The UIS2 Tutorial

NOTICE TO SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

The Skinning Languages used by WindowBlinds (UIS1 and UIS2) are the intellectual property of Stardock Corporation. Unlicensed use of them is strictly prohibited. Prohibited uses include but are not limited to reading WindowBlinds skins into an unlicensed product, converting UIS skins from UIS to another unlicensed skin language or format, or using portions or components of UIS (such as the unique button graphical layout or keywords of UIS) for unlicensed use.  If you are interested in obtaining a license to use UIS in your software please contact directskin@stardock.com. 

 

By breaking down a skin into it's component parts you will see how it is made up, and realize you don't have to do it all at once. You can build up a skin gradually, see it evolving, and before you know it you will have a fully functional WindowBlinds skin.

In this tutorial we will dissect the Aquarium skin by Alexandrie, one of the very best skin authors. If we're going to look at an example it may as well be the best!

This area of the guide is broken up into smaller sections to allow you to focus on one thing at a time:

  1. Skin definition
  2. Personality
  3. Menus
  4. Buttons
  5. The Basic Taskbar and Start Menu
  6. Windows XP
  7. Controls
  8. Presets

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