In my previous article we went over the new user interface in WindowBlinds 8. If you are new to WindowBlinds or just want a refresher, then give that a quick read here. This time I wanted to show users how to find, change, and apply skins in WindowBlinds.
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Getting New Skins
WindowBlinds includes quite a few skins to get your started, but there are thousands available for download on WinCustomize.com. There are skins with a minimal look and skins with wild graphics, and just about everything in between. Regardless of your style, I’m sure you will find something that you will enjoy having on your desktop.
WindowBlinds skins come in a .wba format, and sometimes those will be packed in a .zip file that will need to be extracted. When you double-click a .wba file, it should automatically install to WindowBlinds and be added to your skin list. There’s also an option to manually install a skin by clicking through the menu as seen in the screenshot below.
TIP! If you don’t see an installed skin, select ‘Rebuild skin list’ from the WindowBlinds menu.
Viewing and Selecting Skins
The left side of the WindowBlinds window is where you can browse and view all your installed skins. Hovering your mouse pointer over each skin will reveal the name of the skin and selecting one will bring up more options on the right. You will also see a preview of the skin there as well.
TIP! There’s an option available to keep the skin names visible if you prefer.
Right now you could just press the ‘Apply Style’ button and apply the skin, and you will be all set.
Substyles, Coloring, and More
As I mentioned before, when you select a skin you will get some additional skin options on the right side of the WindowBlinds window. One of those will be a drop-down menu for substyles. Substyles are variations of the selected skin. Some skin artists will make different substyles specific to Windows 7 or Windows 8, and some will make light or dark versions of a skin. If there are substyles available to can select which to use here, and remember, you will have to apply the skin again to show it.
There are also options available to recolor skins, add textures, and to change the Explorer backgrounds. We will cover these features in another article.