Zubaz, thanks for the kind warning. As a newbie I am not expecting high ratings. I have seen personal attacks on even the masters.

As a programmer I try to use these guidelines Ten Commandments of Egoless Programming. I hope I can use some of them here when criticism comes my way.

Hi jamespaulp, sorry I'm late commenting here but you've gotten very good advice from some pretty knowledgeable people.

I would suggest testing the waters as it were by downloading a ScreenShot to the monthly post here. You get to show off what you have put together, and also show how it fits with other peoples skins, like walls, docks, and such.

Not a skinner just a customizer of my desktop. Folks like myself usually get a feel for what skins work together well and we are not always looking for a total theme. Think of doing your desktop like decorating your house. Look forward to seeing a screenshot.   

Hi Philly, I did post the screenshots on the threads "what are you working" and on "December desktop screenshots".

Now that Philly mentioned screenshots, I have a question. How do get a screenshot that can be used for uploading the blind? The one generated by SK5 is not similar to what I see on galleries.

Edit: Made a cleaner screenshot.

Oops, I uploaded to the wrong gallery. I re-uploaded to WindowBlinds gallery. Sorry.

jamespaulp I believe for the thumbnail (think that's what it's called) you can just do a print screen than open paint or similiar program and save it as a jpg. Someone will come along to correct me if I'm wrong.

By the way, like the above screenshot. Another suggestion when you do upload is to let people know who will download it, and they will, what icon set, cursor and wall you used or that you feel goes good with your WB. Sometimes it's the little extras that help. If you do tell what you used, let folks know whom they were made by. You knew that.   

Thanks again Philly. I uploaded before seeing your comment. Other than WindowBlinds I use only icons. I added that information as a comment. Don't know how to update just the text of the upload.

I used Paint.NET for creating screenshots. It was like print screen and then cut and paste into one image. I am not sure if that is what other do. Skin Studio has a set size button for the skin shot but doesn't work for me.

That is exactly what I do as well.

Also, like Philly said, be sure to mention what wall, icons, cursor, etc., you used in the screenshot. If you used any other stuff in the screenshot, mention those too. It is also a good idea to provide links to those items as well.

I've just tried this skin. It's a lot better than most people's first attempts   

Can't wait to see what you do next.

Thanks for the compliment Fuzzy Logic. I think I need to better my icon skills before attempting another blind. If I can do that, I would like to update the icons on this blind

Traditional MS Windows light-sourcing is from top-left so shadow-casting is to bottom-right.

If you do something such as to reverse this then public perception/interpretation will be that the object is concave rather than what may have been intended to be convex.

If the sourcing is inconsistent [a not uncommon fault] then the success/popularity/appreciation of the skin will suffer greatly.

Remember...we're in a 2D 'world' attempting to infer a 3D one, so not only must the light and shade 'read' correctly also button-states [static, pressed, etc.] need to indicate 'movement' through that same consistent 'expected' light/shade...

Thanks Jafo. I have learned a lot here. Applying that knowledge is hard.

I updated the skin today. The only criticism I received was about the start button. I expected more harsh reviews. I made a new start button to match the rest of the theme. Also made buttons for logoff and shutdown dialogs. One of the bugs I thought the skin had was probably a XP64 issue because I saw the same issue with another skin.

I made this skin by creating individual images separately. From what I read around here, that is not a very efficient way to create a skin. But as a hobby, it should be fine I guess.

Hmm... must be in moderation. Can't see the skin in your gallery

The skin you updated should be public now

Thanks Fuzzy. Merry Christmas!