now 7 examples included that are created with that kit. Black is not one of them, because if you create a black theme you probably want to match the black Vista theme, and I do not have a Vista. This is the first reason.

The second one is that black and white are the most difficult theme colors, because in reality, they are not black or white. They grey. So you have to match the "greyness" very exactly to get that black look. Or white. They're tricky.

So, perhaps I will make an official(?) black version, but perhaps now someone else can do it also.

[tniemi]

The skinning kit is a bit too fat to fit as an attachment here (1.1 Mb in .7z format)

Okay, I made a 'lite' version of the skinning kit. I stripped away most of the variation sources and now it's only 374 Kb.

[dypsis]

Nice work tniemi. I love these skins. Especially Sterling Silver.

I actually prefer lighter colours sush as pastels. So hopefully this kit will do this for me.