DH Skinning Competition: Skin Driver Cleaner Platinum

***Zardon*** · Feb 26, 2006, 05:52 PM

Well most of our regulars will have already seen that we have released Driver Cleaner platinum which amongst other things offers a fully skinnable interface. For more information on this application head over here www.drivercleaner.net

I had planned to leave this for a while but I already see a few members are messing around with the skins so ill post a little information on how to make your own skins. It is actually very easy to do and dont worry it doesnt involve a training course in programming, if you know how to use an image editing program then you are set for skinning.

When you install Driver Cleaner Platinum it creates a folder in C: (or your default windows harddrive letter) / program files/ Driver Cleaner PE / Skins/ DC. Inside this folder are various sections of the interface which you are able to change. When Driver Cleaner is loaded it checks this folder for all the sections of the interface to display.

What im going to hold is a competition for those members who already purchased Driver Cleaner Platinum (and if you havent already why not? its only 5 euros!) and the person who creates the skin, myself and Ruud (the author) like the most will win a nice piece of hardware. I havent decided what to give away yet but it will be worth the effort!

Already we have a skin from Tipstaff, a forum member who has basically desaturated the interface, and ive made this available for downloading here.

This is as good a time as any to see how it works, simply extract all the files from that EXE and replace those in the folder detailed above. Obviously remember to keep the original skin sections by moving out of the folder beforehand in case you wish to go back.

i will host all the entries for everyone to try out - all you have to do is post a link in this thread or email me the skin in a rar or zip, and all entries we feel are good enough will make it to a new download page on the drivercleaner website for user skins.

Tipstaff · Feb 26, 2006, 06:29 PM

Wish I knew how to create original content, cuz I'm gonna get blown out of the this one.

Hmm.. guess this is a good a time as any to start learning...

TJ- · Feb 26, 2006, 07:22 PM

Why would you want to spend time skinning something that you only use mabye once or twice a month, and for a few minutes at a time? Doesnt make sense to me?

Unless your a driver tester and you use Driver Cleaner every day. Sure it looks nice, but who cares you hardly see it/

Tipstaff · Feb 26, 2006, 09:07 PM

You're kidding right?

If your an aspiring artist it's a great way to practice your skinning/graphics skills. It's also good way to get your work seen too, or at least show people your talent (or lack thereof) since a lot of people, and I mean A LOT of people use Driver Cleaner. You're also going to get noticed by anyone visiting this site. Also, as an artist this could be a great reference for you. If a company asks to see any professional work you've done, well, here you go!

Not only that, but I know there are a lot of members that can't support Ruud and his work on Driver Cleaner financially. This is a great way for them to do so by making a great product look even better, and participate in something that will benifit not only them, but for a great site too.

Razgriz · Feb 26, 2006, 09:17 PM

and here we see a shining example of the difference between a pessimist and an optimist.....

i hopefully will be participating in this competition, once i find the money to donate to ruud

Tipstaff · Feb 26, 2006, 10:46 PM

Just a little.. er.. um.. tip: when you guys are doing the skins for the close, minimize, maximize, and restore buttons that you will need to make the area outside of the actual visible button transparent. If you don't it will bleed into the menu. So:

Right

Wrong

LOL.. wow.. I'm starting to become an expert... NOT! LOL

Tipstaff · Feb 27, 2006, 02:23 AM

Not one to be satisfied I couldn't help but go over the changes I made. As such I've updated the skin a bit to correct an issue with a couple borders, as well as make the menu scrollbar more visible (and thereby easier to use).

You can get the updated skin file HERE.

Looks a bit better now. Hard to believe that 2 simple changes makes that big a difference.

Edit: Stupid me. Forgot to turn back on the splash screen, and splash warning, so I've updated the link above with a new file JUST for that change. One of the bad things of making a self extracting exe with an altered DCleaner.ini file I guess. Oh well.. guess that means v.2a now. LOL.

daedal · Feb 28, 2006, 04:01 PM

Hmm, if I had DriverCleaner Plat I'd give this a run.
If someone could PM me a screenshot of what Platinum edition looks like, I could proably give it a whirl though.

Tipstaff · Feb 28, 2006, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daedal

Hmm, if I had DriverCleaner Plat I'd give this a run.
If someone could PM me a screenshot of what Platinum edition looks like, I could proably give it a whirl though.

Done.

daedal · Mar 1, 2006, 06:08 AM

Thanks, Tipstaff.
I'll get busay.

daedal · Mar 2, 2006, 10:24 AM

Work in progress. Please let me know if you decide on a cut-off date.

**Spike** · Mar 2, 2006, 10:53 AM

daedel, it needs to be in format so that the program can use it. So not just a screen that is altered.

daedal · Mar 10, 2006, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike

daedel, it needs to be in format so that the program can use it. So not just a screen that is altered.

Yup yup. Essentially what I'll be doing is making the skin, then cutting it up to fit/replace the old one. Shouldn't be too much of a problem.. I hope

.
Any news on when this competition ends? I'm still working on my submission. Spent about 8 hours on it so far and would hate to miss the cutoff.