[Epic 4G General] turbosocks:
Alright, last week or so, I said I was going to try working on themes and after a few days finally got the whole 9 patch PNG jargon figured out!!! It was a pain in the ass figuring out how it all worked and even after searching i was still unclear.

Software you will need:

Adobe Photoshop or equivalent to edit your PNGs, adjust transparency, add effects)

Android SDK Tools and SDK starter package

Xultimate-d9pc.exe and repsective .zip file (this converts the raw .9.png into a working .9.png)

draw9patch (included in the SDK Tools) *I am working on another way to cut this step out since it is what takes the majority of time*

Java JDK (For Android SDK Tools to work)

Android SDK: Click Me! Android SDK r12 Do all the updates for the tool packages.

Xultimate-d9pc: Click Me!! Extract this into the Android SDK Tools Folder!! VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Java JDK: Click.. for 64 bit Windows Click.. for 32 bit Windows

I have uploaded all of these to my website for your convenience. I don't have the quickest server, so be patient with the downloads!!

Sorry for no audio in the video either. I didn't have a Mic hooked up and figured a video tutorial would be enough. Below is a youtube link and the pasted instructions from the youtube video.

WARNING: the steps below look intimidating, but really are quite easy after you grasp the idea.. I created so many steps to keep the total n00b in mind.

Step 1: Send the .apk that you want to modify from your phone to your email (or transfer your way of choice)

Step 2: copy the .apk somewhere on your harddrive (I put all my android stuff including tools and SDK in an 'android' folder as you will see in the video)

Step 3: open up the .apk in 7zip and navigate to the drawable folder (in this case; res >> drawable-hdpi)

Step 4: highlight all the pngs and .9.png's you would like to modify and copy them to a folder (this is where you will make your edits outside the .apk and compile them at a later time)

Step 5: Open the .9.pngs in photoshop and have some fun! (use your creativity to add overlays, borders, glows, etc.) tip: don't get to complicated, because you will need to pick split/stretch points later for the 9 patch conversion.

Step 6: When done modifying the .9.pngs, just save and overwrite the files you would like (in the case of the MMS app, the same image is used for multiple bubble files)

Step 7: Open up ONLY the .9.png's in the draw9patch tool located in your android SDK tools folder. Add the 9 patch data as shown in the video. Tip: some people only add one middle top and middle left split point/pixel, but i find its usually easier to add TWO points for the top and left quadrant as you will be picking your EXTENTS of where you want the content to be.

Step 8: On the right and bottom quadrant, create a solid line connecting the respective pixels together. These two steps will add the information to the PNG of where to split and stretch from, while also giving constraints of where the content can go.

Step 9: After all the 9 patch images are saved in draw9patch, if you open them you will notice the black pixels you just created. Do NOT, DO NOT try and recompile the .apk at this point, thinking you are done.. the bubbles (in this case) will look like crap, because you are not finished yet.

Step 10: Copy (or move) the newly created .9.png's into the ORIGINALS folder for the xultimate.exe software.

Step 11: Run the xultimate.exe. This will take about 2 seconds or less.

Step 12: naviigate through the 'done' folder and you will notice the .9.PNGs no longer contain the black border pixels!!! CONGRATS!!!

Step 13: Copy all modified images back into the open 7zip .apk archive and overwrite all the existing.

Step 14: replace your current .apk on your phone with this 'new' .apk and enjoy!!

and finally...

Tutorial -couldn't get youtube tags to work.

*If anyone is wondering why I Copied to the REV 2 folder but did the tutorial on the REV 1 folder, I was just demonstrating how to copy the files, but was working on my theme in the Rev 1 folder. DONT BE CONFUSED!!*