This first post is about using Adobe Illustrator
I figured I would share a little knowlege of my designing and how when i came to android it helped out in making theming my rom so much quicker
ATTACHED AT THE BOTTOM IS A STARTER LAYOUT TO HELP MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR YOU!!!!!! :fingers-crossed:
THEME/DESIGN CHEAT SHEET
INDEX1. Tools..........................................................................
2. Begin.........................................................
3. The Setup...........................................
4. The Artboards.........................................................
5. Adding And Modifying Multiple Artboards.....................
6. Saving your Icons.................................
7. Layers, Colors, And Strokes................................................
8. SELECTING MULTIPLE LAYERS AND ICONS TO CHANGE COLOR AT ONCE.
9. TRACING TOOL...................................................
10. Keyboard shortcuts coming soon
1.TOOLS
First remove Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks from your playlist. To me these tools are crap or for short cuts. lol but short cuts coming soon
"Adobe Illustrator" and some quick learning or know how.
I'm not going to go over every single tool because if anyone knows illustrator lol its just way to many. Im just going to get to the main ones in this case in point.
2. BEGIN
Adobe Illustrator is one of the best graphic design tool I've ever used Ever. Your images would no longer start of as just a pic anymore. Now its time to learn vector.
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s), which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics. "Vector", in this context, implies more than a straight line.
Vector graphics is based on images made up of vectors (also called paths, or strokes) which lead through locations called control points. Each of these points has a definite position on the x and y axes of the work plan. Each point, as well, is a variety of database, including the location of the point in the work space and the direction of the vector (which is what defines the direction of the track). Each track can be assigned a color, a shape, a thickness and also a fill. This does not affect the size of the files in a substantial way because all information resides in the structure; it describes how to draw the vector.
WIKI^^^^^ thanks
In short this means that all the res you would lose resizing images in Photoshop or Fireworks wouldn't be lost in Adobe illustrator because it use the vector format
When designing in vector you have so many capabilities that any format doesn't, like proper shading, 3D effects and the easiest way to change the color of multiple vec's at once on the same artboard.
The art board is the space and area in which your design would be held on. It's the only part that would be use to create the png, jpeg, etc. Anything on the edge or off of the artboard wouldn't come up at all in the image. This is convenient to me because I like to have almost the entire framework or system res themed perfectly. Meaning all color and tints and shade all match to the T. You also can line up anything to the artboard or to an object perfectly, so no more miss shaped png's lol.
There's also some tools there that you also seen in Photoshop and Fireworks.
My favorite part of adobe illustrator is the Effects section. This is how to avoid messing up when trying to make your own shading, shadows, 3D effects, glows and more. Trust me, when you get a taste of the effects your going to be trying anything!!!!!!
3. THE SETUP
Now it's time to prepare.
First you need to start a new project. Go to file and select new. Give your project a name. i prefer the name of the rom.
New documents profile - Don't change this because it going to change to custom by itself.
Number Of Art Boards - Keep this at 1 (im going to tell you how to add more)
Size - don't touch anything after size, just make sure Units Say Pixels
Advanced(drop down the menu) - There are 2 color mode RGB - and CMYK. Rgb modes give your stage for the artboards a white background as if it was on paper. Cmyk leave it empty or transparent like in a PNG. It's your choice on which you want.
Raster Effects - Make sure it's at High 300 PPI
4. THE ARTBOARDS
THERE IS A STARTER KIT FOR ARTBOARDS ATTACHED
The Artboard is pretty much a stage. This is where all the magic happens.
Now when your designing any icon you should make sure you know the sizes. Knowing all the sizes can be a hassle right, but this is where it gets really easy. Say you have 30 icons that are 72x72 if you have a project set up with multiple art boards you would be fine. because once you have made all the icons the save size is just a drag and click away.
5. ADDING AND MODIFYING MULTIPLE ART BOARDS
If you noticed which I'm sure everyone has, that some images match the size of other. This is where it gets very easy to make save and do it in a quick fashion.
Go to "File", scroll down to Document Setup and click on it. A window will appear don' worry about anything it the window unless you want to change things yourself. Just go to Edit artboard. You will notice that the screen has turned grey and now you artboard is the only thing thats white. If you hover over the grey you will see that your drag symbol has turned into a square. Us this to add more artboards. Click and hold on to the grey area and drag your mouse. You will see that you just added another artboard. To resize the artboard the Width which is labeled W and the Height which is labeled H will be in the upper right hand corner. Click on the artboard you want and start to reshape it according to the size you need. You can also drag the artboards to which ever place you want it to sit. Once done just click on the mouse pointer icon on the right and everything will be back to normal.
6. SAVING YOUR ICONS
When saving your icons make sure that where ever your project is you have it as the target location when saving. On your first save you should locate the folder and where the original file is and replace and save it. No need to type in the name. If you know where it is alphabetically, then just scroll to it, click on it and the name should appear in the File name box. If it tell you the file already exist, Do you want to replace? click Yes, but make sure you have a backup copy of the folder just in case. Also make sure you are on the right art board when saving. All it takes is a click on the artboard and you would be just fine.
7. ANCHORS, LAYERS, COLORS, AND STROKES
You ever find it a very long task to make all your icons the same or correct color. Or in short make them match. Well in vector format you can change all of the icons color at once. It has to be selected though. I know you wondered what the white arrow was for, well wonder no more. The white arrow it to select a layer, stroke, or any anchor on the vector image.
ANCHOR - this is single or multiple dots on a vector image that controls the path, line and/or stroke.
Layer is a section of the image thats either below, side by side, or on top of another image. You can change positions by right clicking on the image and use arrange to move its position.
Colors well you know what these are, But Illustrator has three different kind Grey Scale, RGB and CMYK (will be explained later)
Strokes are pretty much a line. It can be around the image, by itself or combined to create an image.( Will Be explained on how to manipulate a stroke in a image.)
To make it short grab the white pointer and have at it lol.
8. SELECTING MULTIPLE LAYERS AND ICONS TO CHANGE COLOR AT ONCE.
We all know images have layers but say you have several vector images that are 2 colored icons or more colors just stick with 2 for a sec. If you go to the image with the white pointer, You can click on the one color on the image and change it without making a mistake and turning the whole icon one color. Now to select more than one of the icons, say all of them where blue and green. Click on the green part of the icon. Now go to the top and click on "Select" scroll down to same. When the menu pop out, you will see that there are many ways to select multiple types of images. For right now click the one that says "Fill Color". All of the icons will be selected that has that same shade or ton of green. (note you must have them already colored in to match in order to select same). Now when you change the color they all will adjust together to make them Perfect.
9. TRACING TOOL.
This tool i would recommend that you stay away from and just design your stuff from scratch. Now I'm about to contradict myself lol but this tool is so f'ing handy if used right.
When tracing and image your pretty much turning it into a vector image with paths, strokes, and anchors. Its pretty much a conversion tool but difficult to use. If you have a colorful image that's when it gets hard. But if you have like a solid color shape its kinda easy.
Say like you have a picture of a solid black triangle in .png and .jpeg because you didn't feel like drawing one. Drag it to the artboard. You will see a button up top that wasn't there b4 called "Live Trace". Click on it and you will see your triangle go from a rough .png/.jpeg image to a smooth vector format triangle.
Now it gets hard.
If you have a multiple color image there are ways to trace it to a vector but not all get it the way you want. Just play around with it a little and you will see what i mean. The traces I'm talking about are in the drop down menu right next to the "Live Trace" button. You will see a slim button with a down pointing arrow.
10. Keyboard short Cuts(coming Soon)
To Be Continued - meaning im Sleepy lol
Photoshop Short Cuts
Photoshop Short Cuts
Adobe Fireworks Shortcuts
Adobe Fireworks Shortcuts
Using Adobe Flash To Make Bootanimations, Banners, and Sigs
Using Adobe Flash To Make Bootanimations, Banners, and Sigs
lorjay589 said:
Using Adobe Flash To Make Bootanimations, Banners, and Sigs
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This is damn near the best post for theming I've ever seen! Simply awesome!. Please put this in the theming section for other young devs and themers alike. This should be a sticky!
Is it possible to create a widget that will draw images randomly from a designated folder. I've been searching to see if someone has done something similar to this but it looks like the closest I can get is using the images as an iconset although I still don't know how I would have Zooper pull the images randomly (I want to add to the folder occasionally). Is this something that I could do by adding in Tasker?
Any ideas?
I currently have an image widget on one of my homescreens and the way I do it is as follows:
I basically add each photo as a bitmap: So you add a bitmap module and then you navigate to the photo you want in your device gallery. After choosing your photo, you need to add advanced parameters that will control the bitmap opacity at a certain time during the day.
[bo][/bo] is used for bitmap opacity
#DH# is used for local hour during the day (0-23)
my conditional is set up as follows for my first photo.
[bo]$#DH#>=16&&#DH#<22?100:0$[/bo]
What this means is that if the current local time on my device is between the hours of 16 to 22 (4pm to 10pm) then set the bitmap opacity to 100%, else set it to 0%. You can theoretically set this up to have a max of 24 photos (one per hour) each day that continually loops. Mine is set up in intervals of 6 hours (4 photos total) but I plan on changing the values to allow for more.
The next one would be:
[bo]$#DH#>=22||#DH#<04?100:0$[/bo]
Notice I use an OR statement || versus an AND statement && because the value goes from 0-23 and if you used an && here the image would never display because of the conflicting conditional.
http://www.webermatters.com/blog/zooper-conditional-statements/
This is a good website that outlines conditional statements in ZW.
I'm assuming this is sort of what you are going for with your widget? It's not really "random" per se but it gets the job done. Not quite sure what you could do involving tasker.
greckia said:
I'm assuming this is sort of what you are going for with your widget? It's not really "random" per se but it gets the job done. Not quite sure what you could do involving tasker.
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Click to collapse
I was thinking about doing exactly this or possibly applying weather conditions to various pictures also. It doesn't really look like it's possible to add a random factor but this should do the trick.
Your steps are exactly what I needed.
Thanks
crios42 said:
It doesn't really look like it's possible to add a random factor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is mathematical function you can use called rand...
Izzy Lamantia helped me out with this ...
The random function provides a number between 0*1, like 0.866390265. Let's say you had 10 pictures (named 1.jpg, 2.jpg, etc.) you wanted to randomize on the hour:
$#Dm#=0?(int(random()*10)$.jpg
So again, on every hour a random number will be generated, multiplied by 10, and return it as an integer 0.866390265 x10= 8.66390265, as an integer 8.
chandlerweb said:
There is mathematical function you can use called rand...
Izzy Lamantia helped me out with this ...
The random function provides a number between 0*1, like 0.866390265. Let's say you had 10 pictures (named 1.jpg, 2.jpg, etc.) you wanted to randomize on the hour:
$#Dm#=0?(int(random()*10)$.jpg
So again, on every hour a random number will be generated, multiplied by 10, and return it as an integer 0.866390265 x10= 8.66390265, as an integer 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I would need to label the images: 1.png (I'm using png's), 2.png, 3.png, etc...?
Would the limit then be 10 images? If I wanted to use more than 10 images I could x 100 but then I'm guessing I would need to assign each image a range, if n >= 25 and n < 30 then x.png and so on. Can that be done?
Also, I'm a little unclear about how bitmap absolute path works. Is there a specific folder that I would need to put my bitmaps in? Looking at this example it seems that I can pick any folder I want.
It's awesome to hear that this can be done. I just need to work out the details now.
chandlerweb said:
$#Dm#=0?(int(random()*10)$.jpg
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I was having some trouble getting this working but I finally found that there needs to be an extra set of parentheses.
$#Dm#=0?(int(random())*100)$ which give me a 2 digit number.
Now... I either have to pick 100 images (and label them 0-99, or is it 1-100?) or find a way to give the images a range.
If I have 2 separate widgets using the same parameters and drawing from the same folder, will the random number be the same or different in each of the widgets?
crios42 said:
I was having some trouble getting this working but I finally found that there needs to be an extra set of parentheses.
$#Dm#=0?(int(random())*100)$ which give me a 2 digit number.
Now... I either have to pick 100 images (and label them 0-99, or is it 1-100?) or find a way to give the images a range.
If I have 2 separate widgets using the same parameters and drawing from the same folder, will the random number be the same or different in each of the widgets?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you
You would need 100 images and label them 1-100 if your multiplier is 100. You would need, say, 123 images and label them 1-123 if you multiplier is 123 i.e. $#Dm#=0?(int(random())*123)$
In my experience, the number generated is always different even if two random functions are performed at the same time although there is always the possibility that it will occasionally be the same.
I can't seem to get the widget working.
Here are the parameters I'm using $#Dm#=43?/sdcard/Pictures/Pics1/(int((random())*10)).png$.
Ignore the 43. Whatever time it is, I just add a minute so that I don't have to wait long to see if the widget will update.
I thought it might be the file path so I tried a few others:
/storage/sdcard0/Pictures/Pics1/
/emulated/0/Pictures/Pics/
Any ideas?
is it possible to create a picture
I had tried it many times but that does not work out
Not sure if OP is still wanting an answer to this or not. I'm still working on getting this perfect but hopefully this will help someone.
Create a folder on your sd card and put 10 jpg's in there titled 1.jpg through 10.jpg
Create a Zooper Widget and add a bitmap layer
do not choose an image, instead select Advanced Parameters and insert the following code
/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?(int((random())*10)))$.jpg
If the above is correct then the example box should list /sdcard/full path to image folder/*.jpg
What does this do? If the minute is greater than 0 it will generate a pseudo-random number between 1 and 0. If you have set Zooper to update when the screen is off then you will want to replace the ">" with "=" so it only updates once an hour. You can make further adjustments by using Dh for hours rather than minutes. As stated above you can increase the images by multiplying by 100.
I wrote it like I did because I don't let Zooper update while the screen is off. If I changed the image on the hour it would likely not update the image because I would have to have my screen on at the beginning of each hour. As it is, it changes the image every 10 seconds or so whenever I have the screen on.
I am open to other modifications of this so I can keep Zooper configured to not update when the screen is off, and only change the images every 10 minutes or so.
Also, you may want a fallback image so you have something to display while you wait to whatever condition needs to be meet in order for Zooper to generate the random number.
SoldierOfCatan said:
Not sure if OP is still wanting an answer to this or not. I'm still working on getting this perfect but hopefully this will help someone.
Create a folder on your sd card and put 10 jpg's in there titled 1.jpg through 10.jpg
Create a Zooper Widget and add a bitmap layer
do not choose an image, instead select Advanced Parameters and insert the following code
/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?(int((random())*10)))$.jpg
If the above is correct then the example box should list /sdcard/full path to image folder/*.jpg
What does this do? If the minute is greater than 0 it will generate a pseudo-random number between 1 and 0. If you have set Zooper to update when the screen is off then you will want to replace the ">" with "=" so it only updates once an hour. You can make further adjustments by using Dh for hours rather than minutes. As stated above you can increase the images by multiplying by 100.
I wrote it like I did because I don't let Zooper update while the screen is off. If I changed the image on the hour it would likely not update the image because I would have to have my screen on at the beginning of each hour. As it is, it changes the image every 10 seconds or so whenever I have the screen on.
I am open to other modifications of this so I can keep Zooper configured to not update when the screen is off, and only change the images every 10 minutes or so.
Also, you may want a fallback image so you have something to display while you wait to whatever condition needs to be meet in order for Zooper to generate the random number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the above, but had to add an extra parentheses before the word "int" to get it to display properly in the example box.
/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?((int((random())*10)))$.jpg
However, when I save and exit out of the Zooper, it still just shows the default "folder" icon. I have it pointing to 1-10.jpg in a folder called "test" on my internal SD. I also tried the code in the advanced parameters of an existing picture I had on my widget, and it didn't do anything either.
HA! Figured it out. What a dummy I am. You have to put the b tags first
[*b]/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?((int((random())*10)))$.jpg[/b]
(without the asterisk I couldn't get it to show since it's the same code for "Bold" on the forum)
rachelm920 said:
HA! Figured it out. What a dummy I am. You have to put the b tags first
[*b]/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?((int((random())*10)))$.jpg[/b]
(without the asterisk I couldn't get it to show since it's the same code for "Bold" on the forum)
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Click to collapse
If you have pictures 1-10 and you use random times 10, wouldn't the only picture that would get displayed be picture 10 (which is when random equals 1, times 10).
Or is the value for ((int((random())*10))) actually limiting the random numbers to be 1-10?
SchmilK said:
If you have pictures 1-10 and you use random times 10, wouldn't the only picture that would get displayed be picture 10 (which is when random equals 1, times 10).
Or is the value for ((int((random())*10))) actually limiting the random numbers to be 1-10?
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Click to collapse
I actually have 66 pictures and the number increases everyday, since they're pictures of my boyfriend and he's constantly sending me new ones... or we're taking new ones etc. LOL I just change the number it multiplies by as the pictures increase.
I'm not sure if number one gets displayed... I could however rename picture one to 67 so there's never a problem. Since there's so many its hard to tell.
rachelm920 said:
HA! Figured it out. What a dummy I am. You have to put the b tags first
[*b]/sdcard/full path to image folder/$#Dm#>0?((int((random())*10)))$.jpg[/b]
(without the asterisk I couldn't get it to show since it's the same code for "Bold" on the forum)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mate, i did following your code but in zooper widget, it only shown folder icon, i use .png picture, so this is correct, it must be jpg ?
Oohhlala said:
mate, i did following your code but in zooper widget, it only shown folder icon, i use .png picture, so this is correct, it must be jpg ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I only tried it with .jpg
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
You should be able to do this with tasker/zooper integration. I have a weather radar image that I download via tasker. Due to how zooper buffers images I haev to change the filename each time I refresh the image. The new alternating path to the image is passed from tasker to zooper. First time is w1.jpg, next time is w2.jpg. This idea could be extended for images in a folder.
I'm looking to make a luminous version of the Tudor Pelagos I just created, can anyone help with variables for displaying images only when the watch is dimmed or even better after a certain time?
Even the example time variable in the help file on Facer doesn't seem to work.
You can just layer duplicate copies of the markers and make them luminated behind the non luminated ones and then uncheck "display when dimmed" on the non luminated marker layers.
I just took a photo of our new puppy to send to my husband who was out of town. Along the top of the photo, a few icons popped up. One of then was a handheld paintbrush (not like an artists brush, like a house painters brush). When I clicked on the icon, I was given lots of options to stylize the phot in different artistic styles. Like: Watercolor, pencil drawings, oil paintings, etc. When I selected a style, a sliding bar popped up that allowed me to increase or decrease the amount of the effect on the photo. The results were so cool...but I can't get those icons to pop up again. I went to the Verizon store where I purchased the phone and they were also stumped Can anyone help?? I have been unable to recreate this for 3 days!! I'll try to upload photos if I can figure out how. TIA!
Sounds like an alternative camera or editing app... did you install anything like that?
I created a few working watch faces for the GT2 and Watch 3. The only thing I can't figure out is how to create configurable watch faces. There are multiple working watch faces on the watch preinstalled (Watch 3 Pro) where I can switch between 2 styles. How can I do this on my own?
Actually I fugured out. This description is for Theme Studio version 11.0.10.300
The "Free combination" has to be used when you start building your watch face. Click on Create a new combination and select custom options from the background/time/date/widget dropdowns:
https://prnt.sc/24s8353
https://prnt.sc/24s7ygm
Select their checkboxes and save the combination, repeat for multiple watch variations: https://prnt.sc/24s81tt
You need to add a watch face screenshot to all option groups in background/time/date/widget layers: https://prnt.sc/24s7t5u
When you are creat the AOD, you can't add layers as before, you need to copy them from the normal watch face layers, so first add all AOD layers in all options and copy them. Afterwards delete these layers from the normal view.