Database Users

Gradient Backgrounds on QVGA

So, I have been working to replace my splash screens and also come up with a different wallpaper for Slide2Unlock that matches the Touch interface (see below), but am slightly stumped on how to create a gradient background that doesn't appear pixelated once applied to my QVGA screen on the mogul.
Is there anyway to output in photoshop that conforms to the way a QVGA screen wants colors to appear? What's the secret? They look fine off the device and then look crappy on it. I've tried combination after combination of output and nothing works.

hi, i've been tinkering for some time on the gradient effect in my qvga screen and what i've come to notice was that though the gradient appears smooth on the pc, it appears to have wave gradient levels as the colors goes lighter. what i do is after applying the gradient in photoshop, put a little bit of noise filter (just level/amount "1" would do). it wouldn't look that great on the pc but looks better on the ppc than the previous one. i hope this helps.

myownregister said:
hi, i've been tinkering for some time on the gradient effect in my qvga screen and what i've come to notice was that though the gradient appears smooth on the pc, it appears to have wave gradient levels as the colors goes lighter. what i do is after applying the gradient in photoshop, put a little bit of noise filter (just level/amount "1" would do). it wouldn't look that great on the pc but looks better on the ppc than the previous one. i hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you add noise. Interesting thought. I will indeed give it a shot and see how it works. Any other ideas out there? There must be and official way as I have seen some really good looking gradients out there.

Sweet. It still took a little bit of playing to make it look right but the finished product is pretty darn nice
Here is my Levelbest HTC TSK File that goes nicely with the HTC Touch 6 Button Home Plug.
The portrait image in the TSK is...
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The landscape image in the TSK is...
And here is the Wallpaper for Slide2Unlock to match!
Thanks for helping me thru this. A little noise goes a long way! Now on to modifying the home plug!

im glad to be of help!

the htc logo is covered by the notification area icons (in my prophet).
could you move it upper?

fasgiu said:
the htc logo is covered by the notification area icons (in my prophet).
could you move it upper?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I did fix that late yesterday in the wallpapers included in the TSK (at least on my mogul). Download it again and see if it works now. If not please let me know and how much you need to logo raised and I'll make it so!
I also created a blue version to match the blue used in the media player etc. I'll upload that later today.

Ok, here are the images included in the TSK blue version:
Slide 2 Unlock Wallpaper:
The Levelbest HTC Blue TSK is here.

levelbest said:
Actually, I did fix that late yesterday in the wallpapers included in the TSK (at least on my mogul). Download it again and see if it works now. If not please let me know and how much you need to logo raised and I'll make it so!
I also created a blue version to match the blue used in the media player etc. I'll upload that later today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still covered by icons.. you have to move 5mm

In Pursuit of the Perfect Wallpaper

I have been doing a lot of testing looking for the perfect aspect ratio, resolution, format, and size for wallpaper in portrait mode on WM6. The main problem was that every image I would set as my wallpaper would significantly lose resolution and quality. Not to mention the bottom would always get cut off. So after a long time of trial and error I believe I have found a solution.
In order to make the perfect wallpaper from whatever image you crave you will need PhotoShop as this procedure requires some cutting and pasting (don't worry, no paste or glue involved ).
Open a new PhotoShop document and change the resolution to 240x320. Leave the rest of the setting as default. That's the easy part. This is your background.
Now open any image that you want. The size doesn't matter. This is what's great about this method. You can choose any old picture you want and we will resize it and shape it to fit our tiny screens.
Make sure that the Rectangular Marquee Tool is selected then make sure that the Style is set to draw a Fixed Ratio rectangle of which the size is 240x275. The reason I choose a height of 275 pixels is because the bottom bar of WM6 will hide anything under the 275 pixel mark.
Now select an area you want on your photo and drag it until you selection is complete or until the rectangle can't grow anymore. Notice that the correct aspect ratio is maintained. This is important for the next step.
Copy your selection (CTRL+C) and paste it onto your original blank document you first opened. It should create a new layer in the bottom right.
You will likely have to resize your image to fix the tiny 240 pixel width. You can do so by going to Edit - Transform - Scale. Then clicking the Maintain Aspect Ratio button on the tool bar (it looks like a little chain). Now resize at will. When you done resizing hit enter to save the resize.
Finally click File - Save As and select PNG. The reason I choose PNG is two fold: Firstly, PNG retain color and quality better than JPGs but they are bigger. Second, I found that WM6 doesn't distort the quality of the image as much in PNG as it does to JPGs.
Your done! Copy the file over to your device and enjoy!
I have also attached some examples of mine.

Nice choice of images in your examples
Your example images gets cut off by the top bar (clock,signal,start...)
and there is a white area at the bottom...
other than that... nice tutorial
well done!

NisseDILLIGAF said:
Nice choice of images in your examples
Your example images gets cut off by the top bar (clock,signal,start...)
and there is a white area at the bottom...
other than that... nice tutorial
well done!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that is the whole point. It doesn't get cut off at the top (at least not on my device) and the bottom white area is actually under the bottom bar so you don't see it. If your image was there it would get cut off so this tut shows how to generate your image without losing anything. The "true" image space on the today screen is 240x275 pixels. But you background needs to be 240x320 to fit without distortion.
Thanks for the compliment on image choice. I agree.

for Diamond
I use this to make wallpapers for diamond.
Unpack and open the Attached file with photoshop and move a picture behind the layers.
In that way you can set your wallpaper exactly where you want...
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
And remember to move the picture to the front again before saving it.

Brunkage said:
I use this to make wallpapers for diamond.
Unpack and open the Attached file with photoshop and move a picture behind the layers.
In that way you can set your wallpaper exactly where you want...
And remember to move the picture to the front again before saving it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really usefull, thanks! =]

[Preview] TF3D Theme: Shadowsong

{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
After getting TF3D to work exactly how I liked, I decided to make it look the way I like it as well.
I've started to find out how to modify the interface and spent quite some hours on creating my own theme now.
Once version 1 is complete, I will create a CAB and upload it here for all to enjoy.
From there I might modify it here and there, depending on my own liking and your feedback.
Current Features:
- Custom background
- Downscaled, modified clock.
- Invisible Sliderbar
- Modified, glowing Slider
- Altered Program launcher menu buttons
- Modified upper curtain
- Custom Icons
- Semitransparent, silver highlights.
To-do list:
- Camera Tab
- Stock Tab
- Settings Tab
- Dialer
Feedback is appreciated, stay tuned!
EDIT: Removed old preview, added new one!
NOTE: This preview turns out a little darker than it does on the phone itself!

little too gothic imo

yeah come on man the world economic crisis is depressing enough...
but good effort looks very nice

n4v1n said:
little too gothic imo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bit harsh.
I did not intend it to be gothic. I liked the mountains behind the lake at night on the background picture. Added the moon and clouds to that, as it nicely fits the theme. From there I built the rest.
I do not consider a lake at night "gothic" - but that's my view.
How do you think I can improve it then? By lighting up the clock a bit?

Black and blue, shots of the moon ect do tend to come across a bit gothic. Added to that the font for the clock looks like tombstone engravings. All a bit dark and gloomy for me, but its good to see themes being made.

Alright, I'm going to put some color in there. I think the clock is a major contributor to the "gloomy" part.

Looks very good!

I think it looks good as is too! I didn't think it was too "gothic" or "gloomy" but I tend to prefer darker colors on the today screen and TF3D.
Regardless, very nice work thus far!

sorry if that sounded harsh, dark themes are nice but sometimes it gets a little too "dark"

New preview!
I found that adding other colors just made it look rediculous. Thus, to make it less gloomy, I added silver and glow effects, which still fit the theme.
You can compare them by viewing the attachments. feedback!

Excellent.
You probably gonna kill me for this but any chance of a landscape mod for this also ?? or is that way to much code ?

landscape mode will be very hard to add, we just made first step in mode9 file editing few days ago so expect long time before landscape support
anyway, the theme is cool but that 1 pixel line in middle of clock is ugly... as ugly (I suspect) will be the flipping clock animation. I'm working on sprint clock version for manilaHD, hope you like it when (if ) will be ready I had same issue with my manila customization

guap said:
landscape mode will be very hard to add, we just made first step in mode9 file editing few days ago so expect long time before landscape support
anyway, the theme is cool but that 1 pixel line in middle of clock is ugly... as ugly (I suspect) will be the flipping clock animation. I'm working on sprint clock version for manilaHD, hope you like it when (if ) will be ready I had same issue with my manila customization
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, yeah. the line is kind-of bothersome and the animation looks kind-of borky. But on the phone itself, it doesn't bother me as much. The animation looks fair and the line, well, sure, if you keep staring at the screen all the time, looking for something wrong, yes.
If, however, you find a way to fix it, do tell me.
About the landscape, it has to be coded in first, when that's done, sure I can skin it, the files already exist. Just need to have the code!

Nice work!! I don't think it looks gothic at all. Its all SEXIFIED!!! LOL

sure, I mean about code landscape, once coded has to be skinned same way as other manila parts
about the clock, manila it's a mess, for now i'm able to have sprint clock but only 1 appointment in home (like diamond) but I want all 4 appointment as manila HD can do. But again, who programmed manila shoul be [censored]

To be honest, I like it a lot. If/When I get an X1, I'll either be looking for something like this, or a nice beach scene theme-wise.
My only gripe that comes to mind is that horizontal line in the middle of the clock numbers. Does that have to be there?

kuraudo said:
To be honest, I like it a lot. If/When I get an X1, I'll either be looking for something like this, or a nice beach scene theme-wise.
My only gripe that comes to mind is that horizontal line in the middle of the clock numbers. Does that have to be there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Due to the way manila is coded, at this time I cannot remove it. It is less visible on the phone itself though, so it's not a big deal.

kuraudo said:
To be honest, I like it a lot. If/When I get an X1, I'll either be looking for something like this, or a nice beach scene theme-wise.
My only gripe that comes to mind is that horizontal line in the middle of the clock numbers. Does that have to be there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea...what he said

looks really nice!

some progress... animation still choppy but the line is gone
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3134599

A500 Wallpaper Template *REDUX*

*Update: I posted this thread here since we have a device specific forum now. It was previously buried in the themes section. I am also now able to add pictures and links*
I have seen a lot of questions around for how to set a wallpaper so it doesn't get cropped incorrectly, stretched, or look really bad when shifting between landscape and portrait modes. So I played around for a little bit with it and came up with a template to get some great looking wall-papers, regardless of orientation.
To start with the template can be downloaded here: Megaupload A500 Template
The zip contains four files. Two are sample backgrounds, I made with the template, that you can add to your tablet to see how everything looks. One is a JPG of the template for those that cannot edit PSD files. And the last file is a PSD with all layers and groups labeled appropriately to make things easy.
1. Download the zip, extract and open the template PSD if able or the JPG. You will see this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
2. Parts of the template:
Blue shaded area - the entirety of what is shown in portrait view.
The green shaded area - the entirety of what will be shown in landscape view.
The black border - a buffer that will keep Honeycomb from stretching your image. Only a very thin portion of the top of it will be shown in portrait mode. It will actually look like a bar thats part of the OS to hold the google search, microphone and apps shortcuts.
Center Gray Area - This is where your artwork will be.
Red Borders - This is a buffer that will keep Honeycomb from stretching the width of your image undesirably. These borders will not be shown at all in either orientation, but removing them will distort the image.
3.1 If you are using Photoshop, GIMP, or an editor that can read and modify PSD files and layers: select the entire gray box in the "your art here" layer. Paste in your image. Press ctrl+T to transform your image so it fits nicely. Holding shift while transforming will preserve the aspect ratio.
3.2 If you are using the JPG because you cant edit PSDs, just paste your source image on top of the gray box and make sure you size it to be a perfect fit. Do not obscure the black or red borders.
4. For best results, you want the heart of your image to be in the center of the gray box where the green and blue areas overlap.
5.1 If you are using the PSD, then hide the group named "Hide when done" and save the image as a jpg.
5.2 if you are using the JPG you don't need to worry about the overlays since you pasted over them in 3.2. Save the image as a copy jpg.
It will look something like this:
6. Use one of the 6000 methods available to get your saved image on the tablet. Go to the set wallpaper option and browse to your image.
7. When you are prompted to resize for cropping, adjust the box so that it lines up with the inside edges of the red border. You will notice that you are not getting the images entire vertical height and a bit of the black border is outside of the selection box. This is fine. It is as designed.
8. Enjoy your beautiful new custom background! It will look great regardless of orientation. It's your own image. And you don't need to run any resource intensive wallpaper apps to accomplish the same thing.

Thanks for this...very helpful!!

Just want to bump this up to the top for others. I'm going to play around with the template. Thanks for file and tut acidicvision!

Over 400 views, I imagine a few people have used it. Anyone want to post their images? I'd like to see what some people have done the template.

Can someone post their wallpapers made using this template ?

finally a solution - but...
Thanks so much for this solution. I've been vexed by this for a while now.
But ironically I could not get to the template link on my tablet. It had an address associated with it as it can be copied, but that particular link just doesn't want to inject into the address bar of the browser. I know this should be a new topic but thought since the link is here I would mention it here.
Getting to it from a computer is not a problem - why would this be?
Cheers

Was wondering why we have to use this template, and it's not native function in the tablet.... that's boring a little.
- I use the template for one background.

One thing to add - took me a while to get this as I'm new to android and the screen layout - that image for the wallpaper needs to include the virtual screens beyond main screen. If you make an image that seems to always be cropped when you test it on the main screen, have a swipe to the other screens. It will scroll to the rest of your image as you pass from screen to screen.

the virtual space should be automaticly add and not... user have to do it... it's not user friendly at all

Bump.
Anyone want to upload that template somewhere other than megaupload?

Tlab56 said:
Anyone want to upload that template somewhere other than megaupload?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. OP, Megaupload got busted by Interpol several weeks ago. Find a new server please.

Please, can anyone upload it again to another server?
Edit:
I just found this in the themes thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1136436

elpopi said:
Please, can anyone upload it again to another server?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe the OP worked for Megaupload, and he's a cell boy with Mr. Dotcom!

Wallpapers withouth cropping in 4.2

Short version:
How to get cropping like this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(height box as high as the whole box), instead of what we get now.
Hi,
In 4.2, as I understand, I cant set a wallpaper without having it being cropped first - the tool selects different part of the image for landscape and portrait. I understand this, and now that it requires quite a big picture - (2560 for vertical part (in portrait mode) and even more for landscape, because the selected region will be used on, lets say ~3500 pixels (2560+scrolling). so the minimum picture to have and use to get 1to1 pixel is ~3500x2560). And thats fine, there are plenty of pictures like this.
However, when I select a picture to download, o select it as a whole, and not only the middle. So I'd like to put it the whole, as I see it.
It was allowed in older androids.
There is no problem of getting an image of 5020x2560 and higher, so I could use this, but the problem is that 4.2 doesnt allow it at the moment.
If I wanted to do this now, I would have to take the picture, add a big border around it, so the picture itself would be in the middle, and then after cropping, I would get the picture I wanted in the first place.
Hopefully you understood me, and can give advice on how to do this in 4.2.
Thank you
P.S. Just to clarify even more - If, lets say I have image 4000x3000, and I want to display all of it, not just middle, then just let me put it as a wallpaper, and when the tablet is in protrait, there will be more than 2560 pixels to take anyway, so no need of cropping.
Why is it doing cropping anyway?

No scrolling, but this may help:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ridgelineapps.simpleimagewallpaper&hl=en
I search for 1600x2560 wallpapers, and then set the image to the app linked above. The upside of no scrolling is that moving between homescreens is really smooth (it was already smooth, but no stutters at all).
As far as your question goes, I remember using some ROMs that allowed me to re-size the inner boxes (the one that has vertical and horizontal rectangles on top of one another) inside the picture cropping box, is that feature present in 4.2? If so, enlarge the size of the box, and then you'll be able to see the whole picture, not just the middle, when scrolling around.

phemark said:
Short version:
If I wanted to do this now, I would have to take the picture, add a big border around it, so the picture itself would be in the middle, and then after cropping, I would get the picture I wanted in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I do it...I add the border around the image I want to be visible.

Wallpaper Wizardi
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...S50d2lzdGVkYXBwcy53YWxscGFwZXJ3aXphcmRyaWkiXQ..
/Thread

xda6969 said:
That's how I do it...I add the border around the image I want to be visible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the easiest way of doing this?

EniGmA1987 said:
Wallpaper Wizardi
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...S50d2lzdGVkYXBwcy53YWxscGFwZXJ3aXphcmRyaWkiXQ..
/Thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried this app, but I got much better results by downloading a 2400x1600 wallpaper and stretching the crop box to fill it (it fits exactly).
I'm in the middle of writing a wallpaper app for the N10, depending on what access is available to the wallpaper setting APIs I'll have it automatically set pixel perfect if possible.

alias_neo said:
I just tried this app, but I got much better results by downloading a 2400x1600 wallpaper and stretching the crop box to fill it (it fits exactly).
I'm in the middle of writing a wallpaper app for the N10, depending on what access is available to the wallpaper setting APIs I'll have it automatically set pixel perfect if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deleted

Komodo Rogue said:
No scrolling, but this may help:
(Simple image wallpaper)
I search for 1600x2560 wallpapers, and then set the image to the app linked above. The upside of no scrolling is that moving between homescreens is really smooth (it was already smooth, but no stutters at all).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh god, thank you for this app rec. I despise the scrolling wallpaper stuff spread out over multiple screens. It seems to do exactly what I want. Have you noticed that it affects battery life differently since it is implemented as live wallpaper?
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD