Nokia Theme Studio Faqs, Please read before posting. Options

[Patrick]

Below are some common questions,tips and tricks about the Nokia Series 60 Theme Studio


Please read through it before asking questions. If you still have any doubts, kindly post them in this thread.

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) What version of Theme Studio should i be using?

If you have any of the following devices, Nokia 3230, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 ,Nokia 7610 and Nokia 6620,you should be using version 1.2.
DOWNLOAD THEME STUDIO 1.2

Themes created with version 3.0 are not compatible with the above models. Use v 3.0 only if you have an N-Series device.
DOWNLOAD THEME STUDIO 3.0

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) Having theme studio running on your pc,should always be kept to a minimum,so here are some images you can make easily,without even opening theme studio,once you have made these images in the correct sizes you can then import them all,and add the finishing areas,then create the sis file.
Values quoted in pixels.

Idle screen- 176x208
Background - 176x208
Calender - 176x141
Navigation background - 176x15 (+ wipe)
GoTo - 176x185
Softkeys - 176x20
Status area - 176x44
Analogue Clock - 51x56
Signal+Battery bars - 12x29

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) How to create 'theme template' which save lots of time NOT having to deal with theme studio? As suggested by Timetraveler. Please note that you will need a sound understanding of how the theme studio works in order to use this method.

The main point is:
'everytime you click save on the save button in Nokia Theme, it will create a .bmp file with a corresponding filename to the customized items, in a same folder with your themes name.'

Step 1 : Create a new theme using theme studio and name it "template", choose all and deselect sound (no need to have that), then click ok.

Step 2 : At the background image page, click the colour on the menu to your right. When a colour pallete pop up, click ok. Then, just save it. (menus at the bottom of your main image editor window). Notice that the first thumbnail is now checked?

Now, if you open file manager to see the current folder you are working at, you will see a file named : background_image1.bmp.

Step 3 : Keep repeating step 2 until all the items you want to customised are saved as .bmp in the "template" folder. The same applies for icons if you wish to customise them.

Step 4 : Save the "template" theme. Then close the theme studio.

Step 5 : Using any image editor (Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro), open the "template" folder. It can be found under the Theme Studio\data\skinsdir\template.
By now, you should have something like this:

(IMG:http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/1690/well24kf.jpg)

Step 6 : Open the background_image1.bmp. Then, copy any background wallpaper you created earlier and paste on it. Merge the two layers, close the file and click 'yes' to save it. (do not change the filename, image size, image mode, or file type. Otherwise, Theme Studio will popup an error message.)

All you need here is to make an effort to find out which file is the correct one to paste into.

Step 7 : Once you are done with all the image, close all the other programs. Open the theme studio, open the 'template' theme, and do some adjustments (colours).

Step 8 : Go to the checkout (the last menu). If everything is fine, continue to make it into the .sis file.

Original tutorial by Timetraveler can be found over HERE

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) Whats the easiest way to create a nice analogue clock,(i dont understand masks with gradients and dont mind cheating).

The clock is made up of 5 images in total (including masks),various images and the date border image.

Image 1 - Completely black - Save

Image 2 - Completely black - Save

Image 3 - This is usually the date border image which gives it a 3d box look. Scrap this image and create a new image by cropping the 51x56 area from the 176x208 idle screen image.
Crop from x:13 y:0,which is the exact area the clock is placed on the idle screen.

You should be cutting out this area (IMG:http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4759/idle6tb.png)

Then paste your clock image directly onto it, using any affects you want. (note: use the attached marker to make sure the clock hands are in the centre and the date is not obstructed).

Save the finished clock image and load into theme studio,clock image 3 - Save

Image 4 - All white,but if you prefer a more professional look,you can add a centre point which will go over the top of the hands (Note: use the marker again for the centre point)

Image 5 - All black but with a white centre,if you chose to use a centre point in image 4.

All 5 finished images should look like this (IMG:http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/6093/clocks9dk.png)
And here is the marker,to check the locations of the hands centre and the date. (right click/save as) (image is transparent .png).        (IMG:http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/8850/clockmarker7jj.png)

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) How to remove the blue bar that runs between the status area and the wallpaper image?

This image is called the 'navi pane',there are two 'navi pane' images,one is the 'navi pane background' (which shows only on the idle screen),the other is called the 'navi wipe',which shows on all other screens.

1: Go to selection 02 (Areas)
2: It will open in 'status area',select the bottom image (navi pane background)
3: Select 'components' (on the right of the screen) and double click
the 'none' image and save.
Do the same for the 'navi wipe' (if you want to remove this as well),but keep in mind,this image is there to aid visibility to the text which is placed on top,so choose your background images considering this.

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) Theme Studio is really slow,is there any way i can speed it up?

Theme Studio is slow,mainly because it runs on a java engine that uses lots of RAM,for this reason,use additional applications wisely,(eg: using theme studio,windows media player,internet browser and your paint program is enough to cause serious delays and sometimes crashes/errors on a pc with anything less than 512Mb of RAM).
Restarting your pc before using theme studio,is worth doing as it clears the RAM ready for a beating.
Upgrading your Pc to 1024MB ram,may seem like overkill,but beleive me its worth it.

Most of the delay in switching between areas,is caused by theme studio loading all of your previous theme graphics into the components browser,so the more themes you make,the slower it gets.
Here is a way around this.......

Move your individual theme graphics folders from C:/Program Files/Theme Studio/Data/Skins dir....to a seperate folder in My Documents (for example),leaving only the base graphics folder.

This makes it faster,as it no longer has to search and load all the individual images into the components browser.

The components browser will now of course be empty (exept the base graphics),so if you really must use old theme areas,you can select them from the graphics folders you moved earlier.

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) I get a 'BMCONV.EXE' error,when creating the .sis file?

There can be many reasons for this,but the most common is using a 'List Highlight" component,that has too many colors in certain areas of the image.
To check if this is the problem you are having,go to the 'List highlight' selection,and select the default highlight from the components browser,then try to remake the .sis file.If its now ok,open your list highlight image (with your paint program) and put a single color border around it.

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) What do i do,if i keep getting this error message?

(IMG:http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/584/untitled19rf.png)

Un-install and then re-install. This time make sure you choose to install the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE) that comes together with the theme studio download package.
This is a selectable option,about half way through the install process.
Please do so even if you already have a copy of JRE in your PC,as compatibility issues,often occur.

(IMG:http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/591/tick3du.png) How do i create icons for theme studio,using photoshop?

HERE  is a tutorial by sg-GOD.

This post has been edited by adonisdemon: Aug 7 2006, 06:15 AM

[elton]

This instruction is relevant, only to theme studio v1.2 and earlier. :)

You must be using v3.0.....what phone do you have?

Which theme mode are you selecting? 2.6 2.8 or 3.0?