Previous Page.  Appendix A: Display Properties (Windows XP)    Next Page.

The primary way to run WindowBlinds is via the Start Menu or desktop icon.  However, with version 4 and older of WindowBlinds the only way was through the Display Properties.  With WindowBlinds 6 that method is still possible in Windows XP (not Vista), however it lacks a lot of features found in the stand-alone version.  This section describes how to alter skins via Display Properties.  You should have read all sections of this manual to understand this section.  It won't go into detail on each feature, but will refer (link) you to the section in the WindowBlinds Guide where the features are fully explained.  The Classic skin has been applied, unless otherwise noted.

Display Properties

There are different ways into Display Properties, but one of the quickest is to right-click on the open desktop (no icon or window selected) and select Properties.

Right-click desktop - select Properties.
(An alternate method is to click on the Start menu, select Control Panel, then Appearance and Themes, then Display.)  The first tab in Display Properties is "Themes" and is shown below with the differences before & after WindowBlinds was installed.  The only change on this tab is that the "Theme" goes from "Windows XP" (before) to "Modified Theme" (after installation).

Display Properties - Themes tab - XP default.
Display Properties - Themes tab.
Before WindowBlinds installed.		 Display Properties - Themes tab - WindowBlinds.
Display Properties - Themes tab.
After WindowBlinds installed, notice the
"Modified Theme" in the Theme menu.

Appearance Tab

The main area to make changes is on the Appearance tab and includes a number of changes seen below.  First, if you click in the preview area your web browser will open & display the Stardock website (if you're connected to the internet).  There are four new buttons: Add a skin from disk, Delete a skin, WindowBlinds launches the stand-alone WindowBlinds program and the Gamma Gamma Adjustment.  The Advanced button now has a new screen of features.  Only the Effects button is the same.  The pull-down menus include: "Windows and buttons" which displays a list of WindowBlinds Visual Styles (skins), "Color scheme" includes the Substyles and "Font size" remains the same.

Windows XP default theme.
Display Properties - Appearance tab.
Before WindowBlinds installed.		 Display Properties - Appearance tab with WindowBlinds.
Display Properties - Appearance tab.
After WindowBlinds installed.

Changing the Skin

To change the skin, simply click on the pull-down menu under "Windows and buttons" and select the desired skin.  The preview will be updated with that skin, then click on Apply to update your desktop.  (Clicking OK will apply the changes and close Display Properties.  While clicking Cancel will abort any changes and close Display Properties.

Selecting a skin.
 

Changing the Substyle

To change the substyle for the selected skin (if any exist), click on the "Color scheme" pull-down menu and select the desired substyle.  The preview will be updated with the new color scheme and clicking Apply will change your desktop.  If a skin doesn't have any available substyles, the pull-down menu will be grayed out.  (See Look & Feel: Visual Styles - Substyles for more explanation on Substyles.)

No substyles available.
 

Gamma Adjustment

After clicking the Gamma Gamma Adjustment button, the following window opens which includes options to change the: colouring, gamma (similar to contrast), invert colours and even remove all colouring (i.e. grayscale).  If both "Enable skin colouring" and "Enable HSL colouring" are checked, changes to colouring are made using the Hue & Saturation sliders Slider.  You can also select options from the "Default Colour Levels" pull-down menu.  Clicking Close will save changes, while Close will cancel and close.  (See Look & Feel: Colouring for more explanation about these options in this section.)

Gamma Adjustment
 
 Action  Do this
Enable skin colouring.  Checked, (default) allows you to change the colouring of the skin by selecting colours from a basic or advanced palette.
Unchecked, colouring changes are disabled.
Enable HSL colouring.  Checked, (default) allows you to use advanced options to change the colouring.  Move the slider Slider icon for Hue and Saturation while watching the preview area behind.  You may need to move the Gamma Adjustment window so you can see the preview while you made the desired changes.  You can also select an option from the pull-down menu to make colours: richer, less rich, custom, or back to default.
 
Colour levels.
Enable gamma adjustment.  Checked, allows you to move the slider Slider to the desired setting (Darker to Lighter).  Gamma is similar to contrast.
Unchecked, (default) gamma will be set by the skin.
 
Gamma.
Invert colours in skin.  Checked,  changes the colours to opposites on the colour scale.  So the Classic yellow skin will turn blue.
Unchecked, (default) disables this option.
Greyscale colours in skin.  Checked, removes colour from the skin and only displays shades of grey (gray) between black & white.
Unchecked, (default) disables this option. 

On the "Gamma Adjustment" window, if you check the box for "Enable skin colouring" and uncheck "Enable HSL colouring", then click Close.  Now click the Gamma Gamma Adjustment button again, you will see a small menu of colour choices.  Clicking on any of the colours in the box will change the preview.  Clicking off the little window (i.e. on Display Properties, desktop, ...) will close it. 

Gamma palette
 

Clicking the Gamma button will open the "Gamma Adjustment" window.

You can also move the slider Slider icon between 0% - 100% to change the gamma level in the colour.  Watch the preview change as you move the slider.

Gamma slider
 

If you uncheck the box at the top for "Enable Colouring", you won't be able to change the colouring.

Finally, you can also click the More button to display a full colour picker window.  With it you can select one of the basic colours or move the cursor (crosshair) and/or arrow to a new colour and click the Add to custom colors to have it added to a "Custom colors" box.  Or you can type in numeric values for RGB (Red, Green, Blue) and even HSL (Hue, Sat, Lum) into the boxes.  All values must be between 0 - 255, with 0 being the darkest & 255 the lightest.  Then click OK to accept the colour.  (Clicking Cancel or Close will abort and close the window.)

Color
 

On the "Display Properties" window and after making changes, click OK to apply the changes to your desktop & close "Display Properties".  Or click the Apply to apply the changes & keep "Display Properties" open.  (Clicking Cancel or Close will abort changes and close the window.)

Changing the Font 

Your choices for changing the font size under the "Font size" pull-down menu are very limited.  However, you can override skin settings under the  Advanced button, which will be covered later under "Advanced Settings" in this Appendix.  The choices in the "Font size" pull-down menu are standard Windows XP choices.

Adding a New Skin

To add a new skin from your hard-drive, click the Add button and an Explorer window will open.  Use it to locate the new skin file (.WBA or .ZIP file format) on your computer system (i.e. hard-drive, flash drive, network drive).  Then click Open to add it or Cancel to abort.  The best way to install new skins is either through Display Properties or WindowBlinds itself.

Install skin from disk.

Deleting a Skin

To delete a skin, you must first select it from the "Windows and buttons" pull-down menu.  Then click the Delete button and confirm by selecting either Yes (to delete) or No (to cancel).  If you try to delete a skin that's currently applied to your desktop, it will instruct you to apply a different skin first.

 
Deleting a skin - can't delete the current skin.
 You can't delete the current skin.		 Deleting a skin.
Deleting a skin.
 

Launching Stand-alone WindowBlinds

To run the stand-alone version of WindowBlinds, simply click the WindowBlinds button.  The Display Properties window will close and the Visual Styles tab will be displayed.  (See Look & Feel: Visual Styles for more explanation about the stand-alone version.)

Effects
The Effects are the standard Windows XP effects.

Advanced Settings
Clicking the Advanced button will open the "Advanced Settings" window which allows you to make various changes, including: setting taskbar size, font overrides, XP overrides, disabling fonts on controls (i.e. buttons, check boxes), skinning select applications and more. 

Advanced Settings.
 
 
 Action  What it does
 Advanced Settings   
Force colouring support on all skins.  Checked, (default) forces colouring support on all skins.
Unchecked, disables this feature.
Make toolbar buttons 'flat'.  Checked, toolbar buttons will appear flat vs. the raised look.
Unchecked, (default) toolbar buttons will appear normal.
Show user icon in startpanel
(if not domain). 		 Checked, (default) user icon will be shown in Start menu.  However, if your computer is joined to a domain (on a network) you won’t see this icon.
Unchecked, disables this feature.
Skin decides taskbar size.
 Select from the pull-down menu to make the taskbar small, large or let the skin decide:
Taskbar size menu.
 Font Overrides   
I want to .... (change font size) Select from the pull-down menu what size to make the fonts, overriding the skin.  The default size is what the skin decides or the Windows default.
Change font size.
All skin defined fonts to be replaced by...  You can replace all fonts in the skin by selecting one from this list of installed fonts.  Selecting "Leave skin fonts alone" lets the skin decide what fonts to use.

List of fonts. 
Disable font special effects on controls.  Checked, special effects on controls will be disabled.
Unchecked, (default) skin will may use special effects.
Change titlebar font  Clicking Change titlebar font opens the "Font" window, which allows you to select the new: Font, Font style, Size and Script.  Clicking OK after making changes orOpen abort changes & close the "Font" window.)
Reset titlebar font.  Clicking Reset titlebar font. will reset the titlebar font you changed when clicking Change titlebar font back to the default.
 XP Overrides   
Always use the XP taskbar defined in...  Select a different skin from the pull-down menu to skin the taskbar.  Selecting "Disable XP style Taskbar" disable the standard XP style.

Taskbar
Always use the shellstyle defined in...  Change the skin that is applied to the shellstyle by selecting one from the pull-down menu.  The "shellstyle" is on the left-side of Explorer type windows.  (See Look & Feel: Settings Override - Shellstyle for an example.)

Shellstyle. 
Only skin controls in themeaware apps.  Checked, skin will only be applied to applications that are aware of themes (skins).
Unchecked, (default) skin will be applied to all applications.
 Other Advanced Features   
Only skin apps in the inclusion list.  Only applications added to the list will be skinned.  Click Add and locate the applications .EXE, then click Open.  (Click Cancel or Close to abort.)  To delete an application from the list, select it and click on Remove.  You won't be asked to confirm your decision!
Other advanced controls.  Clicking Other advanced controls. will open the standard Windows XP Advanced Appearance window.  Refer to Windows Help for these options.

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