Am I the only one using VISTA there?

[Patrice Terrier]

As said in the title, anyone else using VISTA there?

I would like to know if what I have done in zkin13.zip works with different VISTA configuration.

If you test it, please let me know:

• VISTA version (Basic, Premium, etc.)
• Screen resolution
• Type of graphic card(name + build-in memory)
• Test done on (Mono or Dual) monitor
• Blur mode ok (yes/no)
• Crystal mode ok (yes/no)

Thank you

[Paul Squires]

Hi Patrice,

I am running Vista Home Premium on a DELL Inspiron 9400 laptop.

I downloaded, installed, and ran the zskin13 code. I only noticed one "problem" which may not be a problem at all. When I use Blur or Crystal mode, I need to increase the Opacity to around 120 in order for the text on the Labels to be crisp/sharp enough. At lower levels of Opacity the text looks a bit jagged. All other buttons and controls seem to function okay.

NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
1440 x 900 (96 DPI)
527 MB memory
Mono monitor

If there is anything that you want me to test then just ask.

[Patrice Terrier]

Paul,

First, thank you for the feedback.

I only noticed one "problem" which may not be a problem at all. When I use Blur or Crystal mode, I need to increase the Opacity to around 120 in order for the text on the Labels to be crisp/sharp enough

Yes that is not a "problem", but the result of being able to write directly on the "glass" section (thanks to GDIPLUS)

and this is because I am using %TextRenderingHintAntiAlias in zDrawStringFormatedEx,
try playing with these:

• %TextRenderingHintSystemDefault            = 0 ' Glyph with system default rendering hint
• %TextRenderingHintSingleBitPerPixelGridFit  = 1 ' Glyph bitmap with hinting
• %TextRenderingHintSingleBitPerPixel          = 2 ' Glyph bitmap without hinting
• %TextRenderingHintAntiAliasGridFit            = 3 ' Glyph anti-alias bitmap with hinting
• %TextRenderingHintAntiAlias                    = 4 ' Glyph anti-alias bitmap without hinting
• %TextRenderingHintClearTypeGridFit          = 5 ' Glyph CT bitmap with hinting

and let me know which one looks better with your config.

[Patrice Terrier]

Paul

See the patch in version zSkin13a.zip, i think it looks good now.

[Paul Squires]

Hi Patrice,

Yes, much better indeed!

One issue: It looks like the font style changes when you switch from "Standard" to the other two "Aero" styles. If you look closely at the label text you can see that the letters look slightly different (especially the "E" letter) when you switch between the styles.

Hope I'm not being too picky.   

You are doing an AMAZING job with this stuff.

[Patrice Terrier]

Yes it does change, because the antialias algo is not the same and it is by design because "I" like it better using %TextRenderingHintClearTypeGridFit, but you can take over my choice using zTEXTRENDERING 

See there in zSkin.inc:

Code Select Expand


'      // Setup default text rendering
       CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingDefault, 1)


and there in zskin13.bas:

Code Select Expand


         CASE %ID_AEROCRYSTAL
              IF zGetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROCRYSTAL)) THEN
                 CALL zSplitColorARGB(SK_AEROCOLOR(), Alpha, Red, Green, Blue)
                 CALL zAEROCOLOR(zColorARGB(zGetTrackValue(zGetMainItem(%ID_TRACK_OPACITY)), RGB(Red, Green, Blue)), %WRITE)
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE), %FALSE)
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROBLUR), %FALSE)
                 CALL zAEROEMULATE(%TRUE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zAEROBLURLEVEL(0, %WRITE)
                 CALL zSetTrackValue(zGetMainItem(%ID_TRACK_BLURLEVEL), SK_AEROBLURLEVEL())
                 CALL SetTimer(hWnd, %AERO_TIMER, SK_AEROTIMERDELAY(), %NULL)

                 CALL zUSEVISTABLUR(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zUSEVISTACRYSTAL(%TRUE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingHintAntiAlias, 1)

              ELSE
                 CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingDefault, 1)
                 CALL KillTimer(hWnd, %AERO_TIMER)
                 CALL zAEROEMULATE(%FALSE, %WRITE)

                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE), %TRUE)

                 CALL zUSEVISTABLUR(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zUSEVISTACRYSTAL(%FALSE, %WRITE)
              END IF
              CALL GetWindowRect(hWnd, rc)
              CALL zMoveBackground(rc.nLeft, rc.nTop)
              CALL zUpdateWindow(hWnd, 0)
         CASE %ID_AEROBLUR
              IF zGetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROBLUR)) THEN
                 CALL zSplitColorARGB(SK_AEROCOLOR(), Alpha, Red, Green, Blue)
                 CALL zAEROCOLOR(zColorARGB(zGetTrackValue(zGetMainItem(%ID_TRACK_OPACITY)), RGB(Red, Green, Blue)), %WRITE)
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE), %FALSE)
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROCRYSTAL), %FALSE)
                 CALL zAEROEMULATE(%TRUE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zAEROBLURLEVEL(6, %WRITE)
                 CALL zSetTrackValue(zGetMainItem(%ID_TRACK_BLURLEVEL), SK_AEROBLURLEVEL())
                 CALL SetTimer(hWnd, %AERO_TIMER, SK_AEROTIMERDELAY(), %NULL)

                 CALL zUSEVISTACRYSTAL(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zUSEVISTABLUR(%TRUE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingHintAntiAlias, 1)

              ELSE
                 CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingDefault, 1)
                 CALL KillTimer(hWnd, %AERO_TIMER)
                 CALL zAEROEMULATE(%FALSE, %WRITE)

                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE), %TRUE)

                 CALL zUSEVISTABLUR(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zUSEVISTACRYSTAL(%FALSE, %WRITE)

              END IF
              CALL GetWindowRect(hWnd, rc)
              CALL zMoveBackground(rc.nLeft, rc.nTop)
              CALL zUpdateWindow(hWnd, 0)
         CASE %ID_AERODISABLE
              IF zGetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE)) THEN
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROBLUR), %FALSE)
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AEROCRYSTAL), %FALSE)
                 CALL zAEROEMULATE(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zTEXTRENDERING(%TextRenderingDefault, 1)
                 CALL KillTimer(hWnd, %AERO_TIMER)

                 CALL zUSEVISTABLUR(%FALSE, %WRITE)
                 CALL zUSEVISTACRYSTAL(%FALSE, %WRITE)

                 CALL GetWindowRect(hWnd, rc)
                 CALL zMoveBackground(rc.nLeft, rc.nTop)
                 CALL zUpdateWindow(hWnd, 0)
              ELSE
                 CALL zSetCheckButtonStatus(zGetMainItem(%ID_AERODISABLE), %TRUE)
              END IF