Your desire to learn skinning is laudable, Mat7h3w. I would strongly suggest you not "use" skins by other authors to do this. I suggest you use a generic StarDock skin, "Crystal" by Stardock Design and not try to upload it anywhere after learning how to skin.

There are many tutorials addressing skinning WindowBlinds in the WinWiki (link at bottom of this page) and perhaps the best was a thread created by Vampothika herself and another by Po'Smedley. You could also start a thread in the same Forum you chose for this one using a set of graphics you create, and call it "Skinning School W.I.P."

Vampothika, (who is a Master Skinner) is most likely kidding you (I hope). She knows these rules very well and would not react very nicely to someone doing that with her work.

I'm sure many skinners will step forward to help you.

I also suggest you read the "Terms of Service" well. Its link is at the bottom of the page.

*edited to include portion I previously posted and subsequently edited.

I'll just reply to the OP...

No one apart from the original artist(s) is allowed to do this - unless they give a written permit to anyone wishing to do it for them.

Would be the correct way to do it as the original artists appear to be out of reach.

You might even learn enough to start making your own skins. Win-win situation.

I'm not actually suggesting this, just wondering. oops, guess I did

What if I update a skin to work with Windows 7 for myself. For my own use, without distributing it.

What if I then extend that to helping someone else update a skin to work with Windows 7 for them.

I suppose I am somehow banned from modifying a skin - even if it's to 'fix' it - ie the graphical art is not adjusted and only the technical framework is modified.

But then people might say something like 'I never agreed/intended/permitted it to work on this operating system - I was going to tweak the fixes myself and then charge money for it as a Master Skin for Windows 7...'

Then you've actually circumvented someones right to profit in any way they like, however they like, from something that's 'theirs' (e.g. Microsoft charging double for software in Australia for a digital download)

*sigh* matthew, you'll just have to go through the 'hoops' of learning how to make a skin (thereby learning how the elements of skinstudio work) and then you can probably change whatever you like, on any skin you like, as long as it never becomes public. Well you *can*, but you aren't allowed to.

shhhh, keep it secret, keep it safe.

Your models are probably not easily cloned though. A digital skin could be copied (in it's original form) and everyone gets it. Then, everyone applies the same modification 'for personal use'. It's effectively distributed, altered. If I explain how I made my own personal modification, and other people follow the steps, for their own personal use of a skin, am I responsible for 'distributing' it?

Just wondering these things out loud - not looking for an argument just curious about where that kind of thinking goes awry of the ultimate desire to protect IP and keep within the law.

The models are a 'closed' item that cannot be easily altered....but it is their skins I'm talking about...exactly the same sort of thing as a Windowblinds skin....usually has far fewer images...but each image is for more complex.  They are equally easy to alter/copy.

You aren't responsible for 'distributing it' unless you actually go through the process of getting it....and re-uploading it...or passing it on to a third person.

Explaining how something can be altered is 'education' not 'distribution' ...