Introduction
SkinStudio is a program that allows users to create
visual styles for Windows XP and Windows Vista. These visual styles are applied
by the popular GUI skinning program, WindowBlinds. A fully complete visual
style will change the title bars, borders, push buttons, scrollbars, Start bar,
Start menu, and virtually every other part of the Windows GUI.
SkinStudio 6 represents a complete rewrite of
previous versions of SkinStudio. The new version is designed to make it
much easier for new users to get into skinning. Skinners can change as much or
little of the GUI as they choose and SkinStudio will fill in the rest for them.
A new skin can take a matter of minutes or weeks depending on how sophisticated
the skin is.
The new interface of SkinStudio
The old interface of SkinStudio
A Tour of SkinStudio 6
SkinStudio 6 takes on a much more task-oriented
design. Rather than the user being overwhelmed with information by seeing
all elements of the visual style at once, SkinStudio 6 instead takes the user
step by step through the skin.
Editing controls
Each element shows either (or both) a Windows XP
logo or a Windows Vista logo to let the skin author know which features are
supported under which operating system. Moreover, when editing a
particular element, the interface is clean and to the point.
What can and can't be changed is very straight forward.
Moreover, each section will be tied to a
particular part of the SkinStudio portion of the Customization Wiki. In this
way, users can instantly get help making skins from not just Stardock but
the entire skinning community.
Editing the IE7 tabs & Vista Controls
SkinStudio 6 is being designed with the upcoming
WindowBlinds 6 in mind. All the new Windows Vista controls, Internet
Explorer 7 controls and more will be easily editable. No more trying to
figure out how to support the latest/greatest features.
Elements available to be skinned are now easily accessible
One of the most common complaints about
WindowBlinds skins is that many skins didn't support many of the features.
This was often because the previous SkinStudio was designed at at time when
WindowBlinds was much simpler and as more features were added, the newer
features began to get buried in the UI. The new SkinStudio design
makes these new features much more accessible.
