[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] crazy_dragonlady:
While I was researching how to go about creating my own theme I noticed quite a few different approaches to dealing with the infamous .9.png image files. I was curious about why they were so difficult before I attempted to edit them so I did a lot of reading on these boards but when it came to actually doing the editing I found it quite simple. With all my reading and after talking to a few other themers this method isn't mentioned anywhere that I know of so I figured I'd post a tutorial on how I edit them.

First off, this tutorial assumes that you have a working knowledge of how to use image editing software (I use GIMP) and apk multi-tool/manager (or apktool).

Things you need:

1. Gimp or another image editing software (this tutorial is based on Gimp)

2. APK Multi-Tool/Manager or apktool (tut. is based on APK Multi-Tool)

3. The apk that contains the images you wish to edit

4. TIME and PATIENCE! :D

Ok, first off you need to be able to see the ever important 1px border in the .9.png you want to edit so this requires you to decompile the apk that contains the images to be edited. Therefore go ahead and decompile the apk. Once you have that done you can go ahead and minimize the script window so you can work on them.

Now, go into the folder named "projects" and in there you'll find your decompiled apk. Right click on the folder that contains the images you want to edit and click on "Copy". Now move to your desktop (or wherever you want to save the folder) and "Paste" the folder there.

Double click on the folder and navigate to the .9.png you are wanting to edit. Right click on that image and select "edit with Gimp".

Once the image is open in Gimp "zoom" in to 800% so you can actually see the 1px border and use the rectangle marquee tool to select everything inside that border. Then you can make any edits you'd like to the image.

Once done editing the image, and if it's not still selected, go back to the marquee tool and, once again, select everything inside that 1px border. Right click over the image and select EDIT>CUT.

Close the image by clicking on the "X" in the top, right corner but when the window pops up asking if you want to save your changes click "DON'T SAVE". This is the important step!!

Go back to your folder where the original image is located that you are wanting to edit, you'll notice it went back to it's un-edited state. This is what you want. Open the same image file again in Gimp and again, zoom in to 800% so you can see the border.

Select everything inside that border using the rectangle marquee tool and then hit the delete key on your keyboard. That should clear out the image.

Right click on the image again and select EDIT>PASTE. You're edited image should show up where you cut out the old one.

Make sure that the one pixel border is NOT inside the dotted selection line and your pasted image isn't over the 1px border all the way around.

Anchor your image by clicking anywhere outside of it in the same window. (you'll see the little anchor show up by your cursor when you can click to anchor your pasted image) Now the hard part is done!! All you have to do is close the image you edited by clicking on the "X" again and this time you want to hit SAVE.

Voila.. your .9.png is edited and your 1px border is left untouched. Repeat the above steps on all the .9.png files you want to edit and when you're finished your editing move the folder from wherever you saved it back into the projects folder of apk multi-tool and compile your apk.

This is how I've done all my .9.png files and I have never had any errors! :D

Good luck and Happy Theming!

ttfn

CDL.