Like many other's i have tried to hop onto the skinning boat after the release of metamorph.
and i think like many others i have problems with those .9.png files. i read stericsons write up on them but i cant make any sense out of it.
therefore i would like to ask from any of you that do understand them: could you make a short video describing the editing of 1 file?
since i'm a visual kind of guy this would 99% sure make me understand it and make me able to continue with my theme.
i would really really apreciate this guys..
you can power up draw9patch and play with it and you will understand it..
few thing you should know
when you load a regular png file(not .9.png) the tool automatically expend the size by 1 pixel each side(up down left right)
then you can edit
the left and top sides represents stretchable area.. you should put there one or two black pixels.. no more!(for each side)
the right and bottom sides are represents the content area.. you can fill it how you like.. but keep it one line for each side
then you need to save it.. when you save it the tool adds a .9 to the end of the file name
the next move is to compile the file with eclipse........
i dont have time to make a vid right this second, but im willing to help you out...first tell me, have you checked out the source code? It has all the .9.png's UNCOMPILED, which means that they still have the guides drawn and you can take a look at certain images to get an idea of how the guies SHOULD be drawn for a certain image.
Brief explanation...The TOP and LEFT sides of the 1px border are where you will draw a single (or double is allowed) guide marker to mark where the image will be stretched. You are allowed up to 2 guides on the top and 2 on the left, but no more.
On the BOTTOM and RIGHT sides of your 1px border you will draw guide markers for the "Content area" of the image. That is to say, if you have a button that will contain text, image, or other content, you draw a line across the bottom edge from one side of the button to the other to center the content in the center of the button. Then the same for the right side to make it centered vertically.
You should check out the source and look at those images in there, that'll help you see what draw9patch does and how certain images should look when they're done.
Then you have to compile the images in eclipse to get them to work right. just start a new Android project and choose "From existing Source", then choose one of the samples that comes with the SDK...i use home.apk. then after you edit the .9.png's with draw9patch, you dump them into a folder (i.e. res/drawable or res/drawable-land) in the project, overwrite whatever images may already be there, and then right click the root of the project in the tree view and go down to "Android Tools" and pick "Export Unsigned package". (it doesnt matter if its signed cuz your just gonna extract it for the images)
This will save an .apk file to your eclipse workspace directory. just copy it to your desktop and extract it to get the freshly compiled .9.png's and inject them into your .apk or update.zip...then sign and flash!
Hope this helps...
-BMFC
ok so the problem for me seems to lie with eclipse, atm i'm stuck on the fact that when i try to open an existing project, i dont have the AndroidManifest.xml and when i extract it from some other theme, it says it cant be parsed. so eehm where exactly should i find a unparsed AndroidManifest.xml or what should be in it?
you already got me a lot further! thanx!
did you try using a different sample application? there are some that throw some errors when i first try to open them as projects but home.apk seems to work fine for me. i tried to figure out why youd be getting that error but i dont seem to get it for any of my samples so maybe its a problem with your SDK? im not sure but here is my AndroidManifest.xml from the home.apk sample, it works for me so it SHOULD work for you. if not you may have a deeper issue going on. anyways just drop the ".txt" from the end of the filename and drop it in [YourSDKdirectory]/platform/Android 1.6/samples/Home/ and then try to open as existing project again. Lemme know if it works...
-BMFC
View attachment AndroidManifest.xml.txt
Is there a way that you can make .9 images on photoshop? Or someway to get around using the 9 tool found in the sdk?
AndroidFiend said:
Is there a way that you can make .9 images on photoshop? Or someway to get around using the 9 tool found in the sdk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, you just give the image a 1px border on all sides and then draw the guides on the border and then save it and compile with eclipse...its the same basic thing, the draw9patch tool just automates most of it for you.
-BMFC
Hey, I'm also one of the people who jumped in the Metamorph bandwagon(not that it's bad), and I'm also having trouble with .9.png's.
In my case, I downloaded an existing Metamorph theme, and I'm basically recoloring some .9's here and there. So, is it possible to just open the .9's in Photoshop, recolor them, then save it as normal? or do I still have to recompile it in Eclipse?
Thanks in advance.
bmfc187 said:
i dont have time to make a vid right this second, but im willing to help you out...first tell me, have you checked out the source code? It has all the .9.png's UNCOMPILED, which means that they still have the guides drawn and you can take a look at certain images to get an idea of how the guies SHOULD be drawn for a certain image.
Brief explanation...The TOP and LEFT sides of the 1px border are where you will draw a single (or double is allowed) guide marker to mark where the image will be stretched. You are allowed up to 2 guides on the top and 2 on the left, but no more.
On the BOTTOM and RIGHT sides of your 1px border you will draw guide markers for the "Content area" of the image. That is to say, if you have a button that will contain text, image, or other content, you draw a line across the bottom edge from one side of the button to the other to center the content in the center of the button. Then the same for the right side to make it centered vertically.
You should check out the source and look at those images in there, that'll help you see what draw9patch does and how certain images should look when they're done.
Then you have to compile the images in eclipse to get them to work right. just start a new Android project and choose "From existing Source", then choose one of the samples that comes with the SDK...i use home.apk. then after you edit the .9.png's with draw9patch, you dump them into a folder (i.e. res/drawable or res/drawable-land) in the project, overwrite whatever images may already be there, and then right click the root of the project in the tree view and go down to "Android Tools" and pick "Export Unsigned package". (it doesnt matter if its signed cuz your just gonna extract it for the images)
This will save an .apk file to your eclipse workspace directory. just copy it to your desktop and extract it to get the freshly compiled .9.png's and inject them into your .apk or update.zip...then sign and flash!
Hope this helps...
-BMFC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey brotherin ..
i didnt have to do that at all. just make sure you have a fresh .png to work with.
)i.e - ballsack.png - wanna stretch it so the sack is in the middle of png.
)do the lines up top and left like stated .. but the guides really arent that important at the bottom.
)next you will than get it to your liking - watch the right side of screen in the example pane, you can see the image shifting - hence you can shift gradients and such with more guide lines behind the first pixel that you mark for guide line. get it?
)than you save the file from the "File" option as a .9.png file.
)and walla its a .9 that can be shfted with the existing metadata that is there.
just dont get too advanced or imsure it wont work to well.i have edited all kinds of them in PSCS4 and than the .9 editor from HTC. Its hard as **** to do. but it pays off. hope this helps.
like bmfc said, get the uncompiled .9.png from the source. makes it so much easier.
then what I do is
open the source .9.png in cs4
marquee tool, and select all content except the guidelines, make it invisible
save that image as ex. guide.png.
take all the images that look the same i.e pressed/selected/default of the same images
open them and the guide.png in photoshop, copy and paste the modified .9.png onto the guide.png, then I save as the original image, repeat as many times as needed,
then when done with that before I compile, I move all of the images with guidelines to a folder ex. guidelines, so that I will have them for future use.
then follow what bmfc said to compile them in eclipse.
check out this video walthrough for working with the .9.png files.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf1l9JV9JBw
thanks for the info
the youtube link was a great help
less frustrated....and need improvement but at least getting better and getting the hang of it
the attachment was just for kicks and practice
takumi2k4 said:
Hey, I'm also one of the people who jumped in the Metamorph bandwagon(not that it's bad), and I'm also having trouble with .9.png's.
In my case, I downloaded an existing Metamorph theme, and I'm basically recoloring some .9's here and there. So, is it possible to just open the .9's in Photoshop, recolor them, then save it as normal? or do I still have to recompile it in Eclipse?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
completely legit. ive been doing it now for a while, works fine. after editing in photoshop, just close the image and click ok when it asks if you want to save the changes.
ive been having some trouble editing the .png files from the Facebook.apk.....
all im trying to do is replace the widget background png but it keeps sizing it wrong once its changed...
I am guessing this has to do with the fact that it's a .9.png but ive messed with it in draw9patch and i just cant seem to make it work
Are you compiling your .9's?
Had exactly the same problem, tried exactly the same solution
It turns out that the all draw9patch tool does is adding 1 pixel wide black stripes that define which area is resizable and which is fixed plus it shows you a preview. But you can as well do this in normal graphic editing program. The real magic happens when you compile a project containing png's with these black bars: the image is cropped from 1 pixel border containing the extra bars and necessary information is stored in the image itself.
I don't know if there even is a method of converting only the png's without setting up an entire development environment, so reading on how to do that might be a good starting point. Note that you don't need any fancy programming skills here, just compiling some simple example app should do the trick if you add your png's to it. Can't give you any details on the process since it's still something i have to try myself
Or is there a simpler way - just running the png's trough the compiler without actually setting up a project?
ffff00 said:
Are you compiling your .9's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i wasn't .. and obviously that was my problem.. got it all sorted out now though
Hi Guys
How do you make buttons have a transparent look? I have seen both some mods and roms that have made the sense launcher/navbar buttons transparent and or translucent. I have contacted the creators of the mods and roms and asked how they accomplished their effects but my requests for help have gone unanswered.
I imagine that the effects are made possible by an entery in one of the xml files I just don't know which files I should be looking at and what to be looking for inside those files.
Help would be greatly appreciated.
You need to find the PNG files that you want to change and create them so that they are transparent.
As an example, /system/framework/com.htc.resources.apk has a file called "lockscreen_arc.png. *see attached* It is semi-transparent (when viewed in photoshop).
What little I know how to do I learned from THIS, a few questions answered by JsChiSurf and some fearlessness to dig in and hope my nandroid saved me.
kelmar13 said:
You need to find the PNG files that you want to change and create them so that they are transparent.
As an example, /system/framework/com.htc.resources.apk has a file called "lockscreen_arc.png. *see attached* It is semi-transparent (when viewed in photoshop).
What little I know how to do I learned from THIS, a few questions answered by JsChiSurf and some fearlessness to dig in and hope my nandroid saved me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you are saying that it is the image itself that is transparent or translucent and not an attribute somewhere in one of the xml files?
What I am trying to do is actually undo the transparency/translucency of a an image. I figured it might be the result of an xml attribute since upon replacing the image with one of my own nothing changed (now I may not have replaced the correct image, this is always a possibility)
dsMA said:
So you are saying that it is the image itself that is transparent or translucent and not an attribute somewhere in one of the xml files?
What I am trying to do is actually undo the transparency/translucency of a an image. I figured it might be the result of an xml attribute since upon replacing the image with one of my own nothing changed (now I may not have replaced the correct image, this is always a possibility)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it can actually be done both ways some are controled by the image itself adn some are controlled my xml.
nfinitefx45 said:
Well it can actually be done both ways some are controled by the image itself adn some are controlled my xml.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is controlled by xml do you know what files I should be looking at and what inside the files I should be looking for?
Note this is for the laucher/navbar buttons in particular the ones found in konirosie (but I imagine any help could be applied generally)
I am just learning the editing of xml's myself, so I can really help much, this is a question that should be directed to JsChiSurf. That man is the expert on editing the xml's and could probably guide you to what you are looking for.
Does anyone know how to change the color of the text on buttons? Ive been messing around with my phone a lot and have somehow changed the color to white and now I cant see the text on buttons. I'm running kaos froyo but all of the framework-res has been replaced. I have tried colorchanger.jar but it doesn't control these colors and I cant seem to find what file it is?
I have found a great looking theme that has all it's graphics in the drawable-hdmi folder. The only thing I need to do to use them is resize them to same size as the corresponding file for our phone, correct? Basically spinner_black.png has to be the same dimensions as the original.
Also I want to take the spinner, wait, icon out of the NFL mobile app and use it in my theme. I have been reading a lot and trying to figure this out on my own. I am now able to read all xml files in plain readable English and am able to convert it back to binary. I still don't know what all the java means but I'm trying to learn that now. Does anyone know any easy way to find what I'm looking for or should I just wait and figure it out with the knowledge of more java.
For those who are interested the resources.arsc file found in framework-res.apk is where the control of the color of buttons is located. I dont know how to decompile it into readable form yet but that is what controls colors and size of images for some things. Colors for the notification bar is held is services.jar so at least Im making some headway. I will keep posting small things I find here to help anyone wanting to make there own themes.
P.S. My **** is starting to look really sweet
Did you figure it out?
Anybody know what needs to be defined in an apk for Go Launcher to see it as an icon pack?
(And without using their "thememaker")
Kermode said:
Anybody know what needs to be defined in an apk for Go Launcher to see it as an icon pack?
(And without using their "thememaker")
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same question!
+1 for icon pack
studying urcipo
How detailed of an explanation are you looking for here?
If you know everything you need to know about making an icon pack and just want the easiest no BS answer, it is this:
Create a Go Launcher Theme, changing only the icons. Yes, it must start off as a theme, just change only the icons if you wish. Assign each icon to its proper internal activity name Compile into an .apk and then sign the .apk. I'm guessing the red bold parts are the things that you would need to look into and are possibly not doing now.
More? Ok.
You don't have to use theme factory, you can use a template somebody else has created. ThemeFactory makes a good reference to the template, not the other way around. The template is a much nicer thing, trust me.
I'll start off with the simple-ish version I guess. In order to be seen as an "icon pack", all of the included icons are automatically assigned to their proper spots, and the user doesn't have to change each icon individually. I'm guessing this is what you mean by an "icon pack"?
Shortest answer on how to do this: Create a Go Launcher Theme that only changes icons.
You don't want to use their "Theme Factory". Ok. You have a few options here then.
1) "drag-and-drop" your own icons on top of somebody else's iconpack.
2) Eclipse . I'm hoping you know something about Eclipse
If you know nothing of the Android SDK or Eclipse, and aren't ready to study a bit and learn, go with option 1) or use themefactory. Either way, it'll be defined as a Go Launcher Theme in the end. But with only icons to apply.
But I'm assuming you either know something or dont mind learning. You can start easy with a template.
You'll probably be using a Go Launcher Theme Template in every case...rather than handcoding every single icon name out...unless you're really just hardcore in love with writing code.
I think this may be the best template. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1421724 Worth the read. Getting a bit outdated with some of the new/chanaged SDK coding, but it's pretty easy to figure out what to change on your own.
Also, Quinny889 has two of them made. . Reminder...this is NOT the dreaded ThemeFactory app . These are templates that you import into Eclipse and customize/fill-in. The template then does the work of "dealing with" the Go Launcher/SDK compatibility issues.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1324378 Best one. Recommend using this one.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1314753 Older version, takes some tweaking to make work, but far more streamlined/simple once you do figure it all out. I recommend the newer template.
(Both are templates courtesy of Quinny 899!)
They come with instructions in PDF form as well...quite simple if you take the time.
Basically, fill in with your own icons. Compile the APK. Download/use ZIPSIGNER2 or similar APK signing program on the APK so it can be installed.
http://activities.droidicon.com/ -->You can get the names of the "activities" you assign your icons to here. For example, search for go launcher and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, it's a bit tedious in any case to assign each icon to its proper spot.
The TL;DR version to answer your question if you already knew what you were doing: Grab a template, build it up, compile. Sign it.
hELPFUL LINKS (Replace any "DOT" with an actual dot. Not allowed to post outside links here yet.).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=527
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1324378
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28793952&postcount=134
androidandme DOT com/2009/05/beginners/guides/un-packing-icon-packs/
developer.android DOIT com/guide/publishing/app-signing.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1442499
There are resources around for every type of launcher, just search! Hope I helped at least a tiny bit.
launcherpro DOT com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7754 More in-depth, still very good reading even though it's LauncherPro.
InfiniteIce said:
How detailed of an explanation are you looking for here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You provided all levels. I have to gotta do some reading now.
Thanks!