• Step 1 - Choosing the Multimedia
• Step 2 - Wallpaper
• Step 3 - Appearance
• Step 4 - Icons
• Step 5 - Cursors

• Step 6 - Sounds
• Step 7 - The Theme File
• Step 8 - Startup-Shutdown Screens
• Step 9 - Putting it All Together

Often the best themes are those where most or all of the art and sounds are original works. Consider making the elements of your desktop theme yourself, certainly a much more gratifying accomplishment when you publish it online. 

It is also popular to scan printed material about your subject into an image editor to use. This again, is dangerous and flirts with copyright and trademark infringements. Same goes for recording the voices and sounds from TV shows and movies and music. T he sound-bites are illegal without the consent of the original artist. You will have to use your best judgement on this. 

Try to choose colors and icons that compliment each other. Although a wild barrage of colors might look cool, most people will change themes that tend to hurt the eyes because of painfully bright and wild colors. 

A good resolution to build the theme for is 800x600, because it is very common and allows for minimal stretching and distortion at either higher or lower resolutions.
 
 
 
 
 

It is not absolutely necessary to edit the image you intend to use for the background if it is already the appropriate size you want, however that is rarely the case and most backgrounds need work. Editing the image (or for that matter creating a new one) will require some type of software. As there is such great variety and differences between the different programs, we will not go into extreme detail as to how to use each program to manipulate the images, but will explain a few fundamental concepts to k eep in mind while working with your background. 
 
 
 

• Image Size: The actual dimensions of your images will depend on how you want it displayed. If you are creating an image to tile, that is, repeat to fill the background image, or considering centering an image on the background, you can mak e it just about any size you like. Remember; the smaller the image the more times it tiles or the smaller it appears when centered on the desktop. Images that you intend to stretch onto the desktop, however, are a different matter altogether. First, you will need an image with decent resolution, so that it doesn't distort terribly when stretched. It is also important to keep the image height/width ratio close to the 1 to 1.33 ratio of the desktop. If not, stretching the image will, again, distort it and give your theme a very unpolished and unfinished look. We suggest saving the background to be stretched as 800x600 with a good image resolution. That way, it should look clean in just about any resolution out there.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• File Size and Format: The approximate file size of your background will depend greatly on the format you save it in. With the release of Microsoft Plus! for Windows95 and subsequent Microsoft OS enhancements, the jpg was added as a valid f ormat to choose as the background. This is desirable as JPG images compress much better without losing much image quality. However, if you prefer to use the older BMP format, remember to try to keep you images as small as possible to make th e distribution of your theme easier and more desirable.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Color and Composition:  As was mentioned above, the color and blend of our theme will determine how long people can stand to look at it. If your background is wild and full of striking contrasts, it will become a stressful eyesore and peop le won't want to use it. Any color is acceptable, but either softer light colors or dark colors are generally preferable.

 
• Contrast:  The exact opposite of the rest of the theme, the colors of the various elements of the desktop and operating system need to contrast in order to make it easy to see. Be especially careful to maintain some sort of contrast betwee n the various elements of the menus, as often the most frustrating part of using a new theme is not being able to see the color difference between the highlighted menu item, the menu itself, and disabled items. 
• High-Color vs Lo-Color  If you intend to distribute your completed theme as a lo-color theme, that is, one that is only 256 colors or less and conforms to the standard Windows color palette, you need to choose the colors and appearance of your theme using a 256 color desktop. fortunately, this is not necessary, as most users now have and use video cards that support the 16 bit color, or 65 thousand color, scheme. Do not forget to mention the hi-color in the title, however.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Fonts: Having the right font can add a great deal of polish to a simple theme. To be the most compatible with all end users, you should either choose a font that is distribute with Windows, or distribute the font with your theme. Care must be taken to not break any copyright laws with this, and yes, it is worth the time to check. The color of the fonts is also important, and should contrast with the rest of the colors, especially of the menus, enough to be readable from 3 feet from your screen . This way you can be sure that your theme won't have people squinting and adjusting the monitor at every session. Also, be careful not to choose a font that gets distorted at lower resolutions.

• Choosing the Picture:  Finding the right picture to use as an icon can be difficult. Look for close ups, images that have a large square portion that would be clear when shrunk down. The image doesn't need to be high resolution, but should at least be clear enough to make out the subject and should have enough color contrast to still be recognizable from a distance.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Cropping the Original  Once you have chosen the image to use, you will need to make it as square as possible before converting it to an icon. This will eliminate any stretching and distortion of your final product. It doesn't have to perfe ctly square, as a little bit of distortion is normal, but remember that the smaller the original, the more affected it will be by warping and distortion. Open the original with your image editor and select a square shaped section of the image that you wan t, then crop the selection. Size doesn't mater at this point, but remember how small the image will be when its finished.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Re sampling and Color Reduction: The icons that you are making for the desktop are 48x48, so you will need to RESAMPLE or RESIZE the image down to 48x48. It is important that you DO NOT select 'maintain aspect ratio' or else your image will not be the right size. After it has been reduced down to the correct size, you will then have to reduce the number of colors down to 256. When doing so, tell the program to optimize the image and to use error diffusion. That will keep the icon as close to the original as possible and still benefit from the color reduction. At this point, you will want to save the image as a BMP file.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Making it an Icon:  Open your icon editing software (MicroAngelo Studio) and open a new 48x48, 256 color icon. In the edit menu, select OPEN AS BITMAP and select the file saved above. Save the icon, remembering to name it ap propriately, and you are done.

 
• Color Contrast:  Keep in mind the colors of the rest of the elements of your theme. Contrast your cursors as much as possible from the background image/color, so that it isn't easily lost. Generally, cursors are 16 color but can be 256 col ors, so make sure the editor you use can handle 256 color icons.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Animation:  Animation brings dull, boring cursors to life. You will definitely need to use an advanced icon editor (again, MicroAngelo) and you might want to load a pre-existing animated cursor into the edi tor first just to see how it works. The cursors animates as it flips through its many layers, so keep that in mind if you make them from scratch, you will need to balance the smoothness of the animation (more layers with less movement) against the size (f ewer frames with choppier animations) to get a happy medium. Most users tend to use a resolution that is really too small for the work they are doing, and very subtle animations will generally go unnoticed, so it might pay to remove any frames that do not have apparent movement.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Transparency While editing or creating your cursors, remember that it will float (according to the position and movement of the mouse) around the background and open program, and unless you really want to offend, it will have to be transpa rent. The programs make it easy to set the transparency so you won't have trouble figuring it out, but it tends to be frequently forgotten and causes a good deal of frustration at the last minute. Take the time to do it right the first time.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
• Getting Ready You will need a sound editing program, one a bit more full featured than the sound recording utility included with Windows. You can find a veritable plethora of these programs at TUCOWS. Once you have procured the software, you need to either edit existing sound clips you found while gathering the multimedia, or record your own, either from a CD, from an external audio input (from the TV or ste reo or VCR for example,) or using your voice. You can change the recording input of your PC by opening the audio properties (double click the speaker icon in the system tray,) selecting OPTIONS, then PROPERTIES then selecting RECORDING and clicking OK. This allows you to change the input device and recording levels of your various media devices. 
• Picking the sounds Here is where a little wisdom and preparation will go along way. You need to choose the sounds you want to use for each individual events. ANY EVENT THAT YOU CAN SET A SOUND FOR IN THE SOUND SECTION OF THE CONTROL PAN EL CAN BE ASSIGNED A SOUND IN THE THEME. However, be wise and use common sense while choosing sounds. Here are a few guidelines regarding the length and composure of your sounds:
• Asterisk, Exclamation, Default Sound, Menu Sounds: These events are always happening all over your system, so try to select short sounds for them. 2-3 seconds long at most, preferably 1 second or less. The 'Menu Pop up' sound repeats very frequ ently, and often new themes (or at least the sounds they use) are discarded after just a few irritating bounces through the menu. Also, try to coordinate the two menu sounds to add a more polished feel to the theme. 
• Enter and Exit Windows: Here it is appropriate to take a bit more liberty with the length of the sounds you choose, but remember, people usually only shutdown/startup Windows when their computer crashes, so long sounds at these events will make them even more frustrated and angry. This isn't always the case but keep it in mind.
• Open / Close Program: Here is where authors really cause problems. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT YOU DO NOT SET A SOUND FOR OPEN PROGRAM! When you set a sound for this event, it plays the sound WHILE opening the program, and if its a NON-WINDOWS application, this disables the programs ability to detect your sound hardware and will USUALLY cause the program to not function correctly. Save yourself and everyone the trouble and just leave this one silent. However, you can safely set a sound for 'Clo se Program' without repercussions of this nature.
• Other Information: Other than the above, you can feel free to set your sounds to whatever length you like. Try to isolate bits of voices/music that people will immediately recognize and adhere too. Vulgarity is generally shunned but occasionall y necessary to the theme to properly represent the subject. Try adding effects (reverb, echo, etc.) to sound bites that people easily recognize, to give your theme a more 'space age' or 'rock concert' feel. 

 For the more adventurous spirit,if you have Microsoft Plus! or Windows 98, it is also possible to let Windows do this for you. Here's how you go about doing just that;
 
 
 

 
• Putting it where it belongs: In order to facilitate an easier distribution and more compatible .theme file, you should move all the elements of your theme into a directory, appropriately named of course, under your /Program Files/Plus!/The mes directory. It is also wise to rename all the media elements to reflect the name of the theme and the type of element it is. For example, a theme about TARZAN should be kept in the /Program Files/Plus!/Themes/Tarzan directory and the files inside woul d look something like this;
 
• Tarzan Wallpaper.jpg
• Tarzan Windows Start.wav
• Tarzan Windows Exit.wav
• Tarzan My Computer.ico
• Tarzan Arrow.cur
And so forth. This isn't absolutely necessary, but will make it easier to put together and distribute.
 
 
• Set up the system  Once all the elements of your theme have been put into the correct directory and are properly renamed, you need to set up your system to the way you want the final theme to look and work. Set up the wallpaper, the icons, cursors, screensaver, sounds, and appearance until YOUR desktop is exactly as you want it too be in the end.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Saving it  Double click on the Desktop Themes Icon in the Control Panel. Then simply click the SAVE-AS and save the theme in the /Program Files/Plus!/Themes directory. That's all there is to making the theme file in Windows with Plu s! or Windows 98.

 
• Get it started: Open the image editor and start a new file. Make it 640x480 to begin with. Once its there, begin adding in the images you want to use for the screens. Add colors and text according to the software you use. Its not a bad ide a to keep the colors and style of the theme in mind, to promote a good continuity throughout.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Transformation  Now that you have created the masterpiece, you need to convert it (if its not already) to 256 colors. Then you will need to resize/resample the image to a smaller size. You need to save the image at the new size of 320x400, but DO NOT check the 'MAINTAIN ASPECT RATIO' check box or it will look wrong. This is vital, and accounts for 90% of the screwed up looking startup screens out there.

 

 
 
 
 
 

• Saving:  If you are creating the startup screen, save it as logo.sys in the bitmap format. This requires that you put the double quotation marks around the name when you save it. If you are making a wait screen, the filename should be logow.sys, and if you are making the shutdown screen, the filename should be logos.sys. Take a moment to backup your present logo screens in a separate directory somewhere. The startup logo.sys is in the root directory of the C drive of your computer, while the logow.sys and the logos.sys screens are in the C:\Windows directory. When you have backed them up, put the new screens in the appropriate directories and reboot your computer to see them in action. If they look stretched, you didn't save it corr ectly, and it will need to be redone.