WinRar Themes

[naikosen]

I want to create theme for WinRar. For it, I followed every bit of instruction posted in the web site '

http://www.rarlab.com/themes_new.txt' with a topic "How to create WinRAR theme file" as following:

How to create WinRAR theme file

1. Introduction

Theme file is RAR archive containing an alternative set of graphics
and winrar_theme_description.txt file.

2. Name format

Theme file must have .theme.rar extension, so its name format is:

   basename.anytext.theme.rar

WinRAR creates a folder for theme graphics using 'basename' name part,
so you need to select something sensible and unique as basename
to avoid overwriting already installed themes. 'Anytext' part is optional
and ignored by WinRAR. You may use it, for example, to include the version
information. Here are a couple of possible theme file names:

   Snow.ver21.theme.rar  - it will be installed to 'Themes\Snow' folder

   Marine.theme.rar	  - it will be installed to 'Themes\Marine' folder


3. winrar_theme_description.txt file

Theme file must contain winrar_theme_description.txt file in
the root folder. It is a plain text ASCII file containing
the following commands:


a) 'title' command

Format:

title=<theme title>

where <theme title> is a text string displayed as a theme name
in the "Options/Themes" menu. If you provide several themes
with different toolbar sizes, it may be a good idea to include
the toolbar size into the title text.

Examples:

title=Snow 32x32

title=Snow 48x48

title=Marine


b) 'about' command

Format:

about=<theme description>

where <theme description> is information to display in WinRAR "About"
dialog. For example, it can be a copyright string or theme author name.
You can use '\n' characters to split the theme description to two lines
in the desired position. Do not use more than one '\n', because "About"
dialog has enough space only for two description strings. Also do not use
too long string, otherwise it will not fit into the dialog.

Examples:

about=Marine by Peter

about=© 2004 AlexDesignStudio.\nwww.AlexDesignStudio.com.


c) 'background' command

Default color to define transparent areas in toolbar bitmaps is black,
but if you wish to use the white color for this purpose, you can add:

background=255

command to winrar_theme_description.txt. Note that background color
is important even if your bitmaps are 32 bit and have the alpha channel.
Not all Windows versions and display color modes support 32-bit bitmaps,
so in some situations (for example, in Windows 98) WinRAR must treat them
just like usual 24-bit bitmaps.


4. Graphics files

Theme file should contain the following graphics files.

In the root archive folder:

AboutLogo.bmp   - 261x49 logo in "About" dialog
DiskOff.ico	 - 16x16 "inactive disk" icon in the status bar
DiskOn.ico	  - 16x16 "active disk" icon in the status bar
DragCopy.cur	- 32x32 "copy files" cursor for drag and drop
DragMove.cur	- 32x32 "move files" cursor for drag and drop
DragNo.cur	  - 32x32 "drop prohibited" cursor for drag and drop
Estimate.bmp	- 48x48 "estimate compression" image for file "Info" dialog
File.ico		- 16x16 "unknown file type" icon
FolderUp.bmp	- 16x16 "go one folder up" toolbar button
PasswordOff.ico - 16x16 "inactive password" icon in the status bar
PasswordOn.ico  - 16x16 "active password" icon in the status bar
RAR.ico		 - 16x16,32x32,48x48 general RAR icon
RarSmall.bmp	- 13x13 image of RAR icon for shell extension menu
REV.ico		 - 16x16,32x32 recovery volumes icon
Setup.ico	   - 16x16 setup icon for "Add and remove programs" list
SFX.ico		 - 16x16,32x32 or larger SFX module icon (see notes below)
SFXLogo.bmp	 - 93x302 SFX module logo
SortDown.bmp	- 13x13 "sort down" file list column header image
SortUp.bmp	  - 13x13 "sort up" file list column header image
Tray.ico		- 16x16 "WinRAR in the background" tray icon (16 colors only)
WizardLogo.bmp  - 64x64 logo for Wizard dialogs

In the 'Toolbar' folder:

Add.bmp	   - "Add" toolbar button
Benchmark.bmp - "Benchmark" toolbar button
Comment.bmp   - "Comment" toolbar button
Convert.bmp   - "Convert" toolbar button
Delete.bmp	- "Delete" toolbar button
Exit.bmp	  - "Exit" toolbar button
Extract.bmp   - "Extract" toolbar button
ExtractTo.bmp - "Extract To" toolbar button
Find.bmp	  - "Find" toolbar button
Info.bmp	  - "Info" toolbar button
Lock.bmp	  - "Lock" toolbar button
Print.bmp	 - "Print" toolbar button
Protect.bmp   - "Protect" toolbar button
Repair.bmp	- "Repair" toolbar button
Report.bmp	- "Report" toolbar button
SFX.bmp	   - "SFX" toolbar button
Test.bmp	  - "Test" toolbar button
View.bmp	  - "View" toolbar button
VirusScan.bmp - "VirusScan" toolbar button
Wizard.bmp	- "Wizard" toolbar button

Notes:

a) Though it is better to keep original sizes, the size of many bitmaps
   can be slightly changed without hurting WinRAR look. You can check
   the outcome of such change experimentally if necessary.

b) You can use any reasonable size for toolbar buttons. WinRAR will detect
   it automatically.

c) You can use both 24-bit and 32-bit bitmaps with alpha channel for toolbar
   buttons and for FolderUp button. In case of 24-bit bitmaps use
   the black color to define transparent areas.

d) One theme file can include only one set of toolbar buttons. If you wish
   to provide themes with buttons of different size, create several
   theme files.

e) Use gray RGB(192,192,192) color in SortUp.bmp and SortDown.bmp
   to define transparent areas.

f) Color depth is not limited for most icons except Tray.ico, which must be
   16 colors. WinRAR uses Tray.ico only for those Windows versions,
   where a usual 256 color icon is not displayed well.

   If you wish to create Win9x compatible SFX.ico, it must be 16x16,32x32,
   16 or 256 color only. Other sizes and color depths are allowed if you
   do not care about Win9x and need only Win NT/2000/XP/2003 compatibility.
   In the latter case SFX.ico will be ignored under Win9x.

g) It is allowed to omit most of graphics files. In this case WinRAR
   will use the default graphics instead. The only exception is Add.bmp
   file. WinRAR uses it to detect toolbar button dimensions, so it must be
   present.


5. Contacts

Please send your questions and theme files to dev@rarxlab.com
(Please remove x from the middle of 'rarxlab'. Sorry, spam protection).

If your theme is based on someone's else graphics, we need to have
a permission of original graphics copyright owner to use icons
in WinRAR theme. Please send to us a copy of such permission by email.

I compiled my files to .rar with a name "lyria_48x48.theme.rar". As I click on it for installation, it doesn't ask for approval to install as does the file "RARaddin_64x64.theme.rar" provided in the web site 'http://www.rarlab.com/themes.htm'.

Where am I in mistake? Guide me please.

[ricktendo]

*bump* I think XPero is the man for this, hes the Winrar XP theme creator.

Edited October 7, 2006 by ricktendo64

[mazin]

I think it should appear in Explorer as lyria_48x48.theme but not lyria_48x48.theme.rar!