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Hey guys, I am creating a new skin, everything is going great except one part is driving me INSANE.
Is there an easier way to show the positions (X,Y) of XBMC on screen? so I dont have to guess where every element should be, restart the skin and try again.
There has to be a better way of positioning items then what I am doing, right?
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Most people tend to mock something up in a graphics package, then just read the coordinates off there.
I guess we could add a "debugging" method where we allow the coordinates of the mouse to be output to the screen - would that be useful?
Cheers,
Jonathan
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Jezz_X
Team-XBMC Skinner
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I use a calculator to figure out 80% of mine and the rest is trial and error
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Freddo
Skilled Skinner
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Same, although I was thinking of making a grid overlay that I could add to windows while i work on them to help me align things, I just haven't really needed one badly enough yet. Might work for you though.
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jmarshel: thats exactly what I did, but it sometimes becomes pretty tricky, even more tricky when you use items that are in a group. I am not sure how the debug feature would work but anything will be useful.
Jezz: Which calculator? can you recommend one that has X, Y positions
Freddo: first of all I just wanted to say SUI friggin rocks! I kinda feel stupid for asking but umm .. if i created overlays .. how would that help me calculate the coordinates .. what tool do I use?
Off topic question: is there a way to disable image scaling? I noticed this happens when changing resolutions .. would be helpful for some items as well.
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Freddo
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Well you could make a grid that had a line say every 10 pixels, then add it to the window while your working on it at the very bottom of the xml (so appearing ontop of everything else) then you could count the lines to work out positions roughly.
btw: i think jezzx just meant a calculator like.. any old calculator, personally I use good old trusty windows calc.
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If you're designing the skin in a graphics program first, then this is by far the easiest way to get co-ordinates. The 'info' tab in Adobe's packages is invaluable for skinning, making sure in your preferences you've set your units to pixels.
Thats how we do our skins, design them in Adobe first then start taking out the elements bit by bit and building them up in the xml.