Skulpture 0.2.0 released

The second alpha version of Skulpture is available! The highlights in this version compared to the first alpha version (0.1.x):

• new options to customize sizes and spacing
• improved compatibility with KDE and Qt features
• cleaner appearance of check indicators and progress bars
• many bugs fixed

This version does (finally) no longer depend on QPlastiqueStyle, and as such, much code had to be rewritten. Please give feedback, if you find bugs/regressions or miss a feature.

Support for Qt 4.5 will be added in time with an update.

Download link: http://skulpture.maxiom.de/

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Skulpture adds layout configuration

The latest 0.1.9 snapshot adds options to configure the layout of widgets. Two common layout properties are supported: sizes of elements, and spacing between elements.

For now, the size of following widgets can be customized:

• fields (LineEdit, SpinBox, ComboBox, ProgressBar)
• buttons (PushButton, ToolButton)
• slider thickness (ScrollBar, Slider)
• menus (MenuBar, MenuItem)

Additionally, horizontal and vertical spacing, as well as layout margins (for dialogs and groups) can be changed. Unfortunately, not many applications respect the style’s metric values. One aim for this release is to raise awarness of these values, and hopefully the situation improves as time passes.

The screenshot shows a very “compact” layout. Though not visually attractive, it is useful for small sized screens, such as those of popular netbooks.

Please test this new version, and give feedback. I consider this a release candidate for 0.2.0, so if you think this is not ready for the masses, please contact me. Download link:
skulpture-0.1.9.26.tar.bz2 (or newer)

Skulpture gets polished progress bar

The latest 0.1.9 snapshot improves the appearance of ProgressBar widgets. Here is a list of changes:

• the floating gradient looks cleaner
• animation speed and chunk size do no longer depend on widget size
• text is rendered with the correct foreground colors, ensuring it is readable with all color schemes
• rendering should be faster, because it no longer uses radial gradients
• the vertical progress bar text rendering has been fixed

Additionally, the progress bar code has been heavily refactored to make it easy to add caching and new features in the future. Due to these changes there are some regressions that should not remain unmentioned:

• the busy indicator does currently not float towards the center, but floats to the left
• small progress bars do no longer have the circled look

As always, testing and feedback is appreciated. Download link:
skulpture-0.1.9.22.tar.bz2 (or newer)

Skulpture gets new check box artwork

The latest 0.1.9 snapshot adds new artwork for CheckBox and RadioButton widgets. The new design fixes minor inconsistencies between the two and adapts better to different sizes. The marks are cleaner and rendered with the correct foreground colors, making them better readable on dark color schemes. I would like to hear your opinion, so please try the snapshot and give feedback.