Starting with version 4.0, cFos automatically installs our standard skin, a visual design that determines how cFos status information is being displayed on your computer. All cFosSpeed versions do also come with their own standard skins. Still, you are free to modify and change them to better suit your own needs and aesthetic preferences. In fact, we strongly encourage you to send us your own custom designs and share them with others!

This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a new basic skin. Do note that most of the graphics used for this are already part of your cFos/cFosSpeed distribution, which is why the focus will be on teaching you several ways to integrate them into your own design.

Hint: When working on your skin, you may want to activate the cFosSpeed "test mode." This will provide you with a quick and easy way to check if everything is working properly and in the right place.
(See the skin definition reference for details on skin testing.)

The INI file / [all] section

The font definition

The animation method

The history method

The text method

The slider method

The activearea method

The motion method

The fader method

Advanced techniques

Skin definition reference page

Individual files used in this tutorial can be downloaded by right-clicking on the corresponding tutorial-text link and choosing "Save Target as..." from the context menu. Of course, it is also possible to download the entire skin as one ZIP archive.

Step one: Creating an INI file - adding the [all] section