This is the best tutorial out there, though it isn't for 4.3 http://www.aleksyandr.com/ Skinartistry Workshop http://skins.skinartistry.com/ will help you with issues and find bugs you might have in your skin

No, it will show errors.

I took one look at skin studio and realized just how backwoods I really am!!

hey I have a question? I use a certian colour "Violet purple" For editing the start button and the colour works like an invisible ink. Any clarification on this would be nice. I think it may be due to an attribute or value. Please help!

normal people call it Magenta

Essencay sticks his tongue out at FM...."it's a good thing you got that association correct. Normal I am not "

Essencay thinks invisible ink is as good a name for it as magic pink

click yes....it'll open the tab showing the errors. Critical errors need to be fixed, they will affect how the skin works in WB.....the most common critical error is the caption height error. Once you have the tab show errors open, double-click on any line an you'll go right to the error so you can fix it. You'll be asked to re-validate since the skin code has changed. Any error that says Windowblinds will ignore can be Deleted, since WindowBlinds will ignore that line of code.

What do the "Margins" really change? I adjust them but dont really understand whats happening.

It depends on which section you are trying to change the margins for. In some sections, changing the margins does nothing. For example, the menu margins don't really work. The taskbar margins and the start menu margins do seem to work.

The content margins effect the location of the text or images that are placed in it. For example, if your icons in the start menu pane are too far to the left, you can adjust the content margins and give it a larger left content margin. Thereby, pushing the icons further away from the border.

The sizing margins adjust the image so that it doesn't stretch or tile wrong. For example if you have a 3 pixel frame on your image, you don't want the frame tiled or stretched. So, you would set a "3" on the sizing margins, which tells Skin Studio not to stretch or tile that area. You can click the margin setting and then look in the help section to see what type of margin it is(content or sizing). Normally, if it just says "margins", it is a sizing margin. This is because a lot of images don't have content(like arrows).

As far as templates, I don't use them. They are basically someone elses images. But, they are okay to use. But, your skin will not be very original if you use them. Mostly, they are very simple. In my opinion, it is therefore better to develop your own drawing skills before you start making themes.
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Okay...here we go.
1) Best way to start a theme?
Assuming you mean a WB skin...When I made my first skin, it was easier for me to click file-new skin and create a UIS-2 skin. Working with the templates seemed too complicated. I had skinned programs before so I was familar with paint programs(PSP) and making images in them. When the generic skin appeared and was applied, it was easier to see how the pieces fit and where to start. Now, I have a good template using the skins that I created. I know exactly how they went together and how the pieces fit.

2)And Also I wonder how people get their skins to look smooth.
There are two main techniques. One is called Anti-aliasing, and the other is vector drawing.

Normally, it is a setting on your program. You can create shapes with anti-aliasing on, or you create draw and blend using gradients. Or, you can draw with vectors. You should do a google search for Anti-aliasing and vector drawing tutorials. I just learned by constantly working with my chosen paint program.

3)Q: Or do people actually sit there and keep adjusting every little pixel shade....?
A: Sometimes, you actually have to when your anti-aliasing or gradient effect doesn't look quite right to you. I don't really have that trouble with vector drawing. Shadows can really muck up a good image too.

4) Also question 3 proposes another idea. It is tga vs. bmp. With a lot of the images, Skin Studio allows one to use PNG files and convert them to tga with SS. PNG files are much smoother than bmp files because you can use Opacity.

Hope this helps.
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I really want to learn more about the question above. I checked XP paint but dont think I have those options. Please reply. Do I need a better paint program?

ChasUGC....lots of great info

...couple of things I'd like to add. By using the default Blue Luna skin as a base skin all the time vs. another skinner's skin, if you forget to skin something, you won't run into a copyright issue on your uploaded skin and it's easier for others to help you find errors in your skins. After a while, the blue skin starts to look like a blank canvas. png to tga is definitely the way to go Like ChasUGC said, anywhere in the skin that'll allow you to use a tga over a bmp I'd try to do so. I don't know if there's a definitive list of where you can and can't use tgas. I use PSP, almost 100% and save my work in a separate folders while it's still in layers, as a pspimage file, in PS that would be a psd file, I think. Makes it a lot easier to borrow from one image you've created to make another image, to keep that theme feel to your skin. Also makes it easier to change things across the board if half way through a skin you decide to change an element vs. having to start over from scratch. I think that there was my biggest hurdle to learn when I started to skin. I still use MS Paint for some cut-n-pasting in bmps, less now as I use more and more tgas.

First one's the toughest, try to keep it simple and focus on how things go together. Once you understand SKS better, it'll get so much easier

Price-wise PSP is the way to go....I think you'll find that most PSP users that have also used PS will agree that for skinning, you can get the same results from PSP. Also most of the plug-ins for PS will work with PSP.

Question? What is the difference between a TGA file and a BMP. I know TGA uses less size but can I make my file a TGA easily or please explain. Also, Can I easily take graphics I make in PSP and convert them to SkinStudio?
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Great thread... a lot of questions have been answered for me also. Thank you for starting it