At the request of a number of you, here's a little tutorial explaining how I made the theme below, I called abstract theme (do not ask me why ...)
(Note that I am not the inventor of this type of theme, I am inspired by many themes I have seen on other forums, I thank very much the creators of wallpapers I used (I never remind theyre names except EG Fox, sorry for that))
1/ So, to start, install Launcherpro (you can also take the "plus" but paying)
(for those who are using ADW, a trick is done at the end of the tutorial)
2/ Adjust the settings you prefer (this is only the parameters related to the theme I present now, but there are other possible parameters):
- Number of pages, the default page, the number of columns, the number of lines (to position your shortcuts, personally I have 8 columns and 8 rows) => Menu / Settings / Homescreen Settings
- Number of dock (the dock is the Quick Launch bar that is located right in landscape mode, you have 5 possible shortcuts in one dock and it is possible to have up to 3 docks (to slide up or down on the dock) => Menu / Preferences / Dock Settings (you can also specify, if you choose to put shortcuts telephone, email and sms on the dock, if you want to be displayed a count of unread events)
- The bottom of the Dock (in the theme as an example, I have no background) => Menu / Preferences / Appearance Settings / Dock Background / None (if you want to put a custom dock by you or found on the net, then you must choose "Custom" and pick the dock from your SD card)
3/ Choose your screen and resize it at 800x480. So that the bottom is not distorted, use Multipicture Live Wallpaper which allows you to set a different wallpaper per page (if desired). Multipicture Live Wallpaperr is managed as an animated wallpaper
The bottom will not be distorted but the 36 Pxls top will be hidden by the notification bar.
4/ Then you need to know, based on the number of rows and columns you have chosen, where you must place your text on the wallpaper. To do so, complete page fully of shortcuts. Then made a screenshot, I recommend the excellent ScreenShot
5/ On your PC, using your editing software (photoshop, photofiltre ... etc.) you can have your wallpaper nude and the screen as it will be on your Streak with the location where applications will be.
So place your text on your nude background by ensuring that these areas are easily covered by applications..
Your wallpaper is ready !
6/ Now install Desktop Visualizer, which allows you to put shortcuts transparent (especially)
(For those who could not find it on the Market : http://www.partage-facile.com/GYV6DGY6CW/jp.co.bii.android.app.dskvzr.apk.html )
7/ Desktop Visualizer works as a widget : long press on background / add a widget and choose desktop visualizer (it has different sizes, choose the one that best fits the space you have planned for your shortcut)
DV lets you choose the icon of the application to launch, get the transparent icon on your SD card (if you do not have a transparent icon, here's one : http://www.partage-facile.com/0GJIEOUAO0/transparent.png.html )
Then select the application you want to start.
Delete the text of the application and confirm (you can change or remove the highlighting that appears when you press the link to the application you're using, otherwise it will be orange)
8/ Once you've validated, you see nothing changed on the screen, it is normal because you have placed a transparent icon ! The link will always be placed to the top left corner of your home. Make a mong press along the top left, your widget will be highlighted by launcherpro.
You may notice a kind of tab in the lower right corner of your shortcut, by pressing and holding down while moving your finger, you can resize your widget as you like.
So give the desired size for your shortcut and press "back", the highlight disappears. Now made a long press on the top left of the streak and held down, move your widget transparent to the place you want on your home. (To verify that it is well positioned, have a long support for and release to highlight it)
Do this for each shortcut you provided on your screen.
9/ The last step is the Dock. You've already put in the dock transparent, but it remains the shortcuts on the dock that are visible.
Make a long press on shortcuts, you can either change an icon (change icon/custom icon) or change the shortcut and put any you want and you can still choose the transparent icon before finalizing this shortcut.
Then, I think I pretty much said it all. To summarize, here is my wallpaper ith some details :
This is obviously a simple example that you described above some customization capabilities. Unleash your imagination and make us great themes!
I hope I was clear about (and sorry for my english), do not hesitate if you have questions or additions
Some other example of themes done with this method :
My latest :
I compiled my wallpapers and you can download them (empty and modified) here (updated with the 3 latest) : http://www.partage-facile.com/O87TRUWWBJ/compil_theme.zip.html
For you guys who wants to use these themes but on ADW Launcher, if you have any problem with Multipicture Live Wallpaper, you can try Wallstreak instead of multipicture live.
Wallstreak is not available on the market, but you can get it from this link
http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?p=55644
Thank you to ramtix for this trick
Thats a easy to follow tutorial
& your english is 100 times better than my french so no need for you to apologise
Many Thanks
Nice tutorial easy to follow Big Thanks
Well done lestat89
Thanks!
Cant wait to start playing around with these when I get home next week
can i ask a favor can you pls upload the wallpaper on the 3rd picture i really love it...thanks testat89...greats work btw
Thank you for your comments
@skyscraper04, I had a link to download my wallpapers at the end of the first post
thanks a bunch
Cant open the zip file for wallpapers.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
I don't understand why you can't. I did some tests and I never had any problem to open the .zip (on my PC)
Did you try it on your Streak or on your PC ?
Anybody else with this problem ?
Nice work mate...love it
very creative way to get a whole new look. Nice idea!
Thank you
But the idea is not from me. I was inspired by themes I saw on other forum.
For information, I updated the .zip at the end of the 1st thread with my latest wallpapers
dude..tried to use one of your attachment as wallpaper, but everytime it asks the picture to be cropped.How do I go around this? I want the whole picture to appear on the screen
I'm not sure I've well understood your problem, but I use Multipicture live Wallpaper who allow me to have one wallpaper per page.
Is it your question ? (sorry, my english is limited)
Hi Lestat, I sorted it out. I wasnt using MultiPicture Live and I use ADW Launcher.
For you guys who wants to use Lestat's theme but on ADW Launcher, try Wallstreak instead of multipicture live.
Wallstreak is not available on the market, but you can get it from this link
http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?p=55644
Thank you for the information. I added your trick at the end of the tutorial
actually I also tried multipicture live on ADW and it works perfect..better than wallstreak, more options of customization..so guys, try it. Now my desktop is uncluttered and looks better..awesome work lestat! Hope you continue this work and more wallpapers to come ;-)
Cool, thanks for the new ideas !
In your fourth example screenshot How did you get gmail, sms and phone missed calls working like that? I thought that only worked on the dock.
I have not seen this anywhere else and would like to share it with people who
have not come across this before.. In the ADWLauncher EX (paid version) there
is the option at add five rows of columns and five rows of icons giving your a total
of 25 icons on one screen. I have found this saves a bit of time navigating to
different apps..
P.S - Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere!
Hi
You can have even 100 icons on the homescreen cuz it allows 10x10 rows and columns
But it doesn't look clean imo and chances of accidental clicks are also more.. I prefer 4x4 and sometimes 5x4
yeah, different strokes for different folks i guess.. ive always felt the 4*4 being akin to like how old folks turn up the font size on their computer screens.. but like you said u could get accidental clicks as well..
Hi all.
This is for all Star Trek fans. I have made up a theme to make are vegas look like the LCARS panels used in Star Trek. You do need a few apps installed to make it happen. Most are free, the others can be replaced by free alternatives. This is currently just one screen, i do plan on adding two others. Just trying to find some inspiration for them. Also plan on changing the ENGINEERING text at the top to change when the home page is changed, when i get the time. This is only designed for use with the home screen set to Landscape, this can be set in ADW Launcher settings (explained below).
Apps needed:
Desktop visualizer - Bii,Inc
ADW launcher (i use the free version) - AnderWeb
Beautiful widgets (for time and weather widget, not free) - LevelUp Studio
System Monitor Lite 4 - gsjavadev
First install the above apps then set ADW settings as below.
ADW Settings:
Screen preferences,
Hide status bar: Checked
Wallpaper scrolling: Unchecked
Hide icon labels: Checked
Auto stretch: Unchecked
Desktop Columns: 8
Desktop Rows: 8
General Behavior,
Home screen binding: Move to default desktop
Swipe down actions: Open/close App Drawer (For swipe panel)
Swipe up actions: Show/hide statusbar (For swipe panel)
System Preferences,
Home Orientation: Landscape
UI Settings,
Main Dock Style: None (expanded desktop)
Applying the theme:
Unpack the LCARS Theme.zip and transfer the files to your Vega, then set the LCARSBackground.png as the wallpaper. Then start adding Desktop visualizer widgets, use the screenshot for reference. The top for buttons are 2x1 the eight middle are 1x1 and the bottom two large are 3x1. The settings button is 1x1, and the two swipe panels are 1x4. Set the image and application settings by tapping the empty desktop visualizer. Making sure to tap clear on the label option. You can go to the trouble of setting the appropriate touch effect colour to match the button colour. Time consuming but makes it look good. Thats it your vega should look like a LCARS pad!!
Have Fun
I guess I will be the first to reply. Nice theme, I may have to try it on my Nook Color. I won't get a chance until Sunday but I will report back then.
Could you better detail the necessary programs? Market seems to have several things with identical titles. Maybe list the program developer/author? Thanx
gwynethgh said:
Could you better detail the necessary programs? Market seems to have several things with identical titles. Maybe list the program developer/author? Thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. Updated the first post.
Getting my vega tomorrow and think I will be giving this a shot.
Incidentally I've just started watching Star Trek TNG from episode 1, again.
Also incidentally, I see you live in Gloucester. I work in Quedgeley
maltloaf said:
Getting my vega tomorrow and think I will be giving this a shot.
Incidentally I've just started watching Star Trek TNG from episode 1, again.
Also incidentally, I see you live in Gloucester. I work in Quedgeley
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats coincidence, I am working in Quedgeley this week. Feel pity for any one you see walking around in a green t-shirt carrying a Hand held terminal
Its DS9 thats my fav. That is what inspired me to make this theme.
Hope you enjoy your vega as much as i do.
Peace.
Apologies if this has been asked and answered before, but I searched and couldn't find anything.
I'm playing around with the 'Sky' theme and trying to tailor it for my purposes. I've changed the number of home screens from 3 to 5 and have amended the wallpapers accordingly. On the far right wallpaper, there is a whitened off section with some divider lines. There is a widget with "News", "Maps", etc. that fits with those dividers. I then needed to move the hotspot icons over from their original page and this is where I'm coming unstuck. There is a "snap to grid" functionality going on that means that I can't line up the icons with the titles - they are often "snapped" slightly off alignment to the section titles. I've tried playing with the number of rows and columns and can get it to look better, but never perfect.
Does anyone know if there is a way to turn off the "snap to grid" and simply be able to position the icons in exactly the place you want ?
Thanks in advance !
wilsojer said:
Apologies if this has been asked and answered before, but I searched and couldn't find anything.
I'm playing around with the 'Sky' theme and trying to tailor it for my purposes. I've changed the number of home screens from 3 to 5 and have amended the wallpapers accordingly. On the far right wallpaper, there is a whitened off section with some divider lines. There is a widget with "News", "Maps", etc. that fits with those dividers. I then needed to move the hotspot icons over from their original page and this is where I'm coming unstuck. There is a "snap to grid" functionality going on that means that I can't line up the icons with the titles - they are often "snapped" slightly off alignment to the section titles. I've tried playing with the number of rows and columns and can get it to look better, but never perfect.
Does anyone know if there is a way to turn off the "snap to grid" and simply be able to position the icons in exactly the place you want ?
Thanks in advance !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi wilsojer,
This is a tough one, as the icons and alignment weren't designed to be altered. Your best bet would be to delete the icons and then look for similar icon images on the net. From here you would add these icons as images inside the Everything Widget that contains the text. Apologies for the inconvenience.
I get that the developers/designers are only doing themes for specific screen resolutions right now, but why is the core tools for creating custom Themer widgets restricted by large grid settings?
Confused as to what I mean? Please let me explain.
I can create a custom widget, which starts with the background box. But, in order to line the background box up with my home page background, I have to set the color of the background widget to a solid color and then resize it since it doesn't visualize the snap-to grid element (which it does).
So, as I said above, why is this limitation there in the first place? On my Note 2 I can't create a widget that goes to the top of my screen because it is out of bounds of my screen and when I go to add elements to the widget, they don't line up correctly unless I resize the widget background box to snap to below the top of my screen (by a good amount).
So, is it at least possible to have the default grid snap distance greatly reduced or give us an option to set it ourselves in regards to setting the widget itself?
I've encountered zero issue with moving elements within a widget box other than the inability to lock items individually once placed (that would truly help in them designing).
Sorry for any confusion, I'm not aware of the standard labels for the various design elements of a widget or the like.
cgoodno said:
I get that the developers/designers are only doing themes for specific screen resolutions right now, but why is the core tools for creating custom Themer widgets restricted by large grid settings?
Confused as to what I mean? Please let me explain.
I can create a custom widget, which starts with the background box. But, in order to line the background box up with my home page background, I have to set the color of the background widget to a solid color and then resize it since it doesn't visualize the snap-to grid element (which it does).
So, as I said above, why is this limitation there in the first place? On my Note 2 I can't create a widget that goes to the top of my screen because it is out of bounds of my screen and when I go to add elements to the widget, they don't line up correctly unless I resize the widget background box to snap to below the top of my screen (by a good amount).
So, is it at least possible to have the default grid snap distance greatly reduced or give us an option to set it ourselves in regards to setting the widget itself?
I've encountered zero issue with moving elements within a widget box other than the inability to lock items individually once placed (that would truly help in them designing).
Sorry for any confusion, I'm not aware of the standard labels for the various design elements of a widget or the like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hows it going? Im Bill from MCS.
Im a still a bit confused as to what you are asking and what tools it is that you are using in Themer that are giving you the issue.
Im sure you have already made sure that padding is turned OFF in the settings, but I have to say just to be safe.
IF you are getting spaced on the sides or top or your widget, you might want to check to see if you are using odd numbers for the Grid (rows and columns). Because of the way custom build widgets from WYSIWYG editors like Zooper and Everything widget render on the screen you might be a 1px gap if you are using odd numbered Rows or Columns in your grid.
This is the first thing I would check. I have seen an issue where for some reason I get a 2 or 4px padding on the top and bottom of the widgets. It only happens to me now and again. I can usually delete the widget and re-add it to get rid of the issue.