Theme Creation Tutorials

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Quick Theme Creation (Win98 - Vista 32 bit)

Download THIS FILE (3.48 megs) to start creating themes. It includes the program "ThemeFreak" along with registration codes (the program is now free), and it also includes "Desktop Architect" to package the theme for download and installation. There is an important README file included that tells you how to tweak ThemeFreak so it will work with all Windows machines. There are also instructions for packaging the theme for download with Desktop Architect. ThemeFreak will not work properly without tweaking the theme file, so the readme is extremely important. Desktop Architect will install and work on Win98 - Vista machines as well. It not only will manage themes, but there is a "packaging" option that works great if you want to make your theme available for download and installation. This program will work alongside the theme engine that comes with Windows. Both of these programs are now public domain, but are the best around. There are options in Desktop Architect that no longer work with XP or Vista, but you just ignore these.

Here are some tutorials or information to help you create your own theme.

The Colors (TUTORIAL)
Manual Startup/Shutdown Screens (TUTORIAL)
This includes screenshots using XrX Addbar Version 1 or doing the screens manually.
Create a self-installing font (TUTORIAL)
Zipping your files (TUTORIAL)
The Wallpaper
Icon Creation
Cursor Creation
Sound Creation
How a Theme File Looks
Links to Resources
Windows 98 Files
Automated Startup/Shutdown Screens and creating an installer for Win 98 (TUTORIAL)
This information is for Windows 98 only. This includes screenshots and links to two very easy freeware programs; XrX AddBar Beta Version 2 and LogoZip. Complete instructions for using the programs is included.

General Information

If you are using photos, sounds, icons, or cursors off personal pages on the web, it is a good idea to ask people's permission if it isn't a download type of site. Some photos, for example, are basically personal property. I've found that people are more than willing to share these with you if you just ask. If you are developing a music theme, fan pages may even want to carry your theme when it is done.

The Wallpaper

Wallpaper should be in a standard Windows size such as 1024x768. One thing to remember is that people will have their Windows settings set up differently. Some people will have their settings so an image centers on the screen, while others will have their settings so whatever image is being imported is stretched to fill the screen. If you include an odd sized image for a wallpaper assuming that it will centered on everyone's screen it may look terrible on a lot of systems.

The solution for an odd sized image is to place it on a background color of your choice using a program such as Paint Shop Pro. I think the best program for the money is PhotoImpact by Ulead. It does everything PSP does and more. Then specify the same color for your background in the color settings of your theme. That way it will look great whether people have their system set to center or stretch. You would only need one theme file for all screen resolutions using this method.

In other words, let's say you have an image that is 600 x 500. You drop it on a black background (0 0 0) sized 800 x 600 and then have the background color in your theme set to 0 0 0 black. If a person using 1024 x 768 screen resolution with a setting of "center" were to use this theme the remaining border areas around your wallpaper would be filled in by the background color of the theme. Despite this trick, I still think it's best to have a wallpaper that is meant to completely fill the screen.

As a general rule, your background image should be at least 1024x768. New computers, including notebooks, now have graphics cards that are using very high resolutions. Many of the newer computers have wide-screen displays. For example, my resolution is 1440x900 on my notebook. Depending on your preference, you can do two separate themes. One with standard resolution and one with wide-screen. I find that that the "stretch" isn't enough to really distort the wallpaper, so I just do the standard size.

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While it is very easy to change the wallpaper on your Desktop, it can be a rather large project to change the wallpaper on the walls of your home. Home Advisor contractors can do the job quickly and professionally. Contractor reviews and Home Advisor Reviews make it easy to find the right company to do any size wallpaper job in your home.

Icon Programs

There are 5 icons that you need to create. They are My Computer, My documents, Network Neighborhood, Recycle Bin Empty, and Recycle Bin Full. Vista does not use the My Documents icon. Standard theme creation software also will not apply the Network Neighborhood icon to Vista 32. This icon is not turned on by default in Vista, so it's not a big deal. You may want to include that info in your readme file so people know to manually apply this icon if they choose to show it on their desktop. There are two great programs on the market. I use and prefer Microangelo's Suite, but AX Icons is much cheaper. It isn't as powerful, but it only costs $14 to register. If you want a "do it all" program, the most recent version of Microangelo fits the bill. It does icons, cursors, animated cursors, and easily creates icon libraries to easily file your icons on your hard drive. AX Icons has a few problems that Microangelo doesn't have, but they are minor. If you use cut and paste a lot from a separate graphics program, it doesn't cut and paste black correctly. It's still a good program despite this limitation. When purchased with the equally priced AX Cursors it has everything that Microangelo has for less than half the price and only a few problems. If you really get into icon creation, it's worth having both programs.

Of course, you can use any paint program you want to create your icons, or use icons you already have. These won't be true icons, but they will work with Windows Themes. My husband has created some fantasic icons using Windows Paint. If you go this route, the icon size you need to create is 32x32 or 48x48 in either 16, 256 color, or True Color. You save the file as a bmp in indexed color, then rename it with an ico extension (Windows is full of these little tricks ;-).

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Cursors

Usually, you only want your busy and waiting cursors to be animated, but you can have any or all of your cursors animated. Here are collections of complete sets of cursors in a large variety of colors.Most of the cursors are static except for the busy and waiting cursors. Most of the animated cursors were not done by me. Many were by Tumi, who graciously allowed me to use his cursors. Please check the copyright info in the cursors if you are going to upload your theme for download. Each set has the cursors necessary for a theme with the exception of a few of them which do not have the busy or wait cursors. You can create your own or use those found on cursor sites. Microangelo Suite is my favorite, but AX Cursors is cheaper with only a $14 registration fee. For "power users" I'd recommend Microangelo, for other users I'd recommend Ax Cursors.

There are 14 cursors in a theme. The two cursors that are usually animated are the Wait and Busy icons. The Wait icon is shown when Windows is doing something, but you still can do things with the cursor. The Busy icon is shown when Windows can't handle any clicks or commands. Here is a list of the usually static cursors.

Arrow - Your regular pointer.
Help - This shows when you click on the ? in a dialog box.
NWPen - The Pen cursor.
No - This is used when you can't select an item with the arrow cursor.
Size NS/WE/NWSE/NESW - The four "resize a window" cursors.
Size All (or Move) -This is used when you can move an entire window.
Crosshair (Precision)- For precision selection.
IBeam (Text Select)- This shows when you are in a text region.
Up Arrow - The straight up arrow used for moving up. This isn't used much, but you still need it.

Here are some generic cursor sets that you can download. Some were created by me and some were on the net. A few of the sets have matching icons. Some of the authors represented are Johnny Yip, Ben Wagner, Tumi, Juan C. Pradas-Bergnes.

Info	Download
Click on a check mark to download. WARNING!- Most files are "wrapped" in shareware offers. They are checked by default to install. BE SURE TO UNCHECK if you do not want the shareware!! Please READ THIS about the downloaded files.
Info	1	2
Cursor Templates- Use this to make your own cursors by pouring in the colors you want
Icon Folder Template- Use this template to make your own icons by pouring the colors you want into the folder and/or pasting your own pictures.
General Animated Cursors. Large Assortment.
More Animated Cursors
Beanie Baby Cursors
Black Cursors
Blue Cursors
Blue Delft Cursors
Bronze Cursors
Brown Cursors
Checkered Cursors
Christmas Cursors
Copper Cursors
Creamy White Cursors
Cyan Cursors
Gold Cursors
Gold- Light Cursors
Green Cursors
Green- Bright Cursors
Indigo Cursors
Lavender Cursors
Orange Cursors
Pink Cursors
Purple Cursors
Rainbow Cursors
Red-Bright Cursors
Red-Deep Cursors
Rust Colored Cursors
Rust Colored Cursors 2
Silver Cursors
Silver Cursors 2
South Park Cursors
Teal & Yellow Cursors
Violet Colored Cursors
Violet-Dark Colored Cursors
Yellow Cursors and Yellow/Red Cursors

Sounds

There are two excellent sound programs on the market, and I use both of them for every theme I create. The easiest to use is Cool Edit 2000 which is now owned by Adobe and has been renamed Adobe Audition, but it's not perfect. Where it is lacking, Goldwave picks up the slack. Goldwave will do it all for a far cheaper price, but it's harder to use. To give you an idea of how I use the programs, I do my recording and editing in Cool Edit, which is easy to use and figure out. After I create my WAV file, I convert it to an MPEG Layer 3 sound in Goldwave. This is a WAV file that uses MP3 compression. It is not just a renamed MP3 file though, so regular PCM wavs need to go through a conversion process. Cool Edit will not perform this compression. Goldwave converts the files in a SNAP. No hassles, no confusion. I open my WAV, use the "save as" option, and get a nice neat drop down lists of all the conversions. If you are curious as to which I usually use, I use 24,000/64 or 24,000/56. I still get clear sounds, but the sound is pretty compressed and small in size. Below you'll find a list of the sounds that CAN be included, but you don't have to include any sounds at all. You can pick and choose. The format is WAV, not MIDI. Excessive wav files really bloat a theme's size and can become very grating on the nerves after awhile so my best advice is to be conservative :). Also, an end sound in Vista will stall the shut down, so you may want to consider not having a shut down sound at all. If you are doing a music theme, one of the best ways to find sound clips specific to a particular band is to do a search and visit fan pages or use Cool Edit to record from a CD.

To find more information about using MPEG Layer 3 sound with your themes, go to the Sound Help page. It will describe what you need to hear these compressed sounds on your computer and a way to check that you have the decoders installed. Vista and XP machines will have no problems handling these sounds. This only applies to 98 machines. Basically, there are two ways to use MPEG Layer 3 sounds. The first is to download the Windows Media Player 7 or above (Win98 only). Versions lower than 7 will actually erase the code if it is on your system. Media Player 7 will add the advanced version of the the code. The professional version (l3codecp.acm) will make MP3's up to 128 Kb and the advanced version (l3codeca.acm) can make MP3's up to only 56 Kb.

If you really want CD quality sounds you'll need to encode using the professional version. It involves putting the code in your Windows\System directory and modifying your system.ini file. Instructions on how to do this are with the file. DOWNLOAD the code and the instructions for installation. This codec is hard to find, and definitely worth having since it will allow you to record in a lot more formats! The general rule is to keep your sounds very short and unobtrusive. The sounds with the *** next to them can be longer.

Here are the sounds:
Default Sound
System Default - This plays when a Windows program you are using calls for the default sound (usually is the same sound as the Default Sound).
Program Error (Can be the same sound as Critical Stop)
Mail- Used in Windows 98 and above for when mail arrives.
Maximize (Can be the same sound as Restore Up)
Minimize (Can be the same sound as Restore Down)
Restore Up - Played when you click on the restore button to make the windows larger.
Restore Down - Played when you click on the restore button to make the window smaller.
Menu Command - Played when you select a program/option from a menu.
Menu Popup - Played when you are looking through your program menus.
Open Program
Close Program
Ring In - Played with a program that uses the ringing options.
Ring Out - Played with a program that uses the ringing options.
Asterisk
Exclamation - Plays when you're trying to do something that you can't do :)
**Windows Start
Windows Exit
Critical Stop (System Hand) - Everything comes to a screeching halt.
Question
**Empty Recycle Bin

Windows 98 Files

Since these are no longer used in XP or Vista, this is only here for the curious. Windows 98 has a few extra graphics compared to other versions of Windows. Here are what they are.

WVLEFT.BMP- This is an indexed color bitmap that is 182x237. You see it when you enable the "web view" option in the file manager. Usually on the very top has a graphic that is very faded out since writing will go on top of it.
WVLINE.GIF- This is a 168x1 pixel graphic that goes right below the title in the webview option of file manger.
WVLOGO.GIF- This is a 314x331 pixel graphic that you see in the file manager when you click on the "windows" folder. In Windows 98 you don't get the file listing right away since there is a warning that deleting files can be dangerous. You get a pretty graphic instead of the files. This is the pretty graphic :).

How a Theme File Looks

Here is a typical theme file for Windows 98 through Vista 32 bit.

%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\ means that the files are installed in the default Theme directory in a subdirectory called Up Up and Away. The colored comments below the sections explain what the sections do. The default theme directory for XP and Vista 32 bit is C:\Program Files\Resources\Themes\.

[Control Panel\Desktop]
Wallpaper=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Wallpaper.jpg
TileWallpaper=0
WallpaperStyle=2

This is the section that brings up the wallpaper. This is telling windows NOT to tile the wallpaper, and Style 2 means to stretch/shrink the wallpaper to fit the users' screen.

[CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away My Computer.ico,0
[Software\Classes\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away My Computer.ico,0
[CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Network Neighborhood.ico,0
[Software\Classes\CLSID\{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Network Neighborhood.ico,0
[CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away My Documents.ico,0
[Software\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\DefaultIcon]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away My Documents.ico,0
[CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
empty=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin Empty.ico,0
full=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin Full.ico,0
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin.ico,0
[Software\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
empty=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin Empty.ico,0
full=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin Full.ico,0
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Recyclebin.ico,0

These are the five icons that sit on the desktop (Vista doesn't show My Documents at all and it doesn't show Network Neighborhood unless you choose to show it). ThemeFreak will automatically build a cross compatible theme that will work with Win98-Windows Vista 32 bit. See the top of the page to download this program

AppStarting=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Working in background.ani
Arrow=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Normal Select.cur
Crosshair=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Crosshair.cur
Help=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Help.ani
IBeam=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away IBeam.cur
No=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away No.cur
NWPen=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Handwriting.ani
SizeAll=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Move.ani
SizeNESW=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Diagonal Resize NESW.ani
SizeNS=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Vertical Resize.ani
SizeNWSE=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Diagonal Resize NWSE.ani
SizeWE=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Horizontal Resize.ani
UpArrow=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Alternate Select.ani
Wait=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Busy.ani

These are required cursors. All are mandatory. If you don't specify a cursor, Windows will use the user's default settings. They may not match your theme. You need 14 total cursors. Usually 12 are stationary and 2 are animated (wait and busy). However, as you can see above, you can use animated cursors for any of them.

[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\EmptyRecycleBin\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Empty Recycle Bin.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\AppGPFault\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Program Error.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\Close\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Close.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\.Default\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Default sound.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\MailBeep\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Mailbeep.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\Maximize\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Maximize.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\MenuCommand\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Menu Command.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\MenuPopup\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Menu Popup.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\Minimize\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Minimize.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\Open\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Open.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\RestoreDown\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Restore Down.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\RestoreUp\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Restore Up.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemAsterisk\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Asterisk.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemDefault\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Default Beep.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemExclamation\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Exclamation.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemExit\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Exit Windows.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemHand\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Critical Stop.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemQuestion\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Question.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\SystemStart\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Start Windows.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\RingIn\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Ring In.wav
[AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\Ringout\.Current]
DefaultValue=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\Up Up and Away Ring Out.wav

These are the sounds. You don't need to have any at all. You'd just erase everything after "DefaultValue=" if you didn't want a sound there. While it looks like I have a sound for each event, I don't. I keep a "blank" sound that I use for the majority of my sounds. With some Win machines, it will default to using the last theme's sound if none is specified, so rather than take a chance I load a silent sound rather than specify no sound. If you would like to download my blank sound that I use, CLICK HERE.

[Metrics]
IconMetrics=76 0 0 0 75 0 0 0 75 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 245 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NonclientMetrics=84 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 243 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 188 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 245 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 188 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 245 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 245 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 245 255 255 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 77 83 32 83 97 110 115 32 83 101 114 105 102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

All these numbers are what control the fonts, font size, and icon spacing. Basically, this is a standard Windows font scheme. If you use ThemeFreak to make your theme, and you choose to use the "default" fonts, this section will not be included in your theme file. That means that when your theme is applied, the computer will continue using whatever font styles were in the theme before. You usually don't want this to happen, so cut and paste the above section and manually add it to your theme file.

[Control Panel\Colors]
ActiveBorder=203 203 203
ActiveTitle=107 1 1
AppWorkspace=223 223 233
Background=40 56 72
ButtonAlternateFace=70 92 106
ButtonDkShadow=77 77 77
ButtonFace=203 203 203
ButtonHilight=244 244 244
ButtonLight=234 234 234
ButtonShadow=157 157 157
ButtonText=0 0 0
GradientActiveTitle=33 39 51
GradientInactiveTitle=12 18 30
GrayText=128 128 128
Hilight=107 1 1
HilightText=255 255 255
HotTrackingColor=107 1 1
InactiveBorder=203 203 203
InactiveTitle=16 111 17
InactiveTitleText=255 255 255
InfoText=0 0 0
InfoWindow=255 255 255
Menu=145 165 176
MenuText=0 0 0
Scrollbar=61 81 92
TitleText=255 255 255
Window=255 255 255
WindowFrame=0 0 0
WindowText=0 0 0

These are all the colors of the theme. They are in RGB value. If you don't have a graphics program ThemeFreak makes color choices very easy. You can pick them from the wallpaper or choose them using the standard Windows color window. To see what each of the color names control, see the Color Schemes page.

[Distribution]
ReadMe=%ThemeDir%Up Up and Away\_README.txt
ReadMe2=
FileID=

This is the location and name of my readme file(s). If there is nothing after the equal sign, it means I don't have that element included.

[MasterThemeSelector]
MTSM=DABJDKT

You just leave this alone :).

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