Making your own icon thingy in KDE

well, making your own theme isn't a one step process.. and i am not all knowing in the subject but i'll try to give you some tips.

firstly, take a look at other themes and see what they have in them. /usr/share/icons should have them.

they all have a file called index.theme. open one up.. this is what it will look like (except i've added C-style comments...

Quote:

[Icon Theme]
Name=Crystal SVG
Comment=Icon Theme by Everaldo.com Design Studio

DisplayDepth=32

Inherits=hicolor // i think this is what icon theme icons you havn't specified default to.
Example=folder // what icon is shown in the control center as an example of your theme
LinkOverlay=link
LockOverlay=lockoverlay
ShareOverlay=share
ZipOverlay=zip
DesktopDefault=48
DesktopSizes=16,22,32,48,64,128 // sizes of the icons in the respective places (in pixels)...
ToolbarDefault=22
ToolbarSizes=16,22,32,48
MainToolbarDefault=22
MainToolbarSizes=16,22,32,48
SmallDefault=16
SmallSizes=16
PanelDefault=32
PanelSizes=16,22,32,48,64,128
//and then you have the directories in your theme that contain the icons... more on that...
Directories=16x16/actions,16x16/apps,16x16/devices,16x16/filesystems,16x16/mimetypes,22x22/actions,22x22/apps,
22x22/devices,22x22/filesystems,22x22/mimetypes,32x32/actions,32x32/apps,32x32/devices,32x32/filesystems,
32x32/mimetypes,48x48/actions,48x48/apps,48x48/devices,48x48/filesystems,48x48/mimetypes,64x64/actions,
64x64/apps,64x64/devices,64x64/filesystems,64x64/mimetypes,128x128/actions,128x128/apps,128x128/devices,
128x128/filesystems,128x128/mimetypes
[16x16/actions]
Size=16
Context=Actions
Type=Threshold
[16x16/apps]
Size=16
Context=Applications
Type=Threshold
[16x16/devices]
Size=16
Context=Devices
Type=Threshold
[16x16/filesystems]
Size=16
Context=FileSystems
Type=Threshold
[16x16/mimetypes]
Size=16
Context=MimeTypes
Type=Threshold
[22x22/actions]
Size=22
Context=Actions
Type=Threshold
[22x22/apps]
Size=22
Context=Applications
Type=Threshold
[22x22/devices]
//etc...

about the folder structure. in each icon theme main folder there are subfolders named after the size of the icons they contain. inside each of these are 5 main folders: apps,mimetypes, filesystems, devices, actions. i don't know if you can change these names when making your own theme, but you might as well use their structure.. it's easyer.

apps - application icons, like : amarok, kwikidisk, kmenu...etc...
mimetypes - filetype icons, like: rpm, tar, spreadsheet
filesystems - folder icons and things... : executables, folders, home folder...
devices - ...well... devices : floppy, zip, dvdburner...
actions - menubar actions like: stop, forward, back, exit...

so what you first want to do is make your own icons. get a picture/make a picture and then (with gimp if you wish) resize it to whatever icon size you will use on your computer. ex: 16x16 pixels is mini icons, 32x32 pixels is medium sized....etc...

then make a directory structure like i mentioned above (use pre-existing themes for reference). then rename your icons to fit the icon you wish it to be.

examples:
if you want an amarok icon of size 32x32 for your desktop, create a 32x32 pixel icon and put it in "youricontheme/32x32/apps/amarok.png"

if you wanted to have your kmenu button to be the face of a penguin... find a picture of a penguin... resize it to 32x32 (or whatever size you wish to use). and name it ""youricontheme/32x32/apps/kmenu.png"
etc...

then when you are done... in "youricontheme" folder make an "index.theme" file (just copy and paste and edit what you wish).
now compress "youricontheme" folder (and all it's contents) as a .tgz

done! now you can go to control center and "install new theme".. find your .tgz file and open it.

that's pretty much it i think... if you get stuck... post again and i'll try to help.