Okay. This is it. I've been sitting on it most of the day after bugging a few folks  for their opinions.

2of3 offered to help me with this. Vampothika & neone6 also offered help and support.

I decided to go with something new to get a fresh start and came up with this. Hopefully, it's simple enough so as not to be problematic along the way, but stylish enough that a lot of you will like it and it won't be too easy so I (and you) can learn from it as we go along.

2of3 was kind enough to send me some files to follow as sort of a workflow to keep organized. We're gonna go one piece at a time and won't be moving on to the next until the one we are on is good.

PLEASE :

• I am open to suggestions but may not use any of them. Please, don't be offended if I don't use yours.

• Keep the image posting to the skin(s)

• If you want to make a skin to go with this, PM me for the files. My PSD's tend to be a mess, but I save everything and will be happy to     share.
• We'll be skinning for Windows7, maybe Vista. If someone wants to do XP, PM me and I will get you what you need.
• Any files you request will come as I complete them. I won't be jumping ahead. Please be patient.

So...this is pretty much it. How the rest of this thread progresses and shapes up will depend on how the back and forth transpires. If I leave something out as we go along and you want me to back up, give a yell. I'll be happy to.

If this is the only skin I ever do, we're gonna go through it from start to finish so enjoy.

What you see above is the Start window (I'll probably be going with the darker of the two). (401 px x 500 px)

These were the drafts.

UPDATE 1/17/2012 : gmc2 is going to attempt to do the Wiki for this. Woot! Based on that, I think we'll be doing more than one thread as we progress. THIS particular thread will be the basic design/draft of all the parts. Hopefully, this will make it easier for gmc2 to do his thing and make it easier for anyone to follow the progress.

I'll be asking for suggestions from time to time. Feel free to PM me anything.

Also - If you want to make anything to go with, this here is a color chart if it helps. I'll be sticking to these colors. Any variations will be due to shading/effects or 'overlay' layers.

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NOTES: Start Menu and Taskbar -

• Leather Effect - There are a lot of good tutorials for leather effects around. For Windowblinds there is the issue of tiling and stretching and the details of the effects can make or break the skin. I had to come up with my own to try to keep it simple. In PHOTOSHOP, make your object and go to Filters>Textures>Texturizer - Select Sandstone - Scaling 60 - Relief 2 - Lighting Top (IF you have a copy of Rust Flakes in your Texturizing filter, you can make a much more textured leather)

• Thread/Stitch Effect : There are a lot of tutorials for this but most involve Adobe Illustrator at one point or another. My issue was keeping the stitching straight and uniform. (The draft on the far right of the second image above shows how it looks 'freehand' .) I did find one for Photoshop that was great (It was the only one I found that relied entirely on Photoshop). Besides helping me with this, it also shows what you can do with your brushes to get some different results and can be fun to play with if you're unfamiliar with this technique. Here is the link for the Photoshop Tutorial.

• Start Menu - 401 px x 500 px (This was my choice after talking to Tim. I will get back here as to recommended size and why)

• Taskbar  - 400 px x 50 px - If you have looked at a lot of skins like I have, you may notice that 35 to 38 px is pretty common. Some mentions have been made in this thread as to what specifically can alter/control your taskbar size. For this particular skin, I am going with a 50 px taskbar to accommodate the stitching. It is a 'rounded corner' taskbar' and the png is different than one you might use for a taskbar that spans the width of the screen. (I will post the png when it is ready) I will, for sake of this tutorial, skin all of the buttons for the taskbar so we can give an example of what the finished png might look like. (Again, I will post when I have it done.)
• Taskbar Buttons - For this skin, mine will be 50px x 50 px - They will be in the following order normal ,pressed, disabled, highlighted, activated, activated & highlighted. (Picture to be posted when complete)

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If you're looking for Part I, II, III you can find them here:

One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part I

Design : Start Menu and Taskbar

One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part II

Design: Title Bars & Window Frames

One Piece At A Time : Windowblind Tutorial Part II

Design: Edit Controls

PLEASE :

• I am open to suggestions but may not use any of them. Please, don't be offended if I don't use yours.

• Keep the image posting to the skin(s)

• If you want to make a skin to go with this, PM me for the files. My PSD's tend to be a mess, but I save everything and will be happy to     share. I am uploading the actual files to the Graphics Gallery here on Wincustomize.

• We'll be skinning for Windows7, maybe Vista. If someone wants to do XP, PM me and I will get you what you need.

• Any files you request will come as I complete them. I won't be jumping ahead. Please be patient.

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The PSD files for the  previous threads are in the Graphics Gallery.

Roan WB Title Bars and Window Frames  

  Roan WB Taskbar Buttons

Roan WB Title Bars and Window Frames  

  Roan WB Taskbar Buttons