Happy Friday everyone!  The end of the week is finally here and it is time to wrap up the happenings in skinning this week.  No major news to report this week, but skin submissions are picking up now that summer is coming to a close, so there is a bunch of good stuff to check out.

	XBOX ELITE by Chasbo Great to see some skins from Chasbo, and this is a cool weather widget you should check out.
	Lava Planet by amitsaran This is just an awesome design, and perfect for an animated wallpaper.  It’s also available in other skin formats too.
	Windows 7 (2010) Dark Edition by DEVJIT This wallpaper has a cool and unique take on the Window 7 logo.  Nice work!
	PlasticXP by Stardock Design PlasticXP originated in 2001, and now has been updated to run on Win7.  Give it a try!
	Aura Xtreme by WebGizmos WebGizmos has been busy putting out some fantastic Winstep themes, and this one based on a Stardock Design is another great one.

I have been helping some people on the Microsoft forums lately with issues resulting from using registry hacks to change basic things in Windows 7 like the logon screen.  The good thing about customizing Windows is just that – you can customize as much or as little as you like.  However, be careful when using registry hacks to change things, you might just end up hosing your system.

If you are ready to step in the customization world for Windows 7, then follow these tips to do it safely and effectively!

Change the Windows 7 logon

When you want to change the background of the logon screen for Win7, don’t worry about registry hacks.  Just head over and download the free LogonStudio app.  With LogonStudio you can change the background to one of the included images, use your own just by dragging and dropping, or download thousands from WinCustomize.com.

Replace the Default Cursor

The default Windows cursors are pretty boring, nothing special to see here.  CursorFX is another application that can change the default cursor into something really special.  There are all types of custom cursors available with some wild animations, cool effects, and more.  You can even find some that emulate other operating systems.  CursorFX is free as well, but a Plus version is available with even more features!

Get a New Skin and Theme

Windows 7 has the ability to download themes for use, but they are very limited and really don’t change much but the color.  If you want to give Windows a real custom look, come check out WindowBlinds.  WindowBlinds gives you the ability to change the look of the entire user interface in Windows with literally thousands of skins and themes available for download to use.  WindowBlinds 7 also allows you to “skin” Aero which you can apply textures and other effects to enhance Aero on your own.  A free trial is available, and the full version is just $20.

Summer is coming to a close and we can start merging into the Fall season soon enough.  This week on WinCustomize we had a couple new Master WindowBlinds skins, both of which are definitely worth checking out.  Since Halloween is coming up next month, I hope to see some more Halloween themed skins coming in, and I have updated one of mine and have some more planned as well.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Robotic Defiance Digital by theAVMAN A slick set of clocks that are gadgets, so they can be used on your desktop without any additional software.
	Strokes by amitsaran These are my favorite types of animated wallpapers.  Subtle animation with beautiful colors.  Nice work!
	Robotic Defiance (TM Suites) by Philly0381 The Robotic Defiance suite contains skins from several WC skinners.  Another great package delivered!
	StarFighter by Vampothika Not new, but a big update brings Win7 updates and new colors.
	Dimentia by butch123 A clean and minimal style is always a favorite.  Great job on this!

This has been a very long week, and I am sure glad the weekend is nearly here.  It’s also crazy that September is just days away, and hopefully some cooler weather will accompany it. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Transcend by theAVMAN It’s cursor themes like these that make CursorFX such an awesome app.  Fantastic job on this one!
	Display ArrayDX by RedneckDude This is a new “original” DesktopX theme from RND.  This is one of my top favorites so far.
	Light Streaks by amitsaran A very cool looking animated wallpaper that isn’t too busy to look at all day.
	Lovely As A Tree by Frankief This is just a really beautiful scene.  Thanks for sharing it!
	Dulce by 2of3 This one almost slipped past me, but I’m glad I saw it as this is an impressive WindowBlinds skin.  Soft color makes this another winner!

Welcome to Friday!  Let me take a moment again to thank everyone who participated in the WinCustomize Wallpaper Survey over the past week or so.  I’m going over the responses now and I will share some of the results soon.  We will be posting more surveys in the coming weeks to get an idea on how to improve WinCustomize. 

Now for this weeks picks!

	Elementals Fire DX by RedneckDude RND is busy as usual, and this DX Theme caught my eye with the bold look and design.  Fantastic!
	Aquarium by amitsaran I don’t remember seeing an aquarium animated wallpaper before, but I think it is a real good idea.
	Velvet Waves by jazzilady This is a slick theme for LogonStudio.  There’s also a matching wallpaper so be sure to grab both.
	Alloy Dock Backgrounds by Mirsguy Made to match the Alloy WB skin, but these ObjectDock backgrounds will work with a ton of skin.  Great job!
	Alien Invasion wb by madcat21 This is a dark, alien-inspired WindowBlinds skin with a superb design.  Nice work!

The is the next article in user requested tutorials.  With the new site brings some changes to the upload process, so here is a step-by-step guide on how to upload your skin submissions to WinCustomize.

Tips before uploading:

• Make sure if you have multiple skins or files, to place them in a .zip file.  The .rar type files are not accepted.  If you need a free .zip utility I recommend IZArc.
• Similar skins such as a slight variation in wallpapers must be bundled into one upload. 
• Submissions must be completely your own work.  If you are using another authors work you must include permissions in the .zip file. 
• WinCustomize has a moderated gallery.  Not all works will make it into the public gallery.
• Please read the Upload Guidelines for more specific rules regarding uploading.

Once your upload is ready for submissions, head over to this link - https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/all/new

The drop-down menu has every available gallery on WinCustomize.  Just select which gallery you want to upload, hit submit and you will be taken to the next page.

The next screen is where you will enter the information and upload the actual files.  For this example I am uploading to the WindowBlinds gallery.  Start by entering the name of the skin, category, description, and tags.  Depending on which gallery you upload to, there might be additional options.  As an example, in the WB upload window you have the option to check “includes Vista skin elements”, which will indicate the skin is ready for Vista.  These options will be updated soon to reflect Windows 7.

Next you will want to upload the preview image and the actual skins files.  Preview sizes will vary depending on what type of skin you are uploading.  More information can be found in the Upload Guidelines, but regardless the image cannot exceed 2mb and should be a .jpg file. 

Just hit Browse and a dialog box will come up giving you the ability to select the files for upload.  After uploading the image file, you can choose a region to represent the thumbnail view of the skin.

After the preview image is selected, you can upload your skin file.  Depending on the gallery you are uploading to, .zip files will always be accepted and each gallery should accept the file extension of the skin being uploaded.  After your files are selected, just read and select the confirmation and hit Submit.

Your skin will now be uploaded, and you should see a confirmation!  Remember that users who are ranked below Journeyman level will have their submissions sent to moderation, which can take several days to be approved.

August has snuck up on us, and summer is slowly starting to wind down.  We have had a pretty good summer which is typically a slower time for skinning, but looking back at the skins we have had a ton of great submissions.

Now for this weeks picks!

In catching up with tutorials and guides for users, the first requested one was how to make animated images for use specifically in CursorFX.  However, these can be used a variety of other skinning apps including DesktopX, WindowBlinds, etc.

First you have to create the image you want to animate.  The most common app will most likely be something like Photoshop, although I do know some skinners who will use 3D applications to make some of those awesome cursor themes you see on WinCustomize.  Regardless of how you create the images, the end result must be that you have sequential .png images of your animation.  In Photoshop, you can do this simply by creating an image, and making a .png file of every step of the animation.  If you are using a 3D application, some will give you the option to export as sequential .png’s  so most of the work is already done for you.

This example is from Carrara 7.  I made a simple animation of a sphere for this example, and instead of exporting it as a movie file, it gives me the option to save each frame of animation as a .png file, which I can then assemble.  Assembling is something we will get to shortly.

Regardless of what you use, you will end up with a bunch of image files.

Now the task is to take all those images and make them into one strip of images.  There are a couple ways of doing this.

1. AniUtil – This is a utility long used by skinners to create .png strips.  It is located in your CursorFX folder or can be downloaded from various sites on the web.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work too well with newer operating systems, but I would recommend trying it first.
   
2. APNG Edit – This is a Firefox extension used to create .png image strips.
   
3. APNG Anime Maker – This is a free app that doesn’t require installation that does a great job at combining .png files.

No matter what app you use to create the animation strip, you will end up with a single file.  Be sure to make note of how many frames are in the image as this is a number you will need to enter so the animation is looped correctly.

Since we are using CursorFX as our skinning example, the image below shows the CursorFX Editor and how you can import and setup your animated image.

As I mentioned before, these animations can be used in several different skinning programs, and the basics are all the same.  Using this method, you can create some really cool animations for your skins and themes.

Welcome all my skinning friends to another edition of TWiS.  Lets start off by saying congrats to k10w3 and amitsaran for winning our Summer 2010 skin contest.  I’m glad we have these two members as part of our site, and look forward to more from both of them.  I have no immediate plans for another contest, but I’d like to shoot for possibly a Halloween themed contest maybe.  Let me know your thoughts.

Now for this weeks picks!

	Aggressor by theAVMAN I just like everything about this theme for CursorFX
	Penthouse DX by RedneckDude I don’t need to describe RND’s DX themes anymore, you know they are top-notch.  Check this one based off the Penthouse WB.
	WHITE OUT by Defcon4 This is a nice set of 12 icons which you can use in ObjectDock.  Nice detail on these.
	Ford Trimotor by kenwas These are always great renders by kenwas.  Some of these scenes take you back in time.
	AGGRESSOR 7 XP & Vista by theAVMAN Just like the CursorFX theme, this WindowBlinds is just full of goodness.  Great job!
	Hibiscus and Anoles by k10w3 Nice bright and fresh colors make this a refreshing WindowBlinds skin for your desktop.

Welcome to another Friday, and welcome to the latest edition of TWiS.  Many things going on this including, including the mods judging the entries in the Summer ‘10 contest, so hopefully the winners will be announced sometime next week.  For you .dream creators out there, here is a reminder that the Dynamic Dream and Effects SDK’s have been released, so now you can create even more cool animated wallpapers!

Now for this weeks picks!

	Natural Bliss by amitsaran I just enjoy the overall look of this .dream.  Good motions, nice colors.
	Early Morning by DEVJIT This is a great image for your Windows logon, especially when starting your day.
	Carbon and Glass Zoomber by nicholas scarlett Nothing too fancy here, but it is a great minimalistic zoomer background set for ObjectDock.
	NS-5: The Birth by Sc4rfy This is just a very cool looking wallpaper, a definite download.
	AI interface WB by madcat21 Another great design from madcat21.  Attention to detail is good, and I recommend checking this one out.