How to edit/modify themes?

[treesurf]

I recently installed an awesome new theme (Shiki Colors), but would like to modify it slightly. The window title bars are a bit tall for me and I would like to make them shorter to maximize screen space.

Are there any tutorials or resources on how to learn to edit this sort of thing? Is there a conf file that has these parameters in it where I could just easily adjust the pixel count of the title bar, the same way I can with the gnome panel?

thanks

[kaixi]

I believe you can do it by selecting the theme and clicking Customize and I've never customized any themes as I find the default one to be quite beautiful.

[tyroeternal]

Here is a good general tutorial for you

http://live.gnome.org/GnomeArt/Tutorials/GtkThemes

[mcduck]

Actually youd need a tutorial for Metacity themes instead of GTK, since it's the window border you want to change.

Sadly, that's even more complex than GTK themes are..
http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutor...ty-themes.html

You should find the theme files in ~/.themes/YOURTHEME/metacity/.

[treesurf]

Thank you!

[treesurf]

Oh boy, this is a bit more complicated than I thought it would be. Can I edit the theme while it is in use or should I be running a different theme and switch back and forth to check the effects of my changes?

[mcduck]

You won't see any changes in the theme until you reload it (by changing to some other theme and back again).

I recommend making a copy of the original theme, renaming it and editing that instead of the original.

[treesurf]

Thanks McDuck. Tweaking away here!