I have provided some screen shots to show what the Themes API is doing. It seems like itdoes not matter what width I use, because I have tried the higher width sizes, from 1280x175, to 1500x175, and finally, at your suggestion, 1680x175. Themes API seems to "crop" the image down to only fit in the center, and I have now noticed there is also extra blank space at the bottom of the banners as well as the sides. By the way I have not published this Theme yet, since the images won't display correctly. I am testing them out using Google Code and the ig?skin=<theme-url> filename add-on in the address bar. Not sure if that helps.
Here is the Header banner displayed at 1680x175: http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp87/ComicBookFan_photos/iGoogle%20Themes/Buffy1680.png And here is the Footer banner displayed at 1680x175: http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp87/ComicBookFan_photos/iGoogle%20Themes/Footer.png Using ThemeMaker, here is the desired effect for the Header banner. I created this image in Photoshop with the dimensions 1280x175 and it worked perfect: http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp87/ComicBookFan_photos/iGoogle%20Themes/Stretched_using_ThemeMaker.png I want that effect for the Footer as well. As you can see, the images get shrunk down. I have deleted the background and tile attributes, so only the center image is in the code, with my one image, as you suggested. However, it seems this does not work, as the image is displayed the same as before. Any more suggestions? PS Thank you for your help. On Mar 23, 2:16 pm, BlueQuoll <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi CBF > > The simplest way to achieve what you want, is to Photoshop your image > to the width you want to fill, nominate your single image as the > center image, and forget about the background and tile. > > Unless you want the width of the image to change with the width of the > user's display? I don't think I'd want my photographic images > distorted in that way, but I suppose it could be useful for abstract > designs. > > The beauty of the Themes API is that you can use as many or as few of > the available attributes as you want. I think the idea of the center > and tile images was that you could keep the image file sizes down, put > the main content in the middle of the page, and still fill the whole > width of any size screen with "padding". But it does take careful > image manipulation to work correctly. > > I build all my themes to fill 1680 px width, so I just GIMP my image > to 1680x175 and use it as the center image. Don't worry too much about > image file size limit of 40kB suggested in the Developer's Guide — > I've seen themes with header center images well over 100kB. The > disadvantage of this approach is that as screens get wider than > 1680px, users will see a gap at the sides. However, I'm confident > that, at the moment, for 99% of users my header images extend across > the full width of their screen. Users with smaller screens won't see > the full image, but I try to spread the detail across the image so the > overall effect isn't lost. > > Dave > > On Mar 24, 7:54 am, CBF <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I have been using the ThemeMaker (http://www.google.com/ig/tm/creator) > > to create my first few themes, and after I upload an image, it shows > > the part where I can drag the ends of the preview area. See I create > > my Header banners in Photoshop first, so the ones I have made using > > ThemeMaker are always with the dimensions 1280 x 175, or higher > > width. But when I drag the ends in the preview area I can select the > > entire banner. Then it fits across the entire header. Maybe not for > > larger resolutions, but I am using a 1280x1024 laptop LCD monitor > > resolution. > > > My question is simple. One must use the iGoogle Themes API to create > > an intricate theme with a Footer, etc., and to make the theme Dynamic > > if desired. If the simple ThemeMaker can fill the entire header with > > an image, why can't the more complex iGoogle Themes API? I have an > > image. I want it to stretch across the width of the page. It does > > not have a background color. It does not have repeating tiles. It > > does not have a center image. It is one image. If there is already a > > way to do this without the tiles/center and creating a bunch of > > overlapping images, please let me know. So many people are wondering > > about this, I have noticed. > > > If not, then please redesign the iGoogle Themes API to allow a code > > such as "header.stretch_image.url" or "footer.stretch_image.url" in > > which our images will stretch across the entire page like the header > > banner does in the simple ThemeMaker. This would have the effect much > > like a desktop background. You already have the "Center" and "Tile" > > options available, but the one to fill all the space is usually called > > "Stretch". We need this option for our images to look professional in > > our Themes, much like the companies (such as DC Comics) and Google has > > their Themes. If you notice, in the Themes Gallery, most user-created > > Themes have only centered images, with blank outer edges, which do not > > look very professional and are undesired. This would not be the case > > were there an option to "fill" or "stretch" the image in the header/ > > footer. > > > Thank you. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iGoogle Developer Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Gadgets-API?hl=en.
