It seemed to me that we could help each other with conversation on one of the toughest part of skinning--graphics selection, resizing/scaling and assignment.

First off... it's seemed to me with the fooling around I've done so far that the only really "safe" graphic is a tileable one, since the interfaces either resize or are tough fits for more out-of-the-box graphics. However for the times when we don't want to tile, I think it would be nice for us to assemble a "size guide" for each interface area so we can scale our graphics accordingly.

I've had some luck with animated graphics. In fact, in a burst of experimentation I replaced every single graphic file with an animated GIF in one sitting and watched the flashing until I practically developed epilepsy. The key to successfully using them is probably somewhere in the middle. The songlist is a challenging place, for example, to use a large animated GIF, unless it's very few frames, with a minimum of motion (a flashing lights effect works well for example, like stars twinking). The playlist area is great for an animated file, but it's got to be one which still looks good when little pieces of it are chopped off when you add items to the queue. The Now Playing area has the restriction that your "action" on an animated file better be happening around the edges, since the album cover is in the middle.

I haven't tried designing a new header yet, because it seems to me that exact dimensions are important.

Anyone else have any graphics tips or strategies for using them in skins?

You can actually get creatively goofy with animated files too. For example, I know someday I'll probably build a whole skin around the attached graphic, mostly because it would be so darn silly.

Well... good luck to include this graphic in a skin!

The exact dimensions of each graphic can always be found easily if you start with the eJukebox default graphics and fill them with your own creations.

I think the best strategy would be we learn to use properly the Photoshop tools... ALL IS THERE! A few good tutorials like this one: http://www.xentrik.net/graphics/ would be welcome for (some of ) us amateur designers. This very good learning site is a tip from Audiosoft! when i started to play with the songlist DIS files...

Concerning to me, i have an handicap (one more! ): i also need to learn English at the same time!! So, if you have some tips for that too!

The following add-on plugins can do some nice filtering effects in Photoshop without much effort (and were used to create parts of the default eJukebox skin): Eye Candy and Xenofex

There are downloadable demos of the latest versions of both (which which allow you to utilize some of the features for free) at:
http://www.alienskin.com/

Ah ahh... maybe that will help us to produce better skins!

Thanks for the tips!

Quote:

Originally posted by Pirk Well... good luck to include this graphic in a skin! The exact dimensions of each graphic can always be found easily if you start with the eJukebox default graphics and fill them with your own creations.