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Hi everyone,
i´ve searched this forum and google, but i can´t find a tutorial about "how to create a Theme for manila" or else.
I´ve got an idea for theme, but i don´t know in which folder they are or to change them.
Has someone an idea?
benalive said:
Hi everyone,
i´ve searched this forum and google, but i can´t find a tutorial about "how to create a Theme for manila" or else.
I´ve got an idea for theme, but i don´t know in which folder they are or to change them.
Has someone an idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welllllllllllllllllll first you have to define "theme" there are alot of people with a Dinik Icon set and Dinik slider.. paired with a wallpaper of choice and call it a theme..
Then there is stuff like Buuf s theme and OrangeStreet that dig a little deeper than just a few icons and skins..
Then.. there is the THEMES... but before diving into a THEME.. know that even something like OrangeStreet (my first theme i did with ConanTroutMan) has over 1300 editted files in it.. and this was before i even knew about pngs in the windows folder or .dll mods , signing and unsigning certs, swype and t9 skins.. hell we could go on for days..
SOOOOOOOOOO
imo
Start by skinning all the manilla files you can find..
Then take alot of the ones you dont know .. and write a number on them.. 1-whatever.. and upload them to your phone.. this will help you find the stuff that wasnt obvious on the first pass..
THEN edit the pngs in the windows folder of the phone..
THEN Open PE explorer and start cracking open dlls..
which requires signing and unsigning certs.
By now you will have lost 45 pounds...AND your wife ...and you dog will have died of starvation.. But you will have a theme that is nothing more than a heavy duty skin.
So then you learn .lua and registry editting.. lua there are entire college courses on lua btw.. coding.. and xml... and use this to move and push some stuff around.. and THEN youll have a full theme.
Thanks, for the quick reply.
Well i think i have to start at the beginning:
so how can I extract the manila png files to edit them?
Use CFC_GUI and plus your phone in and turn it on.. .then click device.. import from device.. then export to pngs.. aim it at a folder.. and you will get a whole fist full of icons to edit.
The second easy to get to set you already know.. phone/windows/_.pngs
and if you cant get one to insert and replace itself, via copy and paste to replace.. then use WinCe to cab it and replace it.
Just make sure when you are done.. pile them all up in one cab so there arent a million cabs on your phone.
Read a Tutorial on CFC_GUI.. you can edit about 1200 files using just that.
Btw i cant wait to see what you come up with.. and if you need anyhelp that you dont wanna post on here (some ideas arent meant to be shared till AFTER they work) feel free to pm me.
This is where it all started for me......
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700826
this is a great tutorial and will have you doing some basic manila editing in no time......
enjoy.....
Well, let me offer my support too
If you have any questions, feel free to ask conan, m0b and myself
I'm also quite interested in which theme you want to do
Grtz,
Degake
degake said:
Well, let me offer my support too
If you have any questions, feel free to ask conan, m0b and myself
I'm also quite interested in which theme you want to do
Grtz,
Degake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too!
Hi degake!
antoniomistretta said:
Me too!
Hi degake!
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Click to collapse
Hi antonio
How are you doing? It's been a while.
Thank very much you for your great support
If I have some questions I´ll post them.
I wanted to know if there is a program that can do what you guys are talking about. I would like to make my own themes with themes made by other people. If the is no program then where would one start. Thx in advanced.
Ok I don't want to piss people off but how can I make a theme. Where do I start, is there a program to help you make themes instead of copying off of people. That's what I really like to know.
What mind of theme are you talking about? There are different methods for different types of themes.
I think u just need Photoshop and u have to edit the images then repack them to the zip for install just be sure u don't lose where the icons are placed and don't rename them... I think.... but I have no idea "/
CM7 wtf else....
Well I'm talking about themes poeple make that are in android market. I dont know what type of themes they are. Forgive me I'm new to android, I had a iPhone 4 and used winspc to change themes other people made on cydia.
Now do you just got to only use Photoshop cuz I use gimp is it the same.
You can use any image editing software. Read this thread. It pertains to the same thing that you are trying to do. You will use almost the exact same process to edit themes made by others.
Like the previous posters have mentioned, Photoshop or Gimp photo editor which is free would be your best bet, if you wanna make your own designs... If you want to theme your home screen using other people's work visit this thread, might help you out a bit.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=901649
It also has an instruction on how to change the icons after you make the design
Good luck!
If you use anything that is not yours, ask first. A lot of time goes into making a theme (even a not-so-good one) and I've seen too many people just say "credit goes to blah blah" but never asking. Please be considerate of the work of others.
As for actual theming it all depends on what you are theming. Some apps (launchers and widgets mainly) have built in theme functionality and should have a guide specific for them. Theming a ROM is a lot more time intensive and involves decompiling frameworks, setting up development tools, dealing with many possible problems, hoping compiling works, being frustrated about forgetting something, testing, etc. etc.
good info was looking for something very similar
Is making a them for a stock MT4G that uses the theme installer different than those made for custom ROMs?
It seems the androidian theme is the only one that can be installed and used on a stock MT4G. I'd love to see that exact theme with the green replaced by a dark gray.
Im curious as to HOW skins do what they do... Is it possible to create a skin or even modify an "htc" skin that will change 'framework' files, not just common 'htc.resources' files.
Ive done some serious googling and searching on the MAKE UP of these skins. Ive edited/modded a few, ive even tried throwing in extra files. ( i know that some sort of control files mut be there for any given item changed, it was just ruling it out) But i wanted to see if for a novice like me that only knows how to manipulate images and replace them, could ADD to a skin, not just rename and recolor it. Simply put ; can we make a SKIN change say status bar icons. We can change the background!
I theme every ROM, MOD, FIX, etc etc i put on my phone. Ive been doing so since D1. Which requires pushing framework-res and others back n forth.
I HATE green... so ive made personal themes (some shared) to remove all green aspects from android. If i could mod a skin to allow for MORE changes it could make my (and others) theme process easier.
ANY Info on this would be appreciated... and passed on .. ASOP roms have figured this out.. HTC finally added some support to Sense.. but welp i want it all.. lol
THANX...
...BUMP...
Really no one... Bueller? Bueller?
If I wanted to create a Scene or a Skin for the Thunderbolt how would I go about doing this. I'm good with creating images but writing the script may be a bit hard for me. And what would be the difference between the Scene and the Skin?
Please don't bark at me, I know its a question you pros hear all the time. Its that I don't know if the sizes are the same far as docks, icons, etc....
johnny quest said:
If I wanted to create a Scene or a Skin for the Thunderbolt how would I go about doing this. I'm good with creating images but writing the script may be a bit hard for me. And what would be the difference between the Scene and the Skin?
Please don't bark at me, I know its a question you pros hear all the time. Its that I don't know if the sizes are the same far as docks, icons, etc....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest looking at other themes already made. You know you can open them (the theme file) with most types of compression tools (7zip, winrar, tar, etc). Have you tried that yet and looked to see what the sizes are and what the files do?
Just download some from the app/theme forum and browse them on your computer
yareally said:
I suggest looking at other themes already made. You know you can open them (the theme file) with most types of compression tools (7zip, winrar, tar, etc). Have you tried that yet and looked to see what the sizes are and what the files do?
Just download some from the app/theme forum and browse them on your computer
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Click to collapse
thanks I'll do that.
Depending on how fancy you're trying to get, just using another them as a template should work out okay. If not, you can probably find more info on just generic theming for htc sense based phones in some other forums that have been around longer on xda. I honestly haven't seen anything really thunderbolt specific mentioned on the forums here. However, it should work out the same minus the sizes for any other htc phone (assuming it's for sense 2.x, which most are still).
I know however that I've seen tutorials for launcher theming around on xda. I saw one not long ago for go launcher, so I assume there are others for adw and the other launchers out there as well. Launcher theming wont let you mod everything of course (battery and those icons and such), but still quite a bit you can do and it should be something you can carry over to any phone, not just the thunderbolt.
I don't think anything theme wise should really require coding. Perhaps modding some existing xml and such, but that shouldnt be overly tricky. The hardest part is probably the graphics and that doesn't seem to be a problem for you.
I have tried UOT Kitchen before, always was unlucky at having flashing errors.
My question is this... If I take a flashable theme, with permission from the creator, I should be able to use the scripts that they include for flashing? I am savvy with un-APKing zipping, signing and what not, is that all I would have to do to recreate a theme using my own images?
Thanks to everyone here!
Yes, the script you see other themes using can be changed out with your own, as well as the content. You can also just use the UOT Kitchen script. Credit given where credit is due, of course, but the script itself (IMHO) is not something you really need permission for.
Another tip, this from firsthand experience, when you're zipping everything up getting ready to flash, make sure you're zipping the contents of the theme folder (/META-INF/ & /system/) vs zipping the theme folder.
It sounds really stupid, but it took me forever to figure out why everything I did in UOT Kitchen perfectly but everything I did, using the same damn script, just froze. But ya gotta learn somewhere, right?
Remember when using the kitchen make sure u click amend scripting in the area where u load the apks... x2 uses 2. Something recovery.. if u don't click that there will be errors everytime
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thank you, I think I've tried UOT 5 times but never had success.
Kevin, I tried the amend scripting, it solo didn't work.
I would much rather use my own images then those offered in uot kitchen.
I'm going to try to put a theme together this weekend, I haven't modded anything since BF2 wake island air show
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
Ok, how much do you know about themeing? Because if you are wanting to edit just the images(.pngs) you will need some info first...
You can "simply" take the framework-res.apk and systemUI.apk and go to the HDPI folder(or wherever the images are) and "drag n drop" to your desktop and edit those... OR you can take a .png that you wanna use(say one from another theme) and just drag n drop in the HDPI folder. And then, simply make a flashable .zip and your good to go.
.9s !!!
These are a PAIN if you dont know what you are doing.
If you are going to try and get into themeing, download APKManager and decompile the framework-res.apk ... go to a .9 image(i think its .png.9 or something of the like). When you load the image(say in GIMP) you will see black squares on the OUTSIDE of the image(like near the edges of the ACTUAL picture edge)... DONT TOUCH THOSE!!!! leave them there and make edits how you choose to the rest of the image. Once you are finished, just recompile(DONT SIGN AND YES! THESE ARE SYSTEM APPS!). Put in a flashable .zip and your set.
NOW Please note:
When you are doing the drag and drop method, make sure you are REPLACING an image and not ADDING more images.. catch the drift?
this is quick how to, hope it helps and good luck. let me know if you need anything else.
All the themes rock! I have poor eye sight (far sight) so my main concern always is status bar and the battery icon. I love being able to see the percentage, but some themes use smaller battery percentage text.
.9 seem like the stretchable area I'm beautiful widget... I understand that
Thanks Peperm1nt
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
I was thinking of trying out theming. That is until I looked at the crap load of images just thrown into one directory. lol. It may not be as hard as it looks but I havent looked any further than that yet. I still want to try something out though. Is there an easy way of figuring out what image does what on the phone? Like if I want to change some things, I have to know the name of the image. Well, to me, it looks like they aren't named plain and simple. Plus when they are just thrown into one directory its kinda hard to distinguish what is what. It was so much easier theming for webOS. lol
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Kevin3328 said:
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Yeah, one of these days ill download the tools and play with it. I've always enjoyed theming.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk
I'm just trying to figure out the script to flash, is it the one in the google folder?
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
@js I know what you are saying about the desire to do it but the system isn't really what I would say themer friendly! Admittedly I am not the sharpest tool in the shade when it comes to some things (like the Android OS), so I would imagine that plays a big role in my intimidation of the whole thing.
What got me was the De-Compiling and Recompiling of everything just to change something. Not to mention the signatures and etc... perhaps one day someone will write a piece of software (be it windows based or Android in a shell on a PC) that will make it all pretty simple on that part. Till then I will prob. just enjoy and appreciate the work of others.
GL, Slim!
SlimMan said:
@js I know what you are saying about the desire to do it but the system isn't really what I would say themer friendly! Admittedly I am not the sharpest tool in the shade when it comes to some things (like the Android OS), so I would imagine that plays a big role in my intimidation of the whole thing.
What got me was the De-Compiling and Recompiling of everything just to change something. Not to mention the signatures and etc... perhaps one day someone will write a piece of software (be it windows based or Android in a shell on a PC) that will make it all pretty simple on that part. Till then I will prob. just enjoy and appreciate the work of others.
GL, Slim!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I agree about the decompiling and recompiling thing. When I had a webOS phone I created my own theme just by simply replacing the images and restarting the phone. With android, it seems you have to take the whole framework out, theme it and recompile the package file and flash it to the phone. Just seems a bit overwhelming.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk
It's not that bad if you are just changing the images... Just timely. I suggest gimp to do the work. Another tip, some of the images are indexed. In gimp change from indexed to rgb...back to indexed, then rgb. Reason being that you are now able to add any color and doing it twice clears the pixelation...
What gets hard is smali editing and .xml editing. Let me know if you need help there.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Send a PM to "KTT16" on the Motorola Photon Forums, he is a great themer, let him know what you need help with, tell him you are running stock on the X2, he'll ask you for whatever files he needs, and he will help out.
By the way, if you are at all interested in a signature image, I can create one for you, just PM me, and I'll get on it.
Peperm1nt said:
It's not that bad if you are just changing the images... Just timely. I suggest gimp to do the work. Another tip, some of the images are indexed. In gimp change from indexed to rgb...back to indexed, then rgb. Reason being that you are now able to add any color and doing it twice clears the pixelation...
What gets hard is smali editing and .xml editing. Let me know if you need help there.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
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Click to collapse
I can batch process in PS.....and what is this bout clearing the pixelation...lol
Thanks I'll check it out
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
When you find a indexed image going to rgb pixelates the image...going back to indexed and then to rgb fixes this.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Peperm1nt said:
When you find a indexed image going to rgb pixelates the image...going back to indexed and then to rgb fixes this.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
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I was p playing with you, all my online gaming and forum names have always had pixel, pixelated, pixelation, pixelized or any variety of pixel
Edit: swyponese
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
I am trying this out for the 1st time. My main goal is to create a transparent status bar for CM7. Will this make that "patch" I need for this?
Kevin3328 said:
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Click to collapse
i seem to be a complete idiot lol
im sitting here trying to use apk manager and have no clue how to go about it
i cant get it to friggin pull files, i have no clue what im doing tho lol
i been trying to find info on how to use it with the x2 but cant find jack that is actually useful.
time to go eat, clear my head, and get back to researching, im probably just missing something extremely easy i knoow, but hey, i havent had a working computer in years so yea, im kinda learning on the fly here, lol
Lol @ash
In apkm select the apk you want, then decompile... Make edits, recompile.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared