Welcome to THEMEDIT 2.2
THEMEDIT is a program designed edit and display GRADIENT themes
to produce appropriate displays for allegro based programs.
This is a beta 2.2 release, meaning that it is not yet complete.
G'day,
Many helpful details about THEMEDIT can be found via the online
help system. Buttons are explained and links are included to
access further information. Press F1 to get a Help Screen.
Up to three links are provided in the help screen status bar.
To select a LINK from the status bar, use the mouse (Luke) or
press the number keys 1, 2 or 3 as shown.
RETURN (or ENTER) always selects the first link (box 1).
To get to the previous page, press ESCAPE.
To exit, press function key F1, or press ESCAPE until you do.
Click on the Menu Header with the mouse, or press the ALT key plus
the heading's first letter.
FILE - for file loading and saving and wallpapers.
SCHEMES - colour scheme editing menu, including copy/paste.
GRADIENTS - gradient editing functions, including copy/paste.
OPTIONS - sets up optional items.
Each menu presents a pop-up frame with a number of items or
functions to select. Use the mouse to move among them and then
click on your selection to carry out the highlighted option.
To cancel a menu, move the mouse away from it and it will close.
THEMEDIT allows you to load, edit and save gradient theme files.
The basic display is a sample theme at the lower part
of the screen with a number of editable items at the top.
Since there are a large number of editable items, the program is
divided into 4 separate edit modes:
1. Edit colours schemes, (showing sample gradients and windows).
2. Edit gradients, and show sample gradient blocks and windows.
3. Edit borders and credits, with sample blocks and windows.
4. Edit colours, gradients and borders with sample blocks only.
Cycle through these with the F2 function key.
After editing, you will need to press the STORE buttons to see the
results on the window samples.
At the top of the screen there are a number of buttons to click
on with the mouse, or activated with the function keys F1 to F10.
F1 - HELP - context sensitive help at the touch of a button
F2 - EDIT MODE selects among the edit screen displays
F3 - SKIN - Select a new skin for the program
F10 SCREENSHOT Save the screen display as a name.bmp image
Below this there are buttons to save and load the files.
F4 - SAVE - Save the edited gradient file
F5 - LOAD - Load a new gradient file to edit
At the bottom of the screen is a toolbar for quick-launch options.
I have not finished this yet, so here are some key actions instead.
f - change the focus parameter of the samples
i - toggle the icon bar in the sample window
a - toggle the address bar in the sample window
s - toggle the status bar in the sample window
m - toggle the menu bar in the sample window
d - toggle display of debug timing in the user frame.
The screen display can be saved as a
You can change the file type with the SAVE AS BMP or SAVE AS PCX
selector in the OPTIONS menu. The current selection will have a
tick mark displayed in the menu frame.
PRINTING: I save the screen views with the F10 key and use other
programs to print them as needed.
I'm not clever enough to do this myself, and graphics programs
like The Gimp do a much better job, plus allowing further
editing if required.
Use the FILE menu to load a wallpaper image.
This option pops up a file-select dialog box. Search for a suitable
image file to use as a wallpaper.
The image will be tiled if it is smaller than the screen size.
Loading a wallpaper will enable you to tweak the theme/gradient
to match the colours of the image. Use the mouse to pick the major
colours in the image and use them to define your colour schemes.
Throughout this program I spell the word 'colour' the English
way, i.e. correctly! :-)
If this offends, use a text search/replace tool on the help text to
replace 'colour' with the typographical error: 'color'...
and regenerate the themedit.hlp file.
What! You don't have a help file generator for helptext.c ??
Then email me for a copy of the program to regenerate the themedit.hlp
file, and I'll send it to you by email.
Themedit.exe tries to select a 640x480 screen and 16bit colour.
This can be varied with command line options:
Add 8 15 16 24 32 for a change of colour depth.
Add 640 800 1024 for screen resolution change.
Add 1 2 6 10 to change text font to tiny, small fonts (not recommended)
Add 3 4 5 7 9 11 for text with 'normal' size variable or fixed fonts.
Add 12 13 14 for very large text fonts (DEFINITELY not recommended)
Eg: themedit 800 24 for 800x600 screen with 24 bit colour.
Unsuccessful mode settings revert to 640x480 with 256 colours.
Themedit really stinks in 8-bit mode!
Exit the program.
This button will pop up a small window, asking you to confirm
the request for exit.
Press 'y' or ENTER or click on the YES button to exit the program.
Press Escape or click on the CANCEL button to stay.
The exit menu will also popup when you RIGHT-CLICK with the mouse.
Helpful information.
Pressing F1 will pop up a window with usefull information about
the program.
To use it, position the mouse over a button and press the F1 key.
The help screen will provide additional info about the button.
If F1 is pressed when the mouse is on an inactive part of the
display, the help system starts from the beginning.
Press ENTER to go to the next information box, or click on one
of the buttons on the status bar below the main text.
Press F1 to exit, or ESCAPE to go back to the previous item.
Cycle between edit modes: Scheme/Gradient/Borders.
There are 4 edit modes:
1. Edit colours schemes.
2. Edit gradients.
3. Edit borders and credits.
4. Edit colours, gradients, borders and credits.
Modes 1 to 3 display a sample window, menu and toolbar, plus
a tooltip and two scroll sliders, as well as samples of all gradients
displayed as a group of colour gradient blocks as currently defined.
Mode 4 has the sample blocks only due to display size limitations.
Cycle through the modes with the F2 function key or by pressing this
button with the mouse.
Select a new program Skin or theme.
This control will pop up a file selector window to enable you to
pick a new 'theme' or skin for the program.
This will change the programs' colour scheme, but will not change
the gradient file you are editing.
This is a good way to check how your latest theme creation will
appear to the user. Save it to the hard disk first (F4), then try to
load it as your new theme with F3.
Save a screen shot, as a
The screen display can be saved as a
You can change the file type with the SAVE AS BMP or SAVE AS PCX
selector in the OPTIONS menu.
Select a gradient file to edit.
This button gives a quick access to the gradient files (xxx.csg)
stored in the current directory, without having to use the
file selector window.
A left click on this button will load the next gradient file in
an internal list of such files kept by the program. Up to 100
files can be accessed this way.
The loaded file is copied to the EDITTING controls. It does NOT
change the appearance of the program. (Use F3 instead for that).
Pressing the 'g' key has the same effect. Pressing capital 'G'
will go bakwards in the list.
The name of the gradient file.
Here you can provide a custom name for your gradient file prior
to saving it with the F4 key. Make sure that you enter a valid
filename for your operating system.
The font is changed to a fixed width font during the edit.
This is required by my simplified edit procedure.
The font will be restored once the editing is done.
(press ENTER when finished)
Save the Gradient file.
This control will pop up a file selector window to enable you to
pick a new filename or save the original file on the disk.
This will save the edited gradient/colour scheme, but will not
change or save the programs appearance.
Please note that although all 24 gradients are saved, only those
colour schemes up to the highest scheme ACTUALLY USED will be saved!
Any unused colour schemes above this will be discarded. Presently,
gradient 23 (COMMON) is not actually used to draw anything, so you
can put at least three schemes there for preservation. Of course,
in your own program, gradient 23 can be used for any purpose.
Load a new Gradient file.
This control will pop up a file selector window to enable you to
pick a new gradient colour scheme to edit.
This will overwrite the existing editted gradients, colour schemes
and borders, but will not change the programs appearance in any way.
Make sure that you save the current edits before using this!
Colour Scheme to edit.
Pressing this button will automatically advance to the next colour
scheme and update the screen controls. This provides a quick way
to cycle through the available schemes instead of using the
edit box to type in a new number.
The same effect is provided by pressing the 'c' key. Using a
capital 'C' will reverse the cycle.
Enter the colour scheme number to edit.
Choose the number for the colour scheme you would like to adjust.
The number entered should be less than the current number of
colour schemes recognised by the program. This is usually in the
10-30 range.
This will update the screen controls when you press ENTER.
If you need a fresh colour scheme to edit, use the ADD button
to add another to the list, up to a maximum of 100.
Store the edited colour scheme.
This control will take your edit values and repack them into the
list of colour schemes kept in memory.
The sample boxes and windows will now reflect your changes.
This option does NOT update the disk file.
Reload the scheme, discarding changes.
If you make changes to the colour scheme that you no longer
like, this button will discard your changes and revert to the
original values stored in the sample colour schemes.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
If you have used the Store button, you can only reset to the
last Store operation.
Add a new colour scheme to the list.
The number of available colour schemes is increased by one, up
to a maximum of 100 (scheme numbers are 0 to 99).
The new colour scheme will have the values as they currently exist
in the colour scheme array. If you load a gradient file with a
few colours after editting a file of many colours, some of the
old schemes will become visible with the ADD function.
It is usually not a good idea to have too many colour schemes at
once, as this destroys the simplicity and appeal of the theme.
Primary (Base) Colour of the colour scheme.
This is the basic colour for the colour scheme, the primary
colour for the various gradient types available.
Solid gradients will be drawn in this colour.
The colour can be directly specified by the RRGGBB edit box
or combined from the individual colour sliders.
This box will be drawn in the base colour.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '1' or this button
will change colour 1 to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing this button will
swap 'Colour' with 'Colourto'.
Enter RGB value of the primary colour in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component slider.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the primary colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Click the RED pill, and I show you how deep the colour is.
Do you want to know, WHAT - IT - IS?
It's the Green component, 0-255.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the primary colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the secondary colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Why oh why didn't I click the BLUE pill!
Secondary colour to merge to.
This is the secondary colour for the colour scheme, the primary
colour will merge to this colour in the various gradient types.
Solid gradients will ignore this colour.
The colour can be directly specified by the RRGGBB edit box
or combined from the individual colour sliders.
This box will be drawn with the current Colourto.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '2' or this button
will change Colourto to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing '2' or this button
will swap 'Colour' with 'Colourto'.
Enter RGB value in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component, 0-255.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the secondary colour, called - 'colourto'.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colourto button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Green component, 0-255.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the secondary colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colourto button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the secondary colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colourto button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Text colour or pictograph colour.
The third colour in the colour scheme is the text colour or
'pictograph' colour. This colour is used to write labels on buttons
and icons.
For example, if you need an icon with a resize function, you can
draw a normal gradient, then use this colour to draw the proverbial
"two squares" pictograph. This way, your pict drawings will change
colour automatically when a new skin is loaded.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '3' or this button
will change Txtcolour to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing '3' or this button
will swap 'Txtcolour' with 'Txtshadow'.
Enter RGB value in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component, 0-255.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the text or pictograph colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the text on the Txtcolour
button will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Green component, 0-255.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the text or pictograph colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the text on the Txtcolour
button will reflect the change, as will the text in the sample box.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the text colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the text on the Txtcolour
button will reflect the change, as will the sample box on the right.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
The colour of the Text Shadow.
The fourth colour in the colour scheme is the text shadow colour.
This colour is used to write shadowed labels on buttons and icons.
For shadowed text, the labels are drawn twice. First with the shadow
colour but at 1 pixel to the right and below the text, and again, using
normal text colour at the correct position. With contrasting colours,
this can be used with good effect.
Text shadows are enabled with the gradient justify option.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '4' or this button
will change Txtshadow to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing '4' or this button
will swap 'Txtcolour' with 'Txtshadow'.
Enter RGB value in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component, 0-255.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the text shadow colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the textshadow on the Shadow
button will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Green component, 0-255.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN component
of the text shadow colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the shadow text on the Shadow
button will reflect the change, as will the text in the sample box.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the text shadow colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the shadow text on the
Shadow button will reflect the change, as will the sample box.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Third Colour of a Bilinear colour scheme.
This is the third colour for a bilinear colour scheme, where four
colours are used in the four corners of a gradient.
Only bilinear colour schemes will use this colour.
The colour can be directly specified by the RRGGBB edit box
or combined from the individual colour sliders.
This box will be drawn with the selected colour.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '5' or this button
will change 'Colourbi' to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing '5' or this button
will swap 'Colourbi' with 'Colourbi2'.
Enter RGB value of the third bilinear colour in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component slider.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the third bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Click the RED pill, and I show you how deep the colour is.
Do you want to know, WHAT - IT - IS?
It's the Green component, 0-255.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the third bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the third bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Why oh why didn't I click the BLUE pill!
Fourth Colour of a Bilinear colour scheme.
This is the fourth colour for a bilinear colour scheme, where four
colours are used in the four corners of a gradient.
Only bilinear colour schemes will use this colour.
The colour can be directly specified by the RRGGBB edit box
or combined from the individual colour sliders.
This box will be drawn with the selected colour.
If the 'Pick col' button is enabled, pressing '6' or this button
will change 'Colourbi2' to the last mouse colour selection.
If the 'Swap col' button is enabled, pressing '6' or this button
will swap 'Colourbi' with 'Colourbi2'.
Enter RGB value of the fourth bilinear colour in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
If you're not sure what hexadecimal numbers are, just ignore this
box and use the colour sliders instead.
Red component slider.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the fourth bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Do you want to know, WHAT - IT - IS?
It's the Green component, 0-255. You have to see it for yourself.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the fourth bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Blue component, 0-255.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE component
of the fourth bilinear colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made, as will the sample box (if bilinear).
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 to 8 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Enable the 'Copy the mouse colour' function.
Left clicking on an inactive part of the screen (NOT a button)
will copy the pixel under the mouse pointer to a special register.
This is displayed in a small box on the lower right of the toolbar.
Selecing this button, enables the 'colour name' buttons to be used
to set any of the 6 colours to the mouse colour.
Eg. Pressing the 'Colourto' button copies the mouse colour register
to the 'Colourto' values in the current colour scheme, overwriting
the previous values in the colour sliders etc.
Use this to match a colour scheme to the background image.
Enables a 'Swap colour pair' function.
Selecing this button, enables the 'colour name' buttons to be used
to swap colour pairs.
Eg. Pressing the 'Colour' or 'Colourto' button will swap the two
colours if this button is enabled, overwriting the previous values
in the two colours and their colour sliders etc.
The same will happen with the two text colours, and the two bilinear
colours.
This is convenient when you wish to create complementary colour
schemes, for example, a 'pressed' version of a normal button, or a
neat merge between a menubar and an iconbar in a window.
If both menubar and iconbar are set to a flat vertical gradient,
with reverse colour schemes, the two will merge seamlessly!
Sample box drawn using the selected colours.
The sample may be shown with a number of drawing methods and
bevels using the two buttons below.
Gradient sample: Horizontal Vertical Diagonal etc.
This determines the actual gradient drawing method.
Solid - only one colour for the block.
Horizontal - a gradient from colour LEFT to colourto RIGHT.
Vertical - a gradient from TOP (colour) to BOTTOM (colourto).
Diagonal - from upperleft to lower right.
Polar - from edge (colour) to central (colourto).
Cross-Diagonal - from lower left to upper right.
Other types not yet available:
Rectangular - squarish gradient, edge to centre.
Elliptical - elliptical from edge to centre.
Barrel - vertical gradient from edge to centre.
Bilinear - four colour gradient.
Set Flat Raised Sunken or Lipped for the sample button.
This will set the edge pixels on a gradient button so that it
has a flat, raised, sunken or lipped appearance.
Gradient to be edited.
There are 24 gradients in a theme: this is one of them.
Left clicking this button will increment the gradient number to be
edited to the next one in the list. It will wrap around after 23.
Gradient number to edit. (0-24)
You can manually change the gradient to be edited by directly
entering the number here and pressing ENTER.
This will also update the screen to reflect the change.
The name of the Gradient object.
Each gradient object in the list of 24 was originally designed for
a particular purpose, such as Toolbar, Toolbar Button, etc.
The sample windows/menus are drawn with this in mind.
Having said that, there is no reason why you can't design your own
program interface to use whichever gradient you please.
Left clicking this button will decrement the gradient number to the
previous one in the list. It will wrap around after 0 to 23.
Save the edits for posterity.
This control will take your edit values and repack them into the
current gradient object.
The sample boxes and windows will now reflect your changes.
Once the Store button is used, all previous values are lost and
you can only regain them by reloading the whole theme from the disk.
Oops! Discard changes!
If you make changes to the gradient object that you no longer
like, this button will discard your changes and revert to the
original values stored in the gradient list.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
If you have used the Store button, you can only reset to the
last save operation.
Text justify parameter.
Each gradient has an optional text justification property.
It can be set to:
Left justify
Centre justify
Right justify
Left Shadowed
Centre Shadowed
Right Shadowed
The shadowed options enabled text to be placed on a button using
the shadow colour under the normal text colour.
Left, Centre or Right text justification with Shadow option.
Clicking this control will cycle between six justify options:
Left - text is written on the Left hand side.
Centre - text is centrally located on the button.
Right - text is written to the Right hand side.
Left Shadow - Shadowed text is written on the Left hand side.
Centre Shadow - Shadowed text is centrally located on the button.
Right Shadow - Shadowed text is written to the Right hand side.
Colour scheme when Disabled, usually drawn when an object or button
is visible but not accessible.
The gradient will be drawn using this colour scheme when DISABLED.
Pressing this button will automatically increment the Disabled colour
scheme to the next one in the list of defined schemes. It will wrap
around to 0 when the current number of colour schemes is exceeded.
DISABLED scheme number. 0-23
Set Flat Raised Sunken or Lipped.
This will set the edge pixels on a gradient button so that it
has a flat, raised, sunken or lipped appearance.
If the Bevel type is set to BEVEL2, the edge is doubled in size.
Gradient type: Horizontal Vertical Diagonal etc.
This determines the actual gradient drawing method when disabled.
Solid - only one colour for the block.
Horizontal - a gradient from colour LEFT to colourto RIGHT.
Vertical - a gradient from TOP (colour) to BOTTOM (colourto).
Diagonal - from upperleft to lower right.
Polar - from edge (colour) to central (colourto).
Cross-Diagonal - from lower left to upper right.
Rectangular - squarish gradient, edge to centre.
Elliptical - elliptical from edge to centre.
Select Normal, Interlace or Rivets.
Select the type of embossing on the "disabled" gradient.
Normal - no extra texturing.
Interlace - every second line is darkened.
Rivets - dots added every fourth pixel.
Single or double edge bevels.
When raised, sunken or lipped bevels are added to an object, this
normally changes only one pixel along all edges. Selecting BEVEL2
doubles this edge bevel, making the raised, sunken or lipped
appearance much more pronounced.
Use this with smaller objects, as the doubled edge takes longer
to draw.
Opaque or semi-transparent render.
When a gradient is drawn, you have the option of an opaque object
that overwrites whatever was on the screen at that place, or
selecting a semi-transparent object that allows the background to
partially show through.
Most objects should be opaque, but some interesting effects become
possible with transparent menus etc.
Drawing with semi-transparent objects will slow down your program
and may make text hard to read.
This is what it looks like when disabled.
Colour scheme when UNFOCUSSED (or normal appearence).
Objects (except windows) are usually drawn unfocused when displayed
normally but do not have the focus.
The gradient will be drawn using this colour scheme when UNFOCUSED.
Pressing this button will automatically increment the Unfocused colour
scheme to the next one in the list of defined schemes. It will wrap
around to 0 after the last defined scheme is reached.
UNFOCUSSED scheme number
Set Flat Raised Sunken or Lipped.
This will set the edge pixels on a gradient button so that it
has a flat, raised, sunken or lipped appearance.
If the Bevel type is set to BEVEL2, the edge is doubled in size.
Gradient type: Horizontal Vertical Diagonal etc.
This determines the actual gradient drawing method.
Solid - only one colour for the block.
Horizontal - a gradient from colour LEFT to colourto RIGHT.
Vertical - a gradient from TOP (colour) to BOTTOM (colourto).
Diagonal - from upperleft to lower right.
Polar - from edge (colour) to central (colourto).
Cross-Diagonal - from lower left to upper right.
Rectangular - squarish gradient, edge to centre.
Elliptical - elliptical from edge to centre.
Select Normal, Interlace or Rivets.
Select the type of embossing on the gradient.
Normal - no extra texturing.
Interlace - every second line is darkened.
Rivets - dots added every fourth pixel.
Single or double edge bevels.
When raised, sunken or lipped bevels are added to an object, this
normally changes only one pixel along all edges. Selecting BEVEL2
doubles this edge bevel, making the raised, sunken or lipped
appearance much more pronounced.
Use this with smaller objects, as the doubled edge takes longer
to draw.
Opaque or semi-transparent render.
When a gradient is drawn, you have the option of an opaque object
that overwrites whatever was on the screen at that place, or
selecting a semi-transparent object that allows the background to
partially show through.
Most objects should be opaque, but some interesting effects become
possible with transparent menus etc.
Drawing with semi-transparent objects will slow down your program.
Sample, using these values.
Colour scheme when in FOCUS (or 'mouse-over').
The gradient will be drawn using this colour scheme when FOCUSED.
Pressing this button will automatically increment the Focused colour
scheme to the next one in the list of defined schemes. It will wrap
around to 0 after the last defined scheme is reached.
FOCUSSED scheme number.
Set Flat Raised Sunken or Lipped.
This will set the edge pixels on a gradient button so that it
has a flat, raised, sunken or lipped appearance.
If the Bevel type is set to BEVEL2, the edge is doubled in size.
Gradient type: Horizontal Vertical Diagonal etc.
This determines the actual gradient drawing method.
Solid - only one colour for the block.
Horizontal - a gradient from colour LEFT to colourto RIGHT.
Vertical - a gradient from TOP (colour) to BOTTOM (colourto).
Diagonal - from upperleft to lower right.
Polar - from edge (colour) to central (colourto).
Cross-Diagonal - from lower left to upper right.
Rectangular - squarish gradient, edge to centre.
Elliptical - elliptical from edge to centre.
Select Normal, Interlace or Rivets.
Select the type of embossing on the gradient.
Normal - no extra texturing.
Interlace - every second line is darkened.
Rivets - dots added every fourth pixel.
Single or double edge bevels.
When raised, sunken or lipped bevels are added to an object, this
normally changes only one pixel along all edges. Selecting BEVEL2
doubles this edge bevel, making the raised, sunken or lipped
appearance much more pronounced.
Use this with smaller objects, as the doubled edge takes longer
to draw.
Opaque or semi-transparent render.
When a gradient is drawn, you have the option of an opaque object
that overwrites whatever was on the screen at that place, or
selecting a semi-transparent object that allows the background to
partially show through.
Most objects should be opaque, but some interesting effects become
possible with transparent menus etc.
Drawing with semi-transparent objects will slow down your program.
This is what it looks like.
Colour scheme when PRESSED.
Objects that can be pressed, such as buttons, will be drawn using
this colour scheme.
Pressing this button will automatically increment the Pressed colour
scheme to the next one in the list of defined schemes. It will wrap
around to 0 after the last defined scheme is reached.
PRESSED scheme number.
Edit this number to set a new colour scheme.
Set Flat Raised Sunken or Lipped.
This will set the edge pixels on a gradient button so that it
has a flat, raised, sunken or lipped appearance.
If the Bevel type is set to BEVEL2, the edge is doubled in size.
Gradient type: Horizontal Vertical Diagonal etc.
This determines the actual gradient drawing method.
Solid - only one colour for the block.
Horizontal - a gradient from colour LEFT to colourto RIGHT.
Vertical - a gradient from TOP (colour) to BOTTOM (colourto).
Diagonal - from upperleft to lower right.
Polar - from edge (colour) to central (colourto).
Cross-Diagonal - from lower left to upper right.
Rectangular - squarish gradient, edge to centre.
Elliptical - elliptical from edge to centre.
Barrel - like vertical except from edges to centre.
Cylindrical - horizontal, from edges to centre.
Select Normal, Interlace or Rivets.
Select the type of embossing on the gradient.
Normal - no extra texturing.
Interlace - every second line is darkened.
Rivets - dots added every fourth pixel.
Single or double edge bevels.
When raised, sunken or lipped bevels are added to an object, this
normally changes only one pixel along all edges. Selecting BEVEL2
doubles this edge bevel, making the raised, sunken or lipped
appearance much more pronounced.
Use this with smaller objects, as the doubled edge takes longer
to draw.
Opaque or semi-transparent render.
When a gradient is drawn, you have the option of an opaque object
that overwrites whatever was on the screen at that place, or
selecting a semi-transparent object that allows the background to
partially show through.
Most objects should be opaque, but some interesting effects become
possible with transparent menus etc.
Drawing with semi-transparent objects will slow down your program.
What you see is what you get.
And the winner is...
Credit for the design of this theme is saved with the file as
three lines of text with a maximum of 56 characters per line.
If the design is inspired from the work of others, you should
acknowledge that here and announce your own contact details.
This allows others to credit you when they modify it, and
allows them to send you love letters or hate mail, depending.
Brought to you by...
Just a suggestion, but this line can be used to credit the
one who inspired your theme.
Go ahead... make his day!
Somebody at somewhere dot com
Contact details, web page or terse one-liners.
Don't blame me! It's this guy's fault!
Your handle, email address or other info.
Specifies the border around menus and windows.
Enter the Border colour RGB value in Hex format.
The colour can be specified completely by a six digit hexadecimal
number in the form RRGGBB where the two left-most digits specify
the RED component from 00 to FF. The two middle digits represent
the GREEN component 00 to FF and the two right-most digits are
the BLUE component.
When this number is edited, the component sliders will change to
the values entered here.
Red component of the border colour.
The length of the RED colour slider represents the RED component
of the border colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the red
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the border colour
button will reflect the changes made.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Green component.
The length of the GREEN colour slider represents the GREEN
component of the border colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the green
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
Green borders give the theme a MATRIX look...
Blue component.
The length of the BLUE colour slider represents the BLUE
component of the border colour.
A mouse click at any point along this control will set the blue
component in the range 0 - 255, or 00 - FF in hex format.
The value in the edit box and the colour of the colour button
will reflect the changes made.
Note that the slider sets the colour in steps of 3 or 4 depending
on the screen resolution and the limited length of the slider.
The width of the window border.
Enter the width of the window border, usually 0, 1 or 2.
The width of the window frame bevel.
Enter the width of the window frame bevel, usually 0, 1, 2 or 3.
The thickness of the handle/grips below a window.
Enter the handle thickness, usually 0-8.
Drawing style for menu bullet
Set Menu Bullet to Triangle Circle Square etc.
Save the borders & bullet changes.
The File Menu contains:
Save ------- Save the edited Theme to the hard disk.
Load ------- Load a new Theme to edit.
Skin ------- Load a new program 'skin' (Does not affect edits)
ScreenShot - Save the screen image as a BMP or PCX file.
Wallpaper -- Select a picture as a wallpaper. It will be tiled.
Exit ------- Just what it says...
The Scheme Menu is:
Next --------- Jump to next scheme, WITHOUT saving the current one.
Previous ----- Goto previous scheme. Current edits are NOT saved.
Copy Scheme -- Copy the current Scheme to a clipboard.
Paste Scheme - Paste clipboard to the current scheme: OVERWRITES!
The Gradient Menu contains these options:
Next ---------- Jump to next gradient, WITHOUT saving this one!
Previous ------ Goto previous gradient, without saving first.
Swap Common --- Exchange current gradient with gradient 23.
Copy Gradient - Copy current STORED gradient to a clipboard.
Paste Gradient Paste clipboard to the current gradient: OVERWRITES!
The Options Menu has:
Schemes ------ A link to the Scheme Menu.
Gradients ---- A link to the Gradient Menu.
Save as BMP -- Enable/Disable screenshots as a BMP picture file.
Save as PCX -- Enable/Disable screenshots as a PCX file.
Tooltip ------ Hide or Show those annoying tooltips.
Desktop Menu: right click on any inactive screen area not a button.
Focus ------ Change the Focus in the sample Toolbar and Window.
Menubar ---- Hide/Show the Menubar in the sample Window.
Iconbar ---- Hide/Show the Iconbar in the sample Window.
Addressbar - Hide/Show the Addressbar in the sample Window.
Statusbar -- Hide/Show the Statusbar in the sample Window.
Exit ------- Popup the 'Exit the program' dialog.
Information on commands and program functions.
For help at any time, press the F1 key for a brief description
of the menu or function highlighted.
More detailed help is located in the manual. (When I get it done)
THEMEDIT version 2.2 Build 124 Beta release.
Release date - 4th June 2002.
Programmer: Anthony M Hugo, Bargara, Queensland, Australia
(C) Copyright 1999-2002. All rights reserved.
Programmed with DJGPP and Allegro 4.0.0 graphics library.
Linux version uses GCC and Allegro 4.0.0.
Windows version uses Allegro 4.0.0 and MingW32-1.1
Sample gradient files derived in part from Linux Blackbox themes:
http://bb.themes.org
Check out README.TXT for the latest info. (if I remembered)
This program is copyrighted freeware, NO registration fees!
If you find this program useable...
.. please consider sending a postcard or email with your comments.
http://www.amhugo.tripod.com/gradient.html
http://www.geocities.com/amhugo/gradient.html
Old Home site: http://www.winshop.com.au/hugo/
Email: amhugo@optusnet.com.au
Tony Hugo
P.O. Box 8315
Bargara
Queensland
Australia 4670