Thread: How can I build a Skin

if you really want to learn how to skin then you will have to get your hands on a good photo editing or graphics editing program.... it's not that hard really...

there are 2 different main aspects of skinning cf.... one is graphics & the other is actual positioning of buttons, text & such.....

I use photoshop to edit the png graphics files.... playing with photoshop for a little bit & you'll see that it's not that difficult.... if you keep everything where it originally is it is even easier, start out with just altering graphics.... after you get that down you can then play around with repositioning things with the skin editor or by editing the xml file for the skin directly

I knew nothing about skinning or graphics editing when I started, & in a matter of a week or two I was skinning.... it's not that hard, just takes patience & time..... lot's of time.... open the various png's in the skin & play... you'll figure it out in no time, then it's just a matter of learning how to use the graphics program to do whatever you want to do....

traffic was created by clipping the buttons & whatever else I wanted to keep, then overlaying my image with transparent clippings from the original skin... when you start playing you'll get the hang of layering & stuff... there are many good books to learn how to be productive with photoshop in a short time.... you will be as good at skinning as your graphics program is, & I don't think you'll have a good time with this if you don't get a good graphics program...

I recomend photoshop, older versions can be had on ebay for cheap I would think.... you just build all your graphics with layers, & then save a snapshot of what you created as a png.... there are a lot of different screens to edit, & with a little practice you'll figure out how to create a master psd that contains different screens & then hide & show what you want in the particular "snapshot" your working on ......

there are few things that are wierd with the cf skin, namely the "inserts" or pop over windows are not the actual clipped size from the main graphic & need to be rescaled to fit if your going to try & do the background image like I did, just start playing with it is the best way to learn... make a copy of the skin & hack away... you can't hurt anything working with a copy, if it's no good just make another copy & start again...

I can't release the psd's I have because they basically disected & seperated most of the cf copyrighted skin & to distribute them would just make it a whole lot easier for anyone to rip off cf's graphics, & I don't want to be a contributing factor to this... but it's not that difficult if you have a lot of time & a lot of desire for this.... good luck with it...

Originally Posted by P3rv3rt B3ar

Sorry to break your little buble, but it doesnt work that way. If u did some reading even on this thread, u would have noticed already.

Its because of transparency. Centrafuse doesnt currently suport alpha on most of graphics. So in traffic skin transparency is illusion, in a way that background actually exist in each and every piece of graphics where u can see it behind of something.

Without original photoshop files is impossible just "change" background... even with them its hell of a work.

hmm weird, because I have made some own personal skins and havnt had any problems with transparency

Originally Posted by solodesignz

hmm weird, because I have made some own personal skins and havnt had any problems with transparency

Oh so u read my posts afterall. Well i tried to explain the problem to u as good as i can. I dont feel like doing it again. Please somebody just make post like "mr. bear is right" and lets move on.

EDIT: I just dont get what your personal skins have to do with this, unless u made adaptation of traffic. What im saying if u dont use traffics way of illusion transparency in your own skins obviously u dont have problems. In other words: if u dont use transparency, its afully hard to have problems with it, duhh!!! But OP specificly asked changing backround of the traffic skin or making skin like traffic.

I always though it was a communist bear and a capitalist Eagle?

Originally Posted by Enforcer

I always though it was a communist bear and a capitalist Eagle?

Correction: Someboedy could make post: "Mr. Bear is _Correct_"

Bear says doing fake transparency skins are hard. Bear is correct. That makes me a sad panda

it's a lot of work... bear ir right... no drag & drop....

"Mr. Bear is _Correct_"

But thats not how it has to be. Lets all hope that both CF guys and SKINBEDDER folks solve this alpha color problem and these things can be done in matter of minutes.

Can someone build the skin with this background ?