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I would like to use this Widget again but simply cant stand for any background to it, as it doesn't then fit the rest of my simple no background widgets. I tried pulling the apk apart myself and editing the PNG files to be transparent but then I could not get the apk to install nor did pushing it to my device work at all.
If someone can tell me how to modify the apk or modify it for me, I'd be very appreciative.
I emailed the Dev of this and have not gotten a response about adding a transparent background option so that is why I am here now asking for help. Thanks.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.zedray.calllog
So you can see what Last Call looks like I have attached a screen, I believe it is an issue with editing the .9 file. I can't figure out how to do it correctly, ugh..
No one eh? Does anyone think it's just a matter of figuring out how to edit these .9 files and I should be ok no need to resign the package? I Wish the dev would help out here, I'd gladly throw em ten spot for just changing the image background.
I've added a transparent style to the Widget (was a little bit more complicated to implement in practice than it sounds).
For future reference, nine-patch files are altered by the Android build system during compilation making it more difficult for a third party to make the changes described. Hope it suits your home screen.
Just recently been into themes and knew how they work.
If I use some kind of batch image resizer to resize hdpi png's to mdpi, and put those resized in drawable-mdpi it would work.
Am I correct? I see no reason why it can't be as easy as that.
I resize them with GIMP. Don't know what you use but in theory have to work
well, i don't know any coding language.
Maybe someone could make a script to resize images??
it would be a pain in the a** to resize them one by one
There are many batch resize windows apps that will let you convert a complete folder full more at once..
just google it
Sent on the run from my Magic 32A
It will not work on many .9.PNG files unless you resize them from source. Sorry but I've tried it with my theme. .9.png files are not just normal png files. They are made to stretch and readjust depending on the orientation of your device (landscape versus portrait) and may have what is called 'guides' coded within the images to tell the OS how to display that graphic. If you were to edit that file in any way those guides are over written and it messes up your whole theme. So if you were to use a batch resizer you would probably experience a disgusting looking interface coupled with acore crashes. Unless of course you used the files from source and just created the app from the source code. But who knows you might get lucky and whatever app that you are trying to theme may not use those pesky .9.png files.
Binary100100 said:
It will not work on many .9.PNG files unless you resize them from source. Sorry but I've tried it with my theme. .9.png files are not just normal png files. They are made to stretch and readjust depending on the orientation of your device (landscape versus portrait) and may have what is called 'guides' coded within the images to tell the OS how to display that graphic. If you were to edit that file in any way those guides are over written and it messes up your whole theme. So if you were to use a batch resizer you would probably experience a disgusting looking interface coupled with acore crashes. Unless of course you used the files from source and just created the app from the source code. But who knows you might get lucky and whatever app that you are trying to theme may not use those pesky .9.png files.
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Thank you for this Binary100100..
In a regular theme, about how many pngs are .9?
and what do you mean "created from source"?
MicroMina said:
Thank you for this Binary100100..
In a regular theme, about how many pngs are .9?
and what do you mean "created from source"?
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.9.png with guides? I have no clue. For an entire rom... I would say over a hundred easily. There are about a dozen of them just in the Dialer app itself. If you modify any one of them the whole thing get's messed up. It's very delicate. What do I mean create it from source? Download the source code from HTC website on a Linux machine and create the ENTIRE rom from scratch. It's not that hard actually once it's all set up. Before you do the "make" command you would do your xml edits, resizing, color edits, etc. You can tell what a .9.png file is because it has a line on the right of the image and a line on the bottom beneath it. It will have a black pixel at the top and one on the left. So you edit those files the way that you want it and then create the app or the entire rom. If you chose to create the entire rom then remove the parts from the rom that you don't want in your theme and then make an update-script file for your flashable theme. Nobody said that making a theme is fun or easy and in many cases the developers of the theme (like myself) do it just because they did it for their own device and chose to share their work. On average if you want to create an entire theme it will take you at least 30+ hours of work if you are already set up and knowledgable with Linux and image editing. That's how long it took me anyway.
Thank you for this very informative post.
I guess its not that easy after all. Maybe one day I could try it.
Thanks again.
MicroMina said:
Thank you for this very informative post.
I guess its not that easy after all. Maybe one day I could try it.
Thanks again.
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Oh it's plenty easy, it's just very time consuming to make a theme from scratch and since you can't take a 3kb file measuring 20 x 20 and turn it into 36 x 36 and turn it into a 5.4 kb file without losing resolution (thus defeating the purpose of being on a AMOLED HD display) even if you were to suceed it probably still won't look very good. Think of it like this. Take a standard 800 x 600 video for your non-high definition television. Sure it looks alright but what about if you displayed it on a 1080p television. Is the picture going to look any better? Not really because it's the quality of the video and not the television itself. Now, if you could enhance the video... it would make a huge improvement. But by simply resizing the images wouldn't really do anything for a HD screen (my theory anyway).
But if you build everything from the source code (that is such as Cyanogen's github) and edit all the images from scratch then you shouldn't have a problem. But it is VERY time consuming like I mentioned before. I loathe the idea of upgrading my phone now because that means that my current theme along with all of the work that I've done with it... will be obsolete until I can do it all over again from source. Ugh.
Alright, so we all love swype, and with the developers not wanting to share means you cannot load a theme'd apk file, this seems like the next best route, teach you how to make your own and gives the tools to make it easy!
I am not distributing Swype here, so plz don't ask, this is how to theme your current Swype set up.
Disclaimer: This is my first attempt at themes, and since im just offering my work for freeeee, don't give me crap if I overlook'd something just politely inform me and I'll do what I can. Also I only have my Droid X for testing so its kinda on you if your keyboard is not similar to mine for now. Also, im not even going to attempt to water mark this or put some symbol to show I made it since I'm giving you the files you could just remove it anyway plus they are annoying to look at, so plz just dont take credit for my work.
So first things first, to ensure this post is quick and to the point you will need to already have a few things up and running,
Currently I use keyboard manager so portrait orientation is Swype, and landscape is multi-touch since its too wide to be efficient with swype, therefore; I only created templates for portait swype so far, sorry.
ADB
WinRar(for exploring apk)
Adobe Illustrator version CS 1 and up (for editing templates)
Adobe Photoshop (for resizing keyboard images)
Side Note: Other programs will work, and other methods work, these are just tried and proven so your on your own or at least quite possibly beyond the realm of my help by using different editors.
Step 1:
ADB pull the Swype.apk file from system/app
Step 2:
Back up said Swype.apk file to ensure you can revert to stock
Step 3:
Open apk and extract "assets" folder to an easily accessible location with WinRar
Step 4:
Download 4 Illustrator Templates attatched
Step 5:
Edit templates as you see fit (font, size, color, button color, background color, GO CRAZY!)
Step 6:
From Illustrator export as .png file (make sure to keep the same file names!)
Step 7:
In Photoshop, resize images to same size as the stock ones in the folder /assets/keyboards, (480 x 320 for Droid X but you should check yours to make sure)
Step 8:
Place your newly made and sized .png files into the previously mentioned /assets/keyboards folder overwriting existing. You can make other changes here, I was focusing on the keyboards here because they are the most tedious to change but go ahead, Run Amok. "Amok Amok Amok Amok" yeahh line from the movie "Hocus Pocus" ANYWAY
Step 9:
re inject Assets folder into Swype.apk overwriting old, (i usually delete Assets, then inject to ensure overwrite)
Step 10:
ADB push back to phone and switch input method back to Swype
Step 11:
Show off your newly customized keyboard!
Step 12:
Post your .png files to help the community and show off what you did!
Alternate Lazy Way: Sit around wait for a cool keyboard to be posted and leach, simply inject someones .png files into your Swype.apk
Daves Dark Theme 1
Alright so here is the .png files for my first theme, just to get the ball rolling. Lets see what you got!
HOLY SHYTE I was planning to create AI files for this and Launcher Pro Icons, this will save some time
Any chance you have LP Icons in vector format too?
Dude.
Thanks for providing .AI files, what a great contribution! I was going to take the stock png's and photoshop them. This is much cleaner!
You don't have full-width .AI's laying around do you?
Morkai
sorry I just started making themes last night, so I don't have any Icon files lying around. Although, in the newer versions of Illustrator you can use "live trace" to make vector formats from raster images.
Jeftep
You're asking about the landscape aspect ratio keyboard right? Currently I didn't make it yet if I do landscape it will be for the stock multi-touch keyboard first then maybe id get around to swype. The keys are just too spaced out to be efficient to use with 1 finger.
And yes, thats exactly where I started too, "well lemme just see what I can do with photoshop.... awww screww it Fresh Start in illustrator"
So sorry thats a no to both questions, but come on, I just started.
SharkBaitDave said:
Morkai
sorry I just started making themes last night, so I don't have any Icon files lying around. Although, in the newer versions of Illustrator you can use "live trace" to make vector formats from raster images.
Jeftep
You're asking about the landscape aspect ratio keyboard right? Currently I didn't make it yet if I do landscape it will be for the stock multi-touch keyboard first then maybe id get around to swype. The keys are just too spaced out to be efficient to use with 1 finger.
And yes, thats exactly where I started too, "well lemme just see what I can do with photoshop.... awww screww it Fresh Start in illustrator"
So sorry thats a no to both questions, but come on, I just started.
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Are you saying you can use one keyboard portrait and the other Landscape? Please say you are.. and do tell how!!
Morkai Almandragon said:
Are you saying you can use one keyboard portrait and the other Landscape? Please say you are.. and do tell how!!
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yepp! and its Amazing!!!
http://getandroidstuff.com/download-keyboard-manager-android-dual-keyboard-switch-portraitlandscape/
Batman Theme
Thinking about Batman Theme'ng out my phone, I'm not sure what the keyboard needs, but its not quite there yet...
SharkBaitDave said:
Alright, so we all love swype, and with the developers not wanting to share means you cannot load a theme'd apk file, .......
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.......?
Ummm.. I have always shared how to theme with whom ever has asked.. plus all mine are simple to load... some swypes are custom to certain themes, and in those cases the dev's aren't going to spend time explaining how to do each part.
Not trying to bash, just stating a point.
As many know i have made quite a few swype themes(check sig), and many custom order for other devices who "technically" arent supposed to have swype.
If anyone needs help modding the tracer, or if you run into the "amp&" issue when playing with any other KB's i will be happy to help.
Good work btw, all the extra people theming makes more stuff avail, never anything wrong with that.
Swype C&D
Alright thats my fault, I meant the developers of Swype, not the XDA community.
http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/xda-notice-swype/
this is what I was talking about with not really being able to share swype on the forum in an installable format. I was just trying to show a new way we can still all share themes while keeping the forum out of the firing range of C&D letters or worse.
While I'm certainly not claiming this to be a breakthrough in any means as its simply another way we can continue to share themes for this great app. I definitely agree there is a better way to install than this run around...
Have you modified the tracer for version 1.64.40.9380? I found a few forums that showed how to do it, but only in the newer versions and not droid X. Is libSwypecore.so different by Swype version? manufacturer?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=801770
Says to modify 5b410, 5b411, and 5b412 for Blue, Green, Red but it doesn't seem to change the color after I push it back to the phone. I got a newer version, but it was configured for 800x480 not our screen and repeadly threw errors.
Thanks
ahh, agreed. The creators are definitly unfriendly towards devs.
you are correct on the file to edit for the tracer. If you open up an unmodified .so file and search for the string "dda25bff" that is the hex color part. Since its in hex its backwards. The proper color code would be ffb52add. So say you wanted to make the color black = ff000000. You would type it in reverse 000000ff.
Only change that string and you should be good.
Tracer Edit worked like a charm, thanks.
Sketch theme
just found an new ADW theme and wanted a sketchey/hand drawn style KB
how do i complete step 4? where are the 4 Illustrator Templates attatched?
Would it be possible to mod the cm7 pull down to look and act like the one on MIUI? The gingerbread leaks almost have it but I don't like the recent apps section and the fact you can't swipe to the settings side. Plus I like the power controls and other features that were on MIUI's. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
well
I know that there is a gingerbread leak for sense 2.1 that has a settings tab
Im sure you could develop a port but i dont not how
notsointeresting said:
I know that there is a gingerbread leak for sense 2.1 that has a settings tab
Im sure you could develop a port but i dont not how
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Click to collapse
Yeah I'm running mikshift beta right now. Just not a dev myself so I wouldn't even know where to start.
<Blaze One>
Now my question flips to a request. I would be in debt to a dev that could figure out how to port the pull down menu from MIUI to CM7. Currently running kushdeck's new rom and am not moving anytime soon. Or maybe point me in a direction that would allow me to do it myself via metamorph or editing files. I'm comfortable either way.
<Blaze One>
So I've desided to attempt this on my own. I will start by comparing the two file structures and figure out if I can locate the correct files. If I manage that, I will try editing the cm7 files to match those that correspond with MIUI statusbar files. From what I understand this is going to involve smali and xml edits. That should be fun since I have little experience making smali edits and zero experience with xml. I think I have a java for dummies book somewhere....lol! If anyone is willing to help that would be awesome. I would eventually like to make this a flashable zip for aosp roms. There seems to be a fair amount of interest from what I've come across on the web.
<Blaze One>
I know not everyone prefers ShapeWriter, not sure why it's the best keyboard out there, but with all the ICS stuff and themeing, here's a ICS themed ShapeWriter Keyboard.
ps-if anyone knows how to change the tracer color, please let me know. I've asked, pm'd, googled, all with no luck.
TheBeardedMann said:
I know not everyone prefers ShapeWriter, not sure why it's the best keyboard out there, but with all the ICS stuff and themeing, here's a ICS themed ShapeWriter Keyboard.
ps-if anyone knows how to change the tracer color, please let me know. I've asked, pm'd, googled, all with no luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just like swipe. its in the libshapewriter.so file. only way to edit it is to use a hex editor. use this as a guild http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1162558
you will need to figure out what the HEX code for the stock color and find it in the .so
OK. So any help on finding that color in Hex Editor? I knew it was in the .so file but don't know the location.
TheBeardedMann said:
OK. So any help on finding that color in Hex Editor? I knew it was in the .so file but don't know the location.
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you would have to decompile it and see what the hex code is used for the color then search the .so for it.
its easier in linux. i will see what i come up with then i am home tonight.
synisterwolf said:
you would have to decompile it and see what the hex code is used for the color then search the .so for it.
its easier in linux. i will see what i come up with then i am home tonight.
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Thanks. I appreciate it. No worries if nothing happens.
I thought I was the only person alive that still uses shapewriter. Is there any way to remove the background image? It's a bit distracting
Akomack said:
I thought I was the only person alive that still uses shapewriter. Is there any way to remove the background image? It's a bit distracting
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=812313
Check this out. It's a few replies in. If you want a certain color or background or whatever, I could probably do something for ya.
After I posted that, I did a little playing around.. Made an orange and black one to go with my orange MIUI 4.0 theme
Got it. I posted on other thread.
Shapewriter bug
HI
long time shapewriter user - recently upgraded to ICS (BCM on the desire)
did a restore of shapewriter from a titanium backup of it i had (this was from CM7 ie gingerbread). Works perfectly but for one problem: Whenever i switch to the number keyboard it duplicates the last digit when i switch back to the alpha keyboard.
Any ideas how to fix or workaround?
Presume the "data" part of the titanium restore is the bit that cointain info on my writing style etc so would be up to 2 years worth of learned data that i would rather not have to wipe and relearn. Maybe the app isnt as clever as this. Im not sure?
I think you might be able to do a fresh install and then copy over the library files. Once I get to a computer I'll look into it.
TheBeardedMann said:
I think you might be able to do a fresh install and then copy over the library files. Once I get to a computer I'll look into it.
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Shaspewriter isnt available on the market/play any more i know that there are modified variants out there but i'm not so comfortable getting it from a lesser source do to the security/easy ability to capture all keyboard input - do i need a special installer file etc or will the data stored by titanium backup suffice. Not sure if it has the apk file.
Any help appreciated.
I have a galaxy note and am still using shapewriter as it is STILL the best tracing keyboard out there. BUT unfortunately it appears on the note in a compacted form, only taking up 2/3 of the width of the screen. Does anyone know if there is a version that would adapt to any screen size??
ICS Shapewriter [Now with xhdpi support!]
Here is a nice ICS themed shapewriter. It also has support for hi res devices. :laugh: