HOW TO: Customize TouchFLO3D / Manila Themes

[KYarb]

Just to throw something into the mix here, I spent a couple hours this morning doing a little organizing before I jump into theme making. To help out future "Themers" I've compiled all of the Manila images together into a nice, organized structure.

The archive contains 442 PNG files seperated into 18 Folders based on the Manila Editor categories. Here you go!

Manila Graphics - MegaUpload 2.64 MB

[TheLovatScout]

Hello. I no longer would like to have the background on all of the tabs. How do I change this but keep the glass clock?

[manyakis]

Originally Posted by shaun0207

So you ziped all of the Manila files up on yopu phone and extracted them? What are you trying to change?

thanks for helping me out man!
yes i got far as putting the zip folder on my phone and when i try to extract them onto windows it says unable to read zip?? alls im doing is changing my tf3d icons.

i attached the zip file i made from manila editor.

[shaun0207]

Is there a different cab file for the background on all tabs for the AT&T Fuze (touch Pro)? My friend is getting errors with the files I sent them

[PROBEX]

Originally Posted by GoodThings2Life

Well, it's taken me a week to get it how I like it, but I did it. I hope to God I never have to do it again! Editing Manila themes is by far the WORST experience I've ever had with Windows Mobile tweaking. It's time consuming and challenging.

Hahaha this is so true eh it is really a huge undertaking building a theme for TF3D esp with all the variables of different roms and different versions of TF3D not for the faint of heart... and not really for a first project. Start small is my suggestion. get yourself a clock cab and de compile it and try maken your own clock. If you can succeed on this you can move on to bigger challenges.

[CyberMonkey]

Great thread. I tried playing around with Manilla Editor, but not with much success. But the more I read on this thread the more I am learning.

When I get home from work, I will most deffinately be making my first theme for it, and it shall be a Batman theme

[CyberMonkey]

Originally Posted by GoodThings2Life

This post will briefly document how to use the Manila Editor (and possibly other tools in the future).

Manila Editor is the tool available for directly editing the Manila graphics files. This allows you to start designing your own themes or tweak graphics. While there's not much too it, it can be pretty time consuming and tedious to edit the graphics, so here's an explanation of how to make it as effective as possible.

Before we begin, make sure you have ALL of the following on your PC:

1. Manila Editor available from sushilange on XDA.
2. Graphic Editing program (you can use whatever you want, but I'm partial to using Paint.NET)
3. All of the ########_manila files from the Phone. I've attached the default Sprint Theme to use as a template (see attachments below).

Now that you have those, let's begin...

If you haven't already, extract the "Original Files.zip" file to a folder where it's convenient for you. Immediately make a copy of the entire folder called "New Files" (ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make changes to the New Files copy and save the Original Files as a backup in case you completely screw up an image!)

First, open Manila Editor (NOTE: If you're running Vista, right click and Run As Administrator). You'll see pretty much an empty looking program with only a few options. Let's click the most obvious one-- Select Path...



Now, back on the Select Path dialog, choose the location of the New Files...



This will take some time to process, but when it's done you'll see a very large list of files on the left side, and a preview of the image on the right side...



Now, notice how it shows the Manila filename as well as the "interpreted" QTC filename. The next thing you want to do is Save the graphic you want to change to your computer (preferably somewhere different from the manila files like "New Graphics" for example). To do this, find the file you want to save, and click the Save as button. This will prompt you for the location and filename you want to save. In the example below, I made it easy on myself and called it ########_familiar_name.png (always save as PNG for the best results)...



Once you do that, it returns to the main Manila Editor screen. For now, you'll want to save all the files you want to modify. If you plan on making your own theme, you might be inclined to use the Export option. Otherwise, go ahead and save just files you want, and then you'll want to use Paint.NET or whatever tool to edit those graphics as you see fit... go ahead, I'll wait...

Ready? Good... now let's replace the original graphics. Click the Replace button for the graphic you want to replace. It will prompt you for the graphic file (which you can browse to), a header location (99% of the time, just accept the default, I have found no files requiring a different header... yet), and whether you want to make a backup of the original file. I always make backups...



Once you do that for all the graphics you plan to change, you have to options. You can either bundle the whole file package into a Zip file, or you can bundle just the files you've changed into a Zip file. I recommend testing your work first, so for now, let's just bundle the Changed files, and then you can put those files on your phone's \Windows directory...

Click Zip, Only changed images, and give your file a name/location...



Now, once you have the zip file created, I would extract that file to a whole separate folder from what you've been working with. Now, take those files, connect your phone, open My Computer > Mobile Device > My Windows Mobile-based Device, and drop those files into the Windows folder (I usually Copy/Paste to make it easier).

It will ask if you want to replace the existing files. As long as you have a backup of the originals, click YES TO ALL.

To view the changes, you should either Disable/Reenable TouchFLO3D from Start > Settings > Today > Items tab... or you should soft-reset your phone. If something goes horribly wrong, restore the files from the backup you made.

That's pretty much it, but as you can tell by the screenshots... there are a LOT of files (just look how tiny that scollbar is!!) so that's why I say this isn't an easy or quick process.

Also, if you want to customize my theme from the first post, you are welcome to do so. I have also posted the files I've modified in the attachments below.

following the steps above and when replacing I get an error. See attached image for the error. Not sure what I could be missing.....

[bubbatex]

GT2L - Thanks. I am a newbie (to the TP anyway), but wanted to remove that darn Sprint TV tab - and followed your instructions for editing the manila files. Worked like a charm! Thanks.

[jadoe05]

can anyone help? i have white squares for my counters in tf3d for text and email. what did i do wrong?

[vash469]

i know this was prolly mentioned before but i am looking for a flip clock white or clear that has all functionality of the regular stock clock i download goodthings4life packages but the clear clocks dont flip up to see the appointments. i know i have seen a work around but you have to install like 5 things http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...8&postcount=64 im just trying to get a working flip clock that WORKs