Questions about WPS

[Ghost Toast]

Hi all,

So I think I got the basic idea on making my own WPS, and now I am confused.  When I look at the WPS screens other people created, I don't know how they created the buttons, (play, pause and others) progress bars, and all the other things.  So, I was wondering if you need some sourt of special program to do this.  If you do, then I would really appreciate recommendations for programs.  I would perfer free programs but any recommendations would be appreciated. Even if they cost money.

Sansa Crazy

P.S.  I can allready create backdrops with Paint.NET

[MarcGuay]

Do you mean how did they create the images or how they got them to display on the screen?  To create images you can use whatever paint program you want, and to display them on the screen you can follow the instructions on the CustomWPS wiki page or dissect a .wps file of your choosing.

[Ghost Toast]

I mean how they create the images.

I don't know any good programs to do this.

[MarcGuay]

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=good+graphic+programs&btnG=Search&meta=

Or you might want to find a forum dedicated to the subject of graphic design and ask there.

[mschneider]

If you're running windows you can use Paint. I also find GIMP to be very useful.

[Ghost Toast]

Is GIMP free?  ALso, I tried paint already and it doesen't work how I want it to.  I can't keep the mose from shaking.

[PaulPosition]

If you're doing smallish buttons, you'll need to zoom in a lot and paint one pixel after another (ie, click, click, click, click... instead of 'drawing' per se).

Googling for 'icons' and 'pixel art' might get you some good tips. And having a look at current WPSes by other artists should help you figure out what's the deal with the pink thing (transparency).

The GIMP is indeed free (in both senses of the word).

[Zardoz]

paint.net is another good free one for windows

edit: oops - once again i didn't read the post carefully - you're already using it!

maybe you want to create scalable vector-graphics? inkscape is good (although these formats probably aren't supported by rockbox you could create your image on a large, workable scale and then convert to .bmp)

[GodEater]

I can't keep the mouse from shaking.

This isn't a problem with the program, this is a problem with using mice to do graphics work - which is why a lot of people who work with graphics programs a lot tend to use tablets rather than mice

Although practice makes perfect as they say - you can achieve some pretty decent results with the mouse - it just takes patience and a lot of use of the "Undo" feature when you screw something up!