MallyMcGinnis

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

With the help of GameStop's phone support, I found the download link for Impulse . peace, Mally

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="99" id="2953947"]The trial version I think will allow you to upgrade to the full retail version. [/quote] Well, I wish it were that easy. Adobe, and Microsoft have both figured out ways to keep their products secured from the hands of pirates and still use the trial with a key sent to you by email after payment, but you can't upgrade the trial to the full version of WindowBlinds or the other Stardock products. Neither will CClean

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Xiandi" reply="70" id="2950692"]Cool! You won't regret it, you're gonna have a blast. Just remember that you need to uninstall the trial before you install the full version. [/quote] Alright, and this is a stupid question, but WindowBlinds isn't listed in my add and remove programs list, and I can't find anything like an uninstall.exe in the software's directory. So, how do I go about installing the trial version of it befo

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="94" id="2953809"]Karen...[/quote] Oh, gosh. I'm really good at making faux pas; I'm sorry I assumed you were a dad, and I hope you'll forgive me, Karen. Uvah; Steampunk is supposed to be a mix of Victorian era mechanical stuff along side of futuristic high tech stuff. The latter isn't common place in Steampunk, though I've seen images of computers (PCs and notepads) in beautiful Steampunk cases, finely detailed jewelr

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="k10w3" reply="92" id="2953796"]The only twist I've seen on classic Steampunk is in a game my son plays, called BioShock, where it's all underwater, so rather than the warm colors of orange and brown, it's in shades of blue and green. I watch him play for hours, and I'm thinking the entire time of how I could develop that into a windowblind. [/quote] Aside the fact that I appreciate Dads who spend time with their kids doing what they

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

By a not-so-odd coincidence, k10w3, your Steampunk blind is what I've been wearing since getting into skins a couple of weeks ago. And Xiandi's Pressurized is also really beautiful to me. The problem with the later for me is that it changes the text color of an application I use multiple times every hour I'm awake (Mailwasher) from black to very pale gray, but it doesn't change that app's background, nor does the software give me that option. That results

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

Xiandi, then in light of what you said, I think I won't make the stack part of the animation. Doing so would make those animation files at least 2x larger, I suspect. I am using the very top of the stack to make it easy to register the steam layers so they are all in exactly the place I want them in relation to each other, so they don't jump around. It's good to know about that Start Menu Animation Builder tool for the reason that Uvah and others hav

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

Thanks, Xiandi; Tried a batch of drawings, tweened between each consecutive pair of them, the result was, to say the least, disappointing. In my head, ideas always sound so much easier to execute than they turn out to be. I'm on the right track with the brushes I've made, though. I didn't like including so much of the locomotive in the image. It's a start menu, I thought, not a wall paper, and it was really only the stack and steam I wanted. [IMG]http

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

I have a couple of new questions. I want to include an animation in my start menu. In it, the steam will be the animated bit. Is this done by creating an AVI? How do I photograph the background so that there isn't solid color around the steam. In this image, it was photographed in front of a white background. [IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn314/Pwy/MySLSteamEngine.png[/IMG] Here is the start menu so far. I created the 3D bits i

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="82" id="2951157"] Quoting MallyMcGinnis, reply 81 No sense in learning about the working parts of an automobile until you open the hood, and fiddle about. Just be careful you don't fiddle with the wrong thing or..... Poof! Zap! Zowie and hmmm... left over parts?[/quote] I get your point, Uvah, and you're right; but I like your sense of humor. You funny! peace, Mally

Reply to Mezzanine WIP - Released! in Sneak Previews WinCustomize Forums

[quote who="Xiandi" reply="3" id="2950971"] Quoting 2of3, reply 2Hadn't seen the blue version, Cyn. WHAT? YOU ARE USING BLUE?!!! Top notch skinning! It's NOT blue.... it's teal. [/quote] I thought it was green, but whatever it's called, it and all grey one above it are beauties!

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Xiandi" reply="79" id="2950963"] Quoting MallyMcGinnis, reply 76Short question; am I better off making my stretchable borders in 4 layers, or 1 while working on my PSD? Not sure what you mean by that. [/quote] Never mind. Dumb question. I'm not importing all the PSD layers into SKS, just the PSD pieces from 2 layers. [quote]Quoting MallyMcGinnis, reply 76The whole stretching thing kind of eludes my understanding so far. I mean, when I l

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

RedneckDude; Wow, I get to answer a question for a change! It's not too new, but Stardock Office Desktop (the pro version you often find reference to in Google searches merged into the standard version, at the standard version's price of $US 50 in early December, 2009) contains all these tools: ● WindowBlinds <div class="

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

Short question; am I better off making my stretchable borders in 4 layers, or 1 while working on my PSD? The whole stretching thing kind of eludes my understanding so far. I mean, when I looked at my stretchable PNGs imported in SKS, the center 1/3 of each piece stretched vertically, but not the outer 1/3 on either side of it. I'm sure there must be a way to adjust that, but I haven't found it. peace, Mally

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="71" id="2950767"] Quoting Xiandi, reply 70My current WIP has 369 Want to see......want to see.[/quote] Ooo, ooo

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Xiandi" reply="70" id="2950692"] Quoting MallyMcGinnis, reply 61This week I'll be working enough to buy Stardock Office Desktop. Cool! You won't regret it, you're gonna have a blast. Just remember that you need to uninstall the trial before you install the full version. [/quote] Thanks for the encouragement, Xiandi. I will remember to uninstall the trial versions I'm using. Except for apps that update themselves like

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="sydneysiders" reply="69" id="2950684"] Quoting vStyler, reply 44Cyndie, ur such a class act I concur.. [/quote] She is, and so are so many of you. [quote]looking forward to the finished skin Mally... [/quote] Thanks, sydneysiders! Actually, so am I. I'm going with the same basic idea, but am reworking all of my graphics from the ground up. I'm also thinking about building some o

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="68" id="2950647"]I spent an entire night just changing things up. Icons, Windowblinds, Logons, Bootskins, everything. I was in heaven I had so much fun. [/quote] Oh, I can't wait... [quote]Check out my gallery and go to the last page. You'll see some of my earlier screenshots. [/quote] I'll sure do that, Uvah. I've been trying to familiarize myself with the people who post here, anyway. peace, Mally

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="2of3" reply="66" id="2950607"] Object Desktop Ultimate/Standard Merging: https://forums.wincustomize.com/370609 [/quote] That settles that question, Tim; thank you! As to the guy who bought his Ultimate at 50% off, and still had his subscription extended another year as well, I can only say I wish I'd found such a great deal. peace, <p

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="2of3" reply="63" id="2950561"]Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there are 2 different "classes" of Object Desktop anymore. https://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/purchase.asp[/quote] I did some poking around the website, and I think you're right; I can't find a reference to the Ultimate version that was still being marketed as late as last year, at least according to a casual Google search.

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="62" id="2950535"]Making icons, WB's and the like its usually a good idea to have the pro versions to take advantage of the additional functionality as opposed to say a public or free version or a trial version. [/quote] I absolutely agree, Uvah. I'm not even sure there is a public version of WB. I'm pretty sure the copy of SKS I'm using has limited functionality, and have seen a couple of times instances of things only available

Reply to Ethics of Sourcing Graphical Imagery Inquery in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

Masks totally intimidate me. I use them in the liquify filter, but even there, I don't know if I'm using them properly. I started back to a tech school for graphic design (after having earned my BS in art ed. in 1980) just a couple of years ago, but these young people today are so much faster at learning than I am, and they do such marvelously intriguing work. I couldn't keep up, though I never earned less than a B. I liked my fellow students, a

Reply to New skin creator here. in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

Need some advice, friends; This week I'll be working enough to buy Stardock Office Desktop. I'd like to hear some recommendations for or against the Ultimate version as opposed to the standard version. I mean, what does that extra $US 20 buy me? The only things I know I want for sure at this point are, of course, SkinStudio Pro, WindowBlinds, and the Icon Maker tool. Beyond that, like most folk, I like to get the most bang for my buck, but I don&#39

Reply to Ethics of Sourcing Graphical Imagery Inquery in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="26" id="2950505"]Best guestimate...a dozen or more and I think that's conservative.[/quote] You're probably right, and I may be way off my rocker, but I was guessing something closer to 100. That may be because I lack a lot of experience in building an image with multi-layered transparencies. I don't think I have the skills to do it in much less.

Reply to Ethics of Sourcing Graphical Imagery Inquery in SkinStudio Stardock Forums

[quote who="Uvah" reply="20" id="2950152"] Quoting MallyMcGinnis, reply 14I should like to visit your part of Europe some day Home of the Vikings also known as Skandinavia, The Norse Countries, Midgard as opposed to Aesgard or the Underworld. Quite a lot of history there. Case in point...A Viking by the name of Eric founded Greenland and called it that despite the fact that most of it was not green because he wanted settlers there. Iceland is exactly the opposite, more green t