Blur Effect Tutorial

Regarding the blur, maybe Reply 10 here will help:

https://forums.wincustomize.com/502027/page/1/#3793096

Yeah I've seen that one, but re-installing the application didn't work for me.

Basj's effects do have a certain amount of blur, but I'd like the entire background to be semi-transparent (i.e., the file explorer in the link above) instead of just the window/title bars.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. You can change the amount of blur and type of blur in Curtain edit mode. Refer to screenshot below. Changes on Blur type, dark or light theme, amount of transparency etc. Try it and report back.

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Oh, thanks for the tip, never thought of that before. I'll try that once I get off school.

Also, is it possible to replicate the effects of tools like TaskbarX on the taskbar, like custom blurs to the taskbar and centering application icons? I'd just like to concentrate all my tweaks in one place.

My current config: IRlKKtV.png (1920×48) (imgur.com)

I don't need the custom clock and net speed indicator, I only need the backgrounds and icons and others

One thing I've always struggled with is making the title bars transparent. Even in Stardock's demonstration, the title bar is still the opaque, Cairo-clock style that I was never a fan of. I think you (Basj) have posted some guides on making this part transparent? And if yes, can you please guide me for a bit?

YK2U8lp.png (1037×620) (imgur.com)

P.S. no need for the "sorry," thank you for your replies

As a note: please refresh this page, I've made quite a few changes to the previous post 

Not possible to align taskbar icons to the center.

Transparency mode, depend on the taskbar image use. If it has transparent part, you can blur the background using this setting.

Try my Simplic Mod curtains https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/curtains/68/ It has Transparent titlebar. This part if you want on your own skin, you will need to edit that Window Title Bar graphics to have transparent element. Refer below s/shot

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

First of all, thank you for your replies. A couple of questions here:

9KGO60t.png (1406×142) (imgur.com) Seems like I am able to get the transparency effect going, but is it possible to blur the places behind the title bar also? Also, how do I remove the red from the background tabs? I want them to stay dark (as in the default windows settings) instead of having this eye-blistering shade.

P.S. is it possible to also apply blurs to other windows applications e.g. settings and command prompt?

L6AHZhl.png (292×176) (imgur.com) Is it possible to remove the thin slice of space between the [file explorer] bar and body? In addition, if I drag the screen onto a white surface (Our8yzs.png (1467×736) (imgur.com)), it can be clearly seen that there are more white spaces.

My theme: Curtains - Blur Test (FREE DOWNLOAD) | WinCustomize.com there aren't much in it, just the taskbar and win explorer effects. Can you please test it out for me (and also some suggestions, if possible)?

(Re'uploaded)

At this moment, no.

At this moment, no.

Do you see that space on all theme/style?

I don't see it, did you just upload your sample using my Simplc Mod Curtains? You should rename it to something else. Also, it is not legal to re-upload someone else work unless you have all its element changed to your own graphics. If you wanted me to check you work. Please send me directly not upload it in Wincustomize.com.  Please remove it now.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Basj: my utmost apologies, I've uploaded the file in the wrong directory. I've re-uploaded the file; it's the same name, but I made sure that the file is correct. Again, I never intended to take credit for your work, and I'm sorry for not checking the correct file name. From now on, the file from both the original and updated links is created by me.

It seems like file explorer's the only application where there's the thin slice of space. Plus, how do I remove the red from the background tabs? I want them to stay dark (as in the default windows settings) instead of having this eye-blistering shade (https://i.imgur.com/9KGO60t.png)

I don't see that line you mentioned on my system. Not sure why it appear on your system.

On that red tab, that appear to be under the browser control. Something that is beyond Curtains control.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

TaskbarX | Center taskbar icons (chrisandriessen.nl)    

or

How to center Taskbar icons in Windows 10 (thewindowsclub.com)  

I tried tweaking my settings through the Windows 10 settings application, and I found out this weird combo: when I turn on "dark mode" in the settings below, windows will directly assign the background tabs red; however, if I disabled the option, the background tab becomes white, which is not the defualt Windows 10 dark mode behavior. In the standard dark mode, the background tabs will become a darker shade of grey and the control buttons next to the last tab is white.

Is it something to do with the secondary color settings in this application?

Enabling dark mode yields the red background mentioned above and automatically adjusts the Windows settings on the second image above. If I disable the "title bars and Windows borders," a weird white background tab appears -- shown in the image below.

Also, just asking -- could it be Curtains that is adding an additional border around my application window? You were using a separate title bar theme than mine. My title bar theme is the windows 10 default theme. This part is regarding the slice-of-space matter.

@RND -- thanks for your reply, but I'm already using TaskbarX but am looking for a possibility to unify all the settings in Curtains. I'll try digging into the native Windows method 

Quick update about the file explorer thing: it works now, I restarted my computer and the slice of space is gone. 

But adding on to the dark mode issue, here's what my title bar looks like with "dark mode" enabled in Curtains and "show color on title bars" disabled on Windows settings:

As you can see in the image, the add tab and windows actions buttons are all gone as there seems to be a mismatch between Curtains and Windows 10. Here are my settings

You do notice the TS already know about those application, but he wanted to know if it possible doing it with Curtains. No?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

What browser is that?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

The browser is Microsoft Edge

And yes to the first question because I was only thinking if there's a possibility that I can gather all the settings into one place. I'm fine with TSX anyway so it's okay that Curtains can't do the effect.

I believe, edge is using Windows accent colors for those tabs. If you turn on the accent color to titlebar bars and windows border and turn on "Automatically pick an accent color from my background" those tab will change color accordingly.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Yeah, but when I uncheck thsi choice, the background tabs became white instead of returning to the default.

Plus, I also can't figure out why the window action bars are in light mode while I have the system settings to dark mode -- can you please help? As in this image below, the action buttons were still stuck in light mode, probably the same as the tabs on Microsoft Edge (and my dark mode is turned on)

My best guess, there are compatibility issue between Curtains and Edge. Restart Edge should solve the white tabs issue.

I can't see where are you referring on that Windows Action bars. Can we have a better screenshot.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

By the "action bars," I meant the 十，一，口，and X on the title bar of the screen, such as this:

This is what Edge would've looked like without Curtains

EDIT: weird, it's not applying even to edge now after re-logging in, the style is applied; when I test it on Chrome, the issue still persists:

There's a weird white background color and the window actions are also invisible because they're stuck in light mode while the rest has been updated to dark.

As I said, that might be the compatibility issue between Curtains and Edge Tabs.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I guess I'll just end this thread here and play more with curtains on my own.

Thanks to all (especially Basj) that helped me out along the way