View source for Custom Skins

Some of the more advanced features of [[AKAIO]] require a degree of technical knowledge to take advantage of them. This article aims to explain in simple terms how to get the most out of AKAIO with a minimum of tech experience.

==Tools==
Listed here are all of the tools mentioned for use within this article.

===Acekard Skin Editor===
[http://www.acekard.com/download.php Acekard Skin Editor] is the official skinning application developed by the Acekard team.

===Dan Taylor's AK Edit===
[http://gbatemp.net/index.php?download=4717 Dan Taylor's AK Edit] is a skin editor designed specifically for the Acekard 2 and Acekard RPG, with support for AKAIO. It will automatically save images to the correct specification, and will even detect incorrectly formatted images upon loading a new skin.

===GIMP===
[http://www.gimp.org/ GIMP] is an open-source image editor available for most major OSes, including Windows, Mac OS X and Unix/Linux. It is often compared to Adobe's Photoshop image editor, however GIMP is freely available for download. It can save images in a wide variety of formats, but importantly in this case, it is able to generate the specific type of bitmap used by AKAIO.

==Skinning==
 <span style="color:#CC0000;">A Full guide (with pictures) can be found @ http://gbatemp.net/index.php?act=ST&f=172&t=206342</span>

'''Firstly:''' You'll need one of the skin editors from the Acekard website (shown in 'tools' above)

'''Secondly:''' You'll need a graphic package with functions like 'Crop'/'Clone'/'Resize' so that you can resize any new graphics that you've chosen. 'GIMP' is a highly recommend software and it's FREE


'''Tutorial'''

:* Depending on whether you're using Acekard official firmware or AKAIO unofficial firmware, copy any of the folders inside the '''/__aio/ui/''' or'''/_ak2/ui''' folder onto your PC Desktop (See: Image 1)

:* Rename the folder on your desktop - this will be your 'working' folder & will prevent any accidental over-writing (See: Image 2)

{|
|[[Image:AKAIOSkinning1.jpg|thumb|100px|Image 1]]
|[[Image:AKAIOSkinning2.jpg|thumb|100px|Image 2]]
|}

:* Open the 'working' folder & click on one of the graphics you wish to change

You may see in the status bar at the bottom the size of the graphic (See: Image 3). If not Right-click on the graphic, select 'Properties' > 'Summary' tab - Make a note of the 'Width' and 'Height' as you'll need this when you create your new graphic (See: Image 4)

{|
|[[Image:AKAIOSkinning3.jpg|thumb|100px|Image 3]]
|[[Image:AKAIOSkinning4.jpg|thumb|100px|Image 4]]
|}

:* Obtain a graphic you like to use in your skin from Google images (or wherever) & load that into your art package. Alternatively - you could try & make your own
:* Using the tools in your art package (Crop/Resize/Clone etc) alter your 'new' graphic so that it's the same size as the graphic you are going to replace
:* Now save your new graphic into your 'working' folder using the [[EXACT SAME NAME]] and File type as the one you you're replacing - over-writing the existing graphic
:* Repeat this for all the graphics you want to change


Now start up the program you downloaded from the Acekard website (In this example we're using 'AK Edit' for this)

[[Image:AKEditMainScreen5.jpg|left|thumb|200px|AK Edit Main Screen]]

:* When AK Edit has started - click on the [Open] icon (1) & browse/select your 'working' folder - then click [OK]
    If you get an error message - click [YES] to fix. 
    This is because the graphics program you used has not 
    saved it in the correct (16-bit) format
    
    <span style="color:#CC0000;"> NB: Sometimes when answering [Yes] to this can cause your graphics
    to appear 'grainy'. It is better to answer [No] if you are 100% all
    your graphics have been  saved as 16-bit</span>

:* Once the graphics have been loaded, use the tabs along the top (2) & alter Positions/Change text colours etc until you're happy with it
:* Click on the 'Save' icon (3) to save any & all modifications


:* Now copy your 'working' folder BACK onto your MicroSD card (rename it if you like), place back into your Acekard/DS & try it out using [Start] > [System Properties]


'''A couple of things to note:'''
:* When selecting your new skin you may find the name been truncated - so instead of seeing 'Blue XMB Skin' you may just see 'BLUEXM~1'
:* You may find that some text may not appear exactly where you wanted it when it's used on the DS - this is a problem with AK Edit 'preview', so you'll need to do a little fine tuning within AK Edit to get it in place


'''Some Useful (!) Tips:'''
:* When making 'Split-Screen' background:
There may be a time you'd like to create a larger background (one that covers both screens) - here's a tip
::* In your art package, make the overall wallpaper a size of 256 wide by 476 height - & NOT 256 x 384, as you would expect (use 'rescale'/'crop' functions should do the trick)
::* Using your art package selection tool - copy the area starting at x=0, y=0 down to x=256, y=192 (it may be shown in your art package status bar) & paste/save this as 'upper_screen.bmp'
::* Copy the area starting from x=0,y=284 down to x=256,y=476 - Once again paste/save this but save it as 'lower_screen.bmp'

The reason for this is if you do the 'split-in'half' method - your screen background will look very 'odd' on the DS because of the space made by the hinge


:* If you want an Animated screenshot of your skin to show off your skills 
:In AK Edit:-
::* Click on the small 'Camera' icon in 'AK Edit' toolbar
::* In the next window click on the '[ ] All' box down the bottom & also make sure the '[ ] Animate' is ticked
::* Click on [OK] and a set of graphics will be created in a folder called 'screenshots' stored in your 'working' folder
::* You can then upload the 'preview.gif' file to Flickr (or whatever online photo storage site you have) to be used in forums

==External links== 
*[http://www.acekard.com/ Acekard.com]
*[http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=172 Acekard message board on GBAtemp.net]
*[http://www.acekard.com/bbs/forumdisplay.php?fid=4 Acekard BBS on Acekard.com]
*[http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/index.php?title=AKAIO AKAIO WIKI]


{{Acekard}}

[[Category:Acekard]]