VistaStyleBuilder

I am new to VSB and finding it a little difficult. I have been reading all the topics in this forum and have some ideas on what I am supposed to be doing but i don't think my brain wants to know. I have spent some time creating images in photoshop and getting to grips with the .msstyles but still no closer to getting anywhere with them. I would like to be able to create my own styles but really don't know where to start. Are there any help files or guidance notes in order to help a newbie like me or should I just give up and stick to just downloading pre-made styles. I did notice that there was a tutorial file on how-to-geek but it's been removed. :-[

Thanks in advance for any comments

Hi there,

VSB may be a little scary at first but you'll come to grips with it the longer you stick with it.
What exactly are you planning to do?  Create a theme and release it publicly or create it for yourself?

The treelist should guide you for the most part as they are labeled accordingly, but you may get confused when you see the same thing listed twice.  Just understand that many of the listings have a Basic and an Aero mode, sometimes they each have their seperate image or properties, other times only one has an image (this would be a shared resource).

Just a few simple tips to keep in mind...
1.  You can't modify every visual aspect with VSB; some elements are inside shellstyle.dll
2.  The Start button's transparency is buggy (thanks to Microsoft), so don't lose your mind over it like I did.
3.  Sometimes your imported images look like crap.  Try holding Shift while clicking on the import button and that may fix it.
4.  Use the search box, it'll make things easier.  For instance, type image and click on the drop down and select properties.  The treelist will update and only show parts with an image.

Many themers have three priorities before releasing their theme: the explorer window, the taskbar, and the start menu.  The best themes tend to go beyond that to keep a consistent feel in their theme, but that's ultimately up to you whether or not you want to invest the time to do that.  Many themers also do not create their elements for DPI's other than 96 as it is can be time consuming for those of us working with raster programs, and most people use 96 DPI so there's not a whole lot of reason to do that other than to deliver a professional and complete feel for your theme.

Good luck!

Hi, thanks for responding. I am just creating themes for myself at the moment until I am used to it. As I built my PC from scratch, I thought that designing my own themes would add an extra little touch to it. I have been going through some of them and trying to edit and test which is working ok but i do find that I edited Normal and Hot under Start> Panels> Basic> MoreProgramsTab>, but when i try to edit Focused, it cancels out the work I have done in Normal and Hot.

Another question, what would you the say is the best program to edit images as currently I have Fireworks as only got a Trial of Photoshop CS4?

Regards

paint.net is nice for fast image fixes

I've just bought Expression Design 2 and wondering if that would be any good for the designing

http://vistastylebuilder.com/forum/index.php?topic=221.msg1038#new

I posted some Expression Design Ideas here

I did notice those and was very impressed. What i've decided to do (even if it is long winded) is export all the images available from a .msstyle, categorise them appropriately, import them to either Photoshop or Expression Design, create my own designs within each border size and then import them to the .msstyle. Just hope it works that way

I'd take them one by one, as the images also have sizing margins, paddings etc and its just easier...

Oh exactly. I should have worded it better. It will be one at a time. I'm not adventurous enough to do all at once

I ment extract one image or one group of images at a time.  Make the new ones, then export more.