A note about the win7 type pin bitmaps above. I actually increased the size a little so they weren't as fuzzy looking. I think 100% size has 20 pixels instead of 16 pixels.
Yes fonpaolo, there are a number of bits of information left out of the tutorial. It got updated a number of times.
Possibly when the first versions of CSM came out, jumplists/pin were not even available.
I am still grateful for Ivo adding lots of info about using color masks, emblems, patterns, and tints.
Tints were way over my head, and Ivo explained it simply on one of the forum pages of someone's personal skin.
So there is more info spread across the forum if you have a month to read it all.
Ivo has put lots of extra info in his default skin files.
Emblems/patterns have helped me greatly on many skins, even the adni18 skin, where I used a trick of using an emblem & mask to seamlessly show the white angled line on the top bar so it does not stretch /distort horizontally on jumplist view.
As I don't have a skinning license,
I don't know a lot of things that Ivo knows from programming in Windows and games.
I'm sure there are a number of things we all don't know, but Ivo does about his skinning engine.
I tend to find out new things when I make mistakes or renaming .skin7 to .skin. Some items carry over to classic, and some don't.
"Search_arrow" (bitmap) can work in classic styles good for 125% size but does not have all the functions.
"Search_padding" works on a classic, but not "Search_background_padding" because of no external "Search_background" bitmap in classic.
I bet there is a text setting for the search box "WindowFrame", but I never figured it out.
Ok back to your issue.
About the arrows. Ivo only has arrow bitmaps in his program for 100% and 150% size.
I could be totally wrong here but this is the way I think(logically illogical)it works:
The below text will force the internal bitmap mask in CSM to use the hex RGB colors
Main_arrow_color=#000000,#FFFFFF
If you replace with a real bitmap in the skin file the new bitmap overrides (notice the "color" part is removed which stumped me a few times
)
Main_arrow=216
but if Main_arrow_color is put after/below a real bitmap, the real Main_arrow bitmap still is the override King
Main_arrow=216
Main_arrow_color=#000000,#FFFFFF
You would need to initialize or set back to default condition by making it 0 or none. Then the hex arrow color will work. The King has been dethroned.
Main_arrow=216
Main_arrow=0
Main_arrow_color=#000000,#FFFFFF
Also if you use a custom shaped arrow bitmap, you can make a color mask bitmap for the arrow to make it change to a different color/colors with tint colors or glass color.
Can even skip the arrow bitmap and use just the arrow mask to get up to 4 different colors on the arrow.
Edit: More discombobulation
Looking at Ivo's Metro skin, one can see he uses the alpha part of bitmaps to an advantage.
The visible part of the bitmap gets saturated with red mask color which is normally system glass color,
but he assigns that red mask to use a tint color, but instead of a hex color, it uses a specific Windows system color instead.
Search_bitmap=9
Search_bitmap_tint1=$StartPrimaryText
Search_bitmap_mask=#FF0000
Pin_bitmap=11
Pin_bitmap_tint1=$StartSecondaryText
Pin_bitmap_mask=#FF0000
Virtually anything can have a mask to control where either a color area is blocked or shows through.
Personally, I find masks are good when using multiple menu variations by just using one bitmap mask along with
multiple text variations, instead of using multiple bitmaps to do the same end results.
For a simple menu, it may not be worth using masks everywhere, for using them can make one's head spin, alcohol not required.