SKS10 questions about how to skin certain things

I believe you're using Windows10, correct?

Before you do this, make a copy of the skin in its current state "just in case".  I would hope you already have a backup of it in its original state.  This change will fix #3 and will have some affect on #2 and #4 (it's all related), so make the change and look at it and go from there.  Also, if you do this for Windows10, you will lose the transparent Explorer backgrounds should you for some reason decide to use the skin on Windows7, so be prepared for that.

The problem is semi-transparent explorer window backgrounds.  Delete these 2 sections of the skin within SkinStudio:

Backgrounds /Edit Explorer Backgrounds / Active window (Glass) and Inactive window (Glass)

Delete those 2 sections by clicking on the "help" tab within the each section and clicking on the text in the lower right corner "Delete this skin section from the skin".

Thank you SO much, DaveRI, that cleared up issues #2, #3 and #4. Very grateful.

Just issue number one left: is it possible to change the color of the selection square thingy (see screenshot above)?

I'm sure the selection color can be changed, but I'm not quite sure exactly how.  Sometimes it's an image, but that looks like a System Color to me.  I don't have that particular skin.  If you want to poke around, go into "Change skin colours" and click on the dropdown menu next to "Show me the skin colour presets" and select "Show me the defined system colours".  Look for that particular color, I'd guess it might be "Selected Item" or "Menu Highlight".  If you change anything make a note of what it is before you change it to test (it's amazing how quickly I can forget 3 numbers).  (Do me a favor if you find it and let me know what it is - I don't have it in my notes  ).

Or you can of course wait for someone who knows exactly what it is 

Is this what you're looking for?

Thanks, btw, that really did it. I was able to change the selection rectangle thingy to black (& white text).

One final question now, a new one.

See, there's this other skin, named TRON, created by - you guessed it - Neone6. Great artist, that one. Little screenshot of an Explorer window:

Now, I LOVE the left & right border of this explorer window, and I'd love to have it into the Samuraii skin I currently have. I figured out that those borders are called something like UIS2 frames. So, I went to Explorer, to the location where WindowBlinds saves all its themes and all its parts, specifically to the TRON folder, I created a copy of these two files: UIS2 L and UIS2 R and renamed them to UIS2 L TRON and UIS2 TRON. Then I went back to SkinStudio and imported those two images, one for each side of the window, and it's displaying correctly in skinstudio, but alas, no change in explorer itself. Here's a screenshot to show what I mean:

Any idea on what I might be doing wrong here?

Well you're on the right track.  You would need to do the same thing for the Per Pixel frames, and that's what Explorer will use.  You'll need to find the Per Pixel frames in Tron and copy them over to Samurii.

When you're doing this type of thing, you also need to take note of the painting margins for the pieces in the old skin and change them to that in the new skin so that they look right.

Also, in my case, when I'm doing heavier tweaking like this I prefer to create a new substyle in the skin I'm changing.  That way I can have my hacked-up version alongside the original version and use either one on a whim. 

[Which System Color did you end up changing above? - The color picker is covering up the name, e.g. "Selected item"]

Oh, and I can save you some work here I think.  I open up the source skin (Tron) in SkinStudio and go to the section for the parts I'm wanting to copy.  That's also when I take note of the painting margins.  I then use Windows Explorer to copy the images over from the source skin folder over to the modified skin (Samurii) folder without allowing any overwriting.  Then in SkinStudio I close the source skin and open the modifed skin and plug it all in.

Thanks a lot, once more, for all your help, DaveRI. I got it to work, but seeing as the standard preset of the TRON borders was blue, and my whole theme was built around black & red, the blue really didn't fit in so I decided not to use them after all. Unless... there isn't a way to change those PerPixel Glyphs to another color, is there?

Well, even if there isn't a way, thanks a lot in any case!

You'd have to edit the images themselves.  In the same SkinStudio window where you select the image there is an "Edit" button which will load the image up into an image editor (if you use say Photoshop Elements you can tell SkinStudio to use that in Tools/Preferences/[Advanced]tab).  You'd click the Edit button, it loads it into the image editor, you change it and save it, then in SkinStudio click on the "Force image reimport" text in the upper right.

If you edit any .tga images it creates a little "TempPngs" temporary folder within the skin's directory that you'll want to delete when you're all done.  The .bmp images get edited directly with no temp directory. 

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.

Another one:

See the "Hard Disk Drives (4)" I encircled in blue? Is there any way I could change that black font to another color, like say white? I tried looking in "Change Skin Fonts, but there are so many fonts in there, not all applicable, and I'm really not sure to which font in SKS this applies.

That one I can't help you with.  Haven't come across it, and I've been sitting here poking at another skin trying to find it without any luck. (I'd like to know what it is too so I can add it to my list, I'm sure it will come up again at some point.)  It's probably in there somewhere, somebody else will know 

And now I've loaded up several dark skins with Explorer on "This PC" and I'm getting the feeling that text may be locked on black.  I'd love to know how to change it if it can be.

Dave- Kevin. The text you are talking about is hard coded Black by the OS. 

Kevin as far as what you are showing skinned in File Explorer you must have OldNewExplorer installed. If so you should not be seeing those Blue buttons. you should be seeing the skins buttons. I'm saying you must have OldNewExplorer because if not the top area of the window would have White in it but you are showing it skinned. So if you do use oldnewexplorer I know what the the blue buttons are showing. Open the setting in oldnewexplorer. Everything needs to be checked except for one place. uncheck where it says "use alternate navigation buttons style" Now you will have the skin buttons.

Yup, Dave is correct. It is a good idea never to make a skin that you cannot read the text on. If you lighten the explorer background some, it would help.

Thanks guys.  Now that I've seen it I'm sure it would've nagged at me 

Quoting DaveRI, reply 14

Thanks guys.  Now that I've seen it I'm sure it would've nagged at me 

No problem always here to help when I can along with Lightstar. If Kevin comes back maybe he would want to make the background a bit lighter and you can advise him on doing that. Unless he can live with the Black text. 

Dave you know a lot about SKS maybe you should be making skins.

Well I wouldn't say "Never" but you know there's a bit of a leap from tweaking around to creating decent original graphics, and another leap to decent coordinated original graphics.  SkinStudio is indeed my friend, no doubt.  One thing for sure though - if I ever do manage to get anything put together, it'll make everybody else's look even better by comparison 

Missed this completely

-Thanks 2 y'all 4 tha assistance !

Edit: Guess it wasn't only directed to me & my skins, but thnx nevertheless.

First of all, glad to finally meet you in the forum, Neone6, you're an inspiration to me!

Secondly, thanks to DaveBax, I completely forgot about OldNewExplorer, forgot I installed it. I unchecked that checkbox, reloaded my explorer and voilà:

Admittedly, the sides aren't from TRON, they're from the skin Legend, made by - again - Neone6.

I also have to admit that I did my very best using Photoshop to replace the blue color of the Legend skin (I mean the side borders) with red, but that didn't work out equally well everywhere.

A new question has arisen, though: see how the top (caption) bar isn't really aligned with the left (& right) side border image? Is there any way I can correct that?

Thanks for the quick response, Neone6. I tried that before, I opened up the top caption image in Photoshop (CS6) and used Image -> Image Size to make it a few pixels smaller (9 pixels in total, later on I tried with 50 pixels smaller) having unchecked the "constrain Proportions" checkbox, I saved it as another targa image, imported that one in SKS but it made absolutely no difference.

Think it'll make a difference if I widen the side images instead?

Yup, you were right. It's weird that you have no choice but to change the size of the sides of the window in order to make it fit with the top & bottom. Changing the bottom or top doesn't change a thing, it would appear. Nevertheless, I got it to work to the best of my abilities. Ain't perfect (especially at the bottom) but for now it'll do:

 (EDIT: imgur doesn't do my screenshot justice, it doesn't take into account the transparency near the right & left edges of the screen)

New question though (and to think I started out with just one question ) : see the refresh icon near the top of the screen, and see the search icon to the very top right of the screen? Well, you can't see it, but there's text there somewhere. Something along the lines of "Search this PC". Is there any way to make that text white or something? 

I tried looking in here already: SKS -> Edit Explorer/IE Shell Parts -> Edit Explorer Parts -> Search Field Background -> Extra Settings (really, Stardock knows NOTHING when it comes to usability, if you ask me ) and there: "Search text colour" which I changed to white... which resulted in no change.

You guys got any ideas?

That text color cannot be changed unfortunately. Changing the search text color only changes the color of the text in the start menu search box. You have to create the search box image to work with black text, no matter what.

Kevin, next time draw a circle or something on the area you are talking about. I believe you are talking about the text on the right side between the refresh symbol and the search symbol. Guess i'm saying what you said. That text is in the search area, it is the same text that will show on the search area on the Startmenu. That text is also hard coded by the OS and can't be changed.

The only way to see it is to make the search area image a bit lighter. That image is in the Edit Explorer Parts. NOTE: It will also chang the color all the way to the left just right of the arrow after "this PC