Vista Style Builder
The last couple of weeks, I have been working incredibly hard on a tool to create Vista Style Builder. Vista Style Builder supports everything that is needed to create Visual Styles for Vista:
- Import and export images
- Change, add or remove properties
- Import and export STREAM images
- Compile into a totally new MsStyles-file
In this post I will highlight some details of Vista Style Builder (VSB) which show how much easier this application makes it to edit MsStyles.
The Main Window
Most of the time when creating Visual Styles, you will be looking at the main window of VSB. This main window exists basically of four parts:
- The command bar in the top of the window to do things
- The UI parts browser on the left which displays every UI part in a MsStyle neatly grouped into categories
- The Preview pane, which will show the images used in a UI part
- The property view in the bottomright, showing an editable list of all properties for a UI part
As you might notice, there is no menu bar anymore. In line with most Vista applications, VSB uses a commandbar for all possible actions that can be done.
Importing Images
VSB allows a user to export the images used in a Visual Style in order to edited the images in an external application, such as Adobe Photoshop. It is possible to export a strip of images (e.g. all different button states in one image), but it is also possible to just export one state of an image (e.g. the button-pressed image).
Importing is done in a similar fashion: you can import an image with all states or just one state directly. VSB always provides a default name for importing and exporting, so if you follow that naming schemes, you can quickly import and export images.
VSB will notice it if you try to import an image of different dimensions than the original; it will actually ask you what you want to do:
Alpha Channel Importing
One of the problems people are currently facing with Vista Styles is that photoshop and Vista uses a slightly - or so it seems - different format: the alpha channel comes out wrong in MsStyles for files imported manually.
Vista Style Builder fixes this incompatibility when importing images.
Adding Properties
Another feature in VSB is the possibility to add new properties to UI parts. This makes it possible, for example, to give the taskbar fonts a glow or even make the breadcrumb bar glow.
Properties are added through a easy to use dialog which allows you to select the type of property (e.g. enum or color), the name (e.g. iconeffect or textcolor) and the value. For enumeration-types, such as Iconeffect, a listbox will automatically show all possible values.
StyleHacks
People often want to change the same things in their Visual Styles. Some good examples are a thinner taskbar and a small startmenu. Most of the time, these things involve editing a number of properties in some unexpected way.
To make it easier for everyone to use often done things in their styles we invented StyleHacks in VSB. A StyleHack is an easy way to apply an often done thing (a`hack`) to your Visual Style. For example, there is a StyleHack to change the height of the taskbar to 18px.
Visual Style Builder provides an in-application menu to browse the available StyleHacks with a preview image and apply them with a click of the mouse:
Import XP Styles
A featue of Visual Style Builder that has been secret until now is the ability to Import XP MsStyles.
That’s right, VSB makes it possible to use your favorite XP Styles on Vista! Most XP Styles only need some small modifications after importing to work correctly on Vista .
Here’s an example of XP Luna after having it converted to a Vista Style after importing:
As you can see, the dialog uses the Luna window borders as well as Luna buttons. As a bonus, the Luna theme got dropshadows and is rendered by the DWM. For this theme, I opted to keep the Aero buttons because I personally think they look great on the Luna theme.
Of course, not all themes can be imported 100% correctly: Vista has some more restrictions on the window frames than XP had. However, it will make porting much easier and it works for a lot of themes without modifications.
Availability and price
The big question is now when will VSB be available? Unfortunately, I can’t really give a date yet. The technical side of the application is completely done; the business side, however, is not.
I know a lot of people expect this application to be free, but I can tell you that it will not be free. There went a lot of work in VSB and, at the very least, I need to earn the invested time back.
Editor’s Note: A distribution policy for Vista Style Builder and AeroXperience members is currently being researched
June 26th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
This is by far going to be the greatest thing in the history of Vista.
I will release probably a new visual style every other day with this XD
I just hope people don’t abuse it and make crappy themes
I can’t wait, man. You’re my hero.
I will port so many themes. . .
You should make it non-crippling shareware, like reaper - http://reaper.fm
June 26th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Wow. This is pretty amazing. One of the reasons I’m still with XP is that the visual style scene is still centered around XP. This may very well change that.
@Austin: Of course people will abuse it and make crappy themes. It’s the nature of things. However, good themes will eventually come to be, and until then you can certainly port XP ones over.
Again - Amazing work. Well done.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Looks handy
If its easier to create/edit themes with this program as you say, compared to other software such as StyleBuilder, I do hope that you will provide capability to make XP themes using the same software as well. Would be great because even though there’s a gradual shift to Vista, XP is far from dead. Cheers 
June 27th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Aw shucks. I was actually hoping that the software could at least be donation-ware or nag-ware. I was looking forward to this, so I can quickly finish up a theme I have been working on since the beginning of this year, and has since stalled because of the frustrations of trying to hand-edit the themes.
I’m actually willing to pay for something like this - don’t get me wrong - but my finances are tight, and has to be spent on more important things right now…
June 27th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Looks like a pretty good thing to me. Must blog about it.
Maybe you could consider having a version with limited features for a freeware.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
“I was actually hoping that the software could at least be donation-ware or nag-ware.”
That brings in hardly any revenue
June 27th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect monetary compensation for this software. It looks pretty sweet. I don’t think there should be a demo or a limiedware, because the market is just too small. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have it be free, but as a freelancer myself, I know how frustrating it is not to get payed for your work.
Anyway, as I was saying, the market is just too small. Most of the people that will benefit from this program are not going to buy it. Why, you ask? That’s because the people who are going to benefit the most are the theme users, and they don’t need the software to use the themes. There are not that many theme makers out there. At least not that many serious theme makers. Serious enough to buy a the builder. Why I say this? well, basically because StyleBuilder never got out of beta. My guess is that that software didn’t got out of beta in it’s 10 year run, because the company that made it (TST? I don’t remember) must have realized it wasn’t wroth finishing (financial, of course).
So, hopefully, the lack of a demo will persuade a percentage of semi-serious theme makers to buy it. And that percentage, hopefully, will make the software somewhat profitable.
Best of luck.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Looks great and handly if it pulls through I hope it works out on making VS for Vista that will make it easier on alot of us such as myself.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:41 am
Hrmm. Maybe, just maybe, if Vista Style Builder is really going the payware route, then I suggest that at least a free version be made in the future, once the time is ripe for it.
There has been software that went this way. Think Styler
.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Looks interesting. I’ll definitely buy it once it’s available. I also hope that a free version does not come out in the future.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:42 am
As a visual style designer for many years, and after having designed over 140 free visual styles for Windows XP, this program will be a blessing for me in developing for Windows Vista. Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into this! I eagerly await its release, and paying for it is the least we skinners can do to compensate you for your work.
June 30th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Hi,
Will it support Longhorn themes, such as LH4074 ?
//Leon
June 30th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Leon, The Visual style builder will support all v4 .msstyle files (Vista msstyle’s)
July 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
Waow! In the words of the pub with us in france.
Finally a nice software to implement.
Too bad it is not free!
July 1st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Does anyone here work for a living? Why all this complaining about it not being “free”? If you spent days and days on something like this, would you give it away for free?
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I would pay for it
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:02 am
Man I’ve been waiting for something like this to port some of my XP themes over to Vista. On deviantART I’m also known as WinGNOME-XP. This will be a blessing if it lives up to your description. I’d gladly pay for this, if you need a beta tester in the meantime I’d also like to volunteer my services.
heylove are you on Vista now? I have a dual boot setup and I keep booting to xp just because I’m so tired of the Aero interface & lack of decent alternatives.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 am
No more XP at all. 100% Vista. I would volunteer my time for beta testing as well.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Beta testing started a while ago. I don’t think there is a good chance you’ll get to beta test anymore.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
not worry we will pay for this wonderful tool!
July 4th, 2008 at 4:41 am
When will the application be publically released?
July 4th, 2008 at 8:32 am
When will the application be available for public purchase, rather.
July 5th, 2008 at 10:58 am
jjgj
July 6th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
http://www.vistastylebuilder.com/news.html Well it’s coming soon
July 7th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I hate to tell you, but that link is dead.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
What link are talking about? If you’re talking about the one Zane posted you’re wrong. It works fine.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Well, all I keep getting is:
Connection Interrupted
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
The network link was interrupted while negotiating a connection. Please try again.
and a “Try Again” button.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
That doesn’t mean it is a dead link. If it says 404 then you can say that the link is dead.
If you want you can check here: http://isdownforeveryoneorjustmedownforeveryoneorjustme.com/
July 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
^ Just make sure you don’t enter “http://www.” where it asks you to enter the url on that site.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Thanks for the assist, evidently it is just down for me, I cannot reach it, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why. It is the only site I seem not to be able to get to. Weird.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
أبعثوا البرنامج
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I would pay up to 20 USD for this. If then let’s say, 200 people buy this app, you get 4000 USD! that’s a lot of money!
I am realy looking forward to the realise of this app, would come in handy in deed! Just amke sure I can install the app on my dualboot when I buy it
July 27th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Fools! Why do you pay? You can simply download, not thinking about the price! Then why you pay, why spend the extra sweat and blood-earned money?
July 27th, 2008 at 8:20 am
لا تدفع ، والا فإنه هو الجهاد العظيم!
July 27th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Fools huh? We pay because we appreciate the hard work of the person or persons who create the software. We do no STEAL from other people, you end up in HELL for that.
July 27th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
and you call yourself “The Shining Lord”? Lord of what?
July 28th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Actually stealing from those that take advantage of artists and the like is a kind of poetic justice I think. The more that people steal from the MPAA and RIAA the better, as they just need to be taught a damned lesson.
For something like this though, it is very different.
Andreas has spent countless hours hand crafting a tool that will allow us to create art to customize our personal computers. Also, this tool is not on a per person basis, but a per artist basis. This means that one good artist buying this program will make many, many, many people happy.
That is something I really really like the sound of.
-Ash
July 29th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
arggghh! I can’t wait for this to come out! When is it going to come out?! It has been almost a month since you updated the website saying that the release is soon.
August 7th, 2008 at 3:54 am
It will come out soon
But it wont be for free.. :S
Bron:
Msn
August 13th, 2008 at 1:27 am
God, When is this gonna be out?!
August 19th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I think never.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:46 am
As a very ocassional skinner from eastern europe, I’d be willing to pay about $10-$15 for this app, as I appreciate all the work that went into making it, but I have purchased utilities of this price thet I use *everyday* (like for example Syncdata SmartphoneNotes)… but the decision is yours.
Being able to start with XP msstyles and then edit it comfortably is a killer feature for me, though.