Carbide.UI 3.2 Users Please Help!

[dhanusaud]

Hi,

I new brand new user for Carbide.UI 3.2 theme creator for symbian based nokia phones. By the way guys please help me to make all nav panes transparent in carbide project.

Here is how my theme looks.
*i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/dhanusaud/untitled.jpg

see, I wanna make transparent nav pane like this.
*i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/dhanusaud/taiebtheme.jpg

 

[Lucky_star]

To make the nav panes transparent do this:

Select the navpane. Right Click it and select "Edit/Animate".
The animation window will open up.

Now in the layers view right click the layer and select "Clear Layer". This will clear all the existing svg or bitmap images on the pane which will make the background visible.

Now, to save the changes, close the "Navi Pane" window from the main editor window. It will ask to save. Confirm and exit. Now check the nave pane everywhere, its transparent. Do this for both the "Navi Pane" and "Idle Navi Pane".

Proceed as I said above, and say if you got any problems...

 

[dhanusaud]

Thanks pal,

I almost got the cute results. Theme seems to be gold in carbide.ui but when i install it shows me navi pane in white, which I cannot navigate in carbide.

Take a look yourself.
*i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/dhanusaud/screenshot.jpg

 

[Lucky_star]

Hmm..,
That's not the nav pane. Its called "Status pane" and in your case, its called "Thin Status Pane". From the resources view, select Areas->Status.

Now here you can see 4 status panes. Select the "thin Status Pane". If you check carefully you can see "Preview Screen not available for this selection" written in red in the bottom of Carbide UI. Here is the problem. This is not visible in carbide UI. For some reason the developers decided not to keep it.
Now whichever places you see such un-previewable items, it will show in the default color in your phone.

Coming back to the problem,

Right click the "Thin Status Pane" and select "Convert and Edit in bitmap Editor". a Confirmation will come up asking the resolution. Here remove the checkmark on the "Preserve mask". Click ok. The svg image will be converted to bitmap and will be opened in the bitmap editor which you have set, ie, Photoshop, paintshop etc.
Now in the bitmap editor, don't do any changes, just save it and exit. Switch back to Carbide UI. U can see here, in the layers view that the image (BMP, 240x27) is there alongwith a 8 bit Mask image of the same dimension.

This masking is a very important concept in Carbide UI to set transparency of any layer/image.
Open the mask in the bitmap editor. Amount of black in the mask determines the transparency; the blacker the mask is, the more transparent the image will be. In our case we have to make it fully transparent, fill it with complete black color.
Save and exit.
Now you will not see the white pane on the top.

Similarly, there is another "Status Area Background(Landscape)Right to Left Orientation", which you need to make transparent. Here proceed as I described in the previous post.

Note: This single image masking won't work in S60 3rd FP1 phones like N95. Here you need to split the "Status Pane" in to 9 piece bitmap images and apply masking to each of them.
BTW, which phone do you have?

I am also gradually learning to use Carbide UI... At some places I too get confused.
So much typing... Say if it worked.

 

[dhanusaud]

Thanks for your response.

In the mean time I solved the problem by using CANVAS option in image menu provided in pshop cs3 & wasting time in creating analog clocks as well as signal strengths.

Anyway I will soon try your guidance & will post the results asap.

 

[Lucky_star]

canvas option? You mean, canvas size? what did you do?

BTW. I am busy creating a set of vector icons for a new theme

 

[dhanusaud]

canvas option? You mean, canvas size? what did you do?

BTW. I am busy creating a set of vector icons for a new theme

yeah pal you are right. I used same wall paper and saved it 240x27. looks too good now.

For vector editor, which softy are using?? I am using inkscape & now I am planning to get Illustrator. Well pal I am using E51 & N73ME.

See this is my theme.
*i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/dhanusaud/Untitled-1-1.jpg

And this is original bankground, which I haven't altered.
*i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/dhanusaud/aye41a.jpg

BTW, I am sharing my s60v3 themes in www.bhajani.blogsome.com, where are yours.

 

[Lucky_star]

Using a cut-out of a wallpaper is fine, but in some phones you may mark it easily. I too used this method once, and I generally call it as the 'brute force' method .
If the cropping isn't done accurately, it will show off.

I haven't used inkscape till now, working on illustrator only. Thinking of downloading it today.As of sharing the themes, I haven't thought about it till now. I am learning as you are, and I am thinking of mastering Carbide UI first, experimenting with it before releasing some good ones if possible.
The icons which I was speaking of the other day, are looking too small in some places. Have to make changes...

And, you got a very good blog.Thanks for mentioning my name in your post, but you made me an English lady there- my name is written as Lucy start

 

[dhanusaud]

Using a cut-out of a wallpaper is fine, but in some phones you may mark it easily. I too used this method once, and I generally call it as the 'brute force' method .
If the cropping isn't done accurately, it will show off.

I haven't used inkscape till now, working on illustrator only. Thinking of downloading it today.As of sharing the themes, I haven't thought about it till now. I am learning as you are, and I am thinking of mastering Carbide UI first, experimenting with it before releasing some good ones if possible.
The icons which I was speaking of the other day, are looking too small in some places. Have to make changes...

And, you got a very good blog.Thanks for mentioning my name in your post, but you made me an English lady there- my name is written as Lucy start

Oops, I am very very sorry for the same, changed it on the spot. BTW are you customizing all of the theme as well, as I don't bcoz I am still a dummy for carbide.

 

[Lucky_star]

Yah, I am trying to make all the icons from scratch in illustrator. I had made them almost, but when transfered to phone, they looked very tiny .So, now remaking them again. Two days effort wasted...

 

[dhanusaud]

Sounds good.