Are You Getting The Sidekick LX 2009?

2008-08-05

How To Make Sidekick Icons

Making icons for the Sidekick is the same as making icons for any other purpose. Icons are just small images used to represent a program, file, and etc. therefore any image can be converted into an icon. The only difference between regular images and icons is that regular images do not contain an alpha channel. The alpha channel is used to represent up to 256 levels of transparency. When you add the alpha channel to a regular image you can make parts of that image be transparent or semi-transparent. If you look at the default instant message icon image on your Sidekick you will see a yellow smiley, but if you open the image in Photoshop or GIMP you will see the yellow smiley inside a squared transparent background. If you were to save that same icon in JPG or BMP format the transparent background will become white, that is because JPG and BMP do not store alpha channel information.

I've seen many themes posted with icons with a squared black/white background, that is becuase they have uploaded JPG or BMP files to the theme creator on the SkLX/SkSlide websites. The theme creator does not remove backgrounds for you, so do not expect to get an icon with a transparent background from there unless that's what you're sending. Formats that support the alpha channel include PNG, ICO, PSD, GIF and others, for Sidekick themes you only need to work with the PNG format.

In the video below I will show you how to add the alpha channel to regular images so that they can be saved in PNG format and used as icons. Part 1 of the video shows how to do it on Photoshop & Part 2 shows how to do it on GIMP. If you're watching this video I assume you already know Photoshop/GIMP basics and I will not go into detail about resizing and fitting the images. This video is no way near a tutorial on how to extract images (remove backgrounds), there are hundreds of ways to extract images, If you do not know how to extract images, I suggest you watch videos on how to do it because in this video I'll use the simplest method which does not necessarily yield the best results. If you're watching this video to learn how to make icons for your Sidekick themes, you should download one of the theme templates below:



The icons made in this video can be found in my PACMAN theme.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

But how do you make your IM look like the Joker, Hancock, Batman, Helboy, etc.

CubanitaStylez said...

I overlay pictures on top of my default IM icon, for example I'll extract the Joker's hair and overlay it on top of my IM icon, then I'll recolor the IM icon to match the Joker's face. This is not that hard but it can be confusing if you're not familiar with Photoshop or GIMP. I'll prob make a video on how to do it next time I make one of these icons.

Anonymous said...

Thx that helps

Anonymous said...

I was wondering could you show how to make the 3D look Icons like in you Icon pack so that way I can change the color of them. thanks

CubanitaStylez said...

Specify which icons you're more interested in creating and I'll try to make a video on how to do it. It would be confusing to make a video creating all of them.

star.kiss said...

Umm just like the black or the pink ones that come in your pack I just want to learn how to change there color using photoshop cs3.

CubanitaStylez said...

The colors can be changed easily by adjusting the Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U), make sure "Colorize" is enabled. The other method would be to actually recolor them using the brush, pencil, and paint bucket tools. The second method will be much harder but will yield better results. When I get a chance I'll make a video on how to do it.

star.kiss said...

ok cool thanks so much!

Unknown said...

how do you remove them completely without using the computet??? can you do it like that???

CubanitaStylez said...

Only way of removing and adding images to a theme is by editing the theme.txt file. You can't edit the theme.txt file from your phone, so it is not possible to remove anything using a computer.

Anonymous said...

Hey I just got the sidekick 2008 about a month ago..& I was wondering where do you get your icons that you use on your themes? I'm trying to make a theme, but I want to make the icons or if there's a website you use? I downloaded your themes pack, but you know how on your Ed Hardy theme with the tiger you have all different icons that's what I want to make. If you could help i would really appreciate it! Thanks.

CubanitaStylez said...

All the icons I use are custom made from other images. The video above shows you how to convert regular images to icons using either GIMP or Photoshop. If you're using my theme template, once you have all the icons you want to use, just name them the same way as my Ed Hardy icons and place them in your theme's folder.

Anonymous said...

ya, i just got a sidekick 08 and when i try to put an icon in the theme creator in PNG, it always has an error O.o, can some1 help please. XD

CubanitaStylez said...

Drumsticktt

there's no way around that, the theme creator on the sidekick sites have those problems, you have to add the icons manually, it is easy just copy the icons into your theme's folder and add the strings to the theme.txt file.

thatkidd03 said...

this shit is getting me pissed!
ok it worked the first time!
but these other picstures im trying to do wont work its like WTF!

Unknown said...

hey i have a hiptop slide (sk slide)
and im trying to figure out how to change the phone/web/adress book/sonic boom/camera icons??

Unknown said...

I am with faz92 how do you change the other ICons and splash screens. what are they named in the Theme.txt file?

Unknown said...

hey cubanita, i was wondering if we're able to change the icon, and splash fro apps like browser, camera, media player etc. if so, please xplain how and thanks in advance!

Eoghann said...

Amazing blog! Learned a few tips from it. Thanks so much! I've been tinkering with a theme for my LX 09 for a while now. Want to make sure it's the best it can be. One question though: Are there icons that cannot be modified? I have been searching for a way to modify the Media Player icons for example. Possibly the catalog icon as well. If it IS possible I would be very grateful to know what string I need to type into the theme.txt file in order to modify that icon. Thanks again!!Love the blog.

Daniel.-