Skin Tutorials

While Rainmeter does include some very nice skins, many people like to create their own. While Rainmeter was designed to make skin creation simple, it is not necessarily intuitive for new skinners. To help we have created a set of tutorials that will teach you how to make some simple skins. But first, there are some basics that you need to know. If you have read the rest of Rainmeter 101, then feel free to skip this since it will cover similar ground. Otherwise, read ahead!

How to edit skins

Editing skins is a very simple manner. While every skin is a file with the extension ".ini", they're really just regular text documents. You can open any skin file with Notepad (or your preferred text editor) and edit them directly. It is important that your editor be a plaintext editor. That means no programs like Microsoft Word, Works, OpenOffice.org or any other document editor. You'll want one that does just text without the formatting.

Once a skin is edited, Rainmeter will reflect the changes the next time it is refreshed. If the skin is already running, you will have to refresh it manually. Otherwise, just start the skin and your changes should be there.

How to create a new skin

To create a skin, you must first find your skins folder. If you installed Rainmeter normally, the skins folder will be found in one of these locations:

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\My Documents\Rainmeter\Skins\
Windows Vista and 7: C:\Users\Your Name\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins

Basically, just head over to "My Documents" and look for the "Rainmeter" folder. In there you'll find the "Skins" folder. Once you're in there, make a new folder. Call this folder whatever you like. Within this folder make a new text document and call it whatever you like. Make sure that the text document's file extension is ".ini" and not ".txt". There you have it. You now have a brand new, albeit empty, skin. If you right-click the Rainmeter icon in the taskbar and choose "Refresh All", your new skin will be available for use. Don't start it up yet though, it doesn't do anything!

How to install skins

If you have a skin that was downloaded from he internet, installing it is very similar to creating a new skin. First, if the skin came in an archive (such as ".zip" or ".rar") you will need to extract it. Once the files are extracted, make sure that they are all contained within a single folder. Often, skin makers will havev this folder already in the archive. Otherwise, you will have to make it yourself. Move this folder to your Skins directory (one of the paths show in the section above). If Rainmeter is already running, right-click the icon in the taskbar and choose "Refresh All". Your downloaded skin should now appear in the "Configs" list.

Loading a skin

To load a skin, first make sure that Rainmeter is already running. Right-click the icon in the taskbar to open the context menu and navigate to "Configs". Here, a list of all of the folders in your Skins directory should appear. From there just choose the folder holding the skin you want and load up the appropriate .ini file.

NOTE: You can only load one .ini file from a specific folder at once. If you want two skins to run simultaneously you will need to have each one in its own folder.

A word about the tutorials

Now that you know how to actually make, install and load the files for skin, you can move on to the real meat of skin creation. The following tutorials will start off simple and get more and more complex, each one adding new concepts of Rainmeter. The good thing is that at the end, you will always have something to show for it. If you are new to Rainmeter, it is highly recommended that you go through these in order, as each one will assume that you understand the concepts of the previous tutorial. That being said, it is highly recommended that you play with the skins! When you are given values, change them around to see what happens. Make all of these tutorial skins look the way you want them to. Rainmeter is all about customization, so don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

Good luck!