[V1.1.2] FrostedGlass - Now with more acrylic

[psatyarthi]

Dragging of skins works fine without any lags for the leaked Windows 11. For Windows 10, you can reduce the update rate of the skin in the [Rainmeter] section for more responsive dragging of skins.

[psatyarthi]

Still no possibility to define an area of blur (instead of covering the entire window)?

There's the method of using ImageMagick for creating blurred backgrounds and offers customization such as blur radius and type of blur.

[SkyyDX]

Say would it be possible to have this plugin use Mica instead of Acrylic on Windows 11?

[death.crafter]

Say would it be possible to have this plugin use Mica instead of Acrylic on Windows 11?

No. Not until azack updates this plugin to do so.

[SkyyDX]

No. Not until azack updates this plugin to do so.

Oh sorry I should have worded that better, that's more or less what I was asking, if this plugin will see any Win11 related development in the future.

[JackBlaze]

How to use round corners with FrostedGlass plugin

* Note: This method only works with static wallpapers and wallpapers with very little movement.

Before start I would like to thank Khanhas who was the original developer of this method.

For this guide I'm going to recreate the system widget BigSur skin. In addition, we need to create two images one for the background and another for creating a mask. In order to do this, you can use softwares such as Inkscape or GIMP. follow the example:

Now we can start applying the effect. first step is defining this variable:

Code: Select all

Size=160*#ScaleDpi#
roundcorner=1
positionfix=(#Size#*#roundcorner#/40)
RealW=(#Size#+#positionfix#*2)
RealH=(#Size#+#positionfix#*2)

Now that we have defined those variables, we need to add the frosted glass effect

Code: Select all

Measure=Plugin
Plugin=FrostedGlass
Type=Acrylic
Border=none

Make sure to put none value on Border, otherwise you will ruin rounded corners. Now we need to define what is going to be shown in the outside masked area, so we need to use a Registry Meter. We want to see our desktop wallpaper under the outside mask area, in order to do that we need the Meter to look like this:

Code: Select all

Measure=Registry
RegHKey=HKEY_CURRENT_USER
RegKey=Control Panel\Desktop
RegValue=WallPaper

What this does access our desktop wallpaper location and place it under the mask.
NOTE: Only use your screen resolution wallpaper or blur mask will break

Now it is time to apply the MaskImage, so create a Image Meter to call the mask

Code: Select all

Meter=Image
MeasureName=WallpaperPath
MaskImageName=#@#Graphics\Structure\regularmask.png
W=#RealW#
H=#RealH#
ImageCrop=#CURRENTCONFIGX#,#CURRENTCONFIGY#,#RealW#,#RealH#,1
DynamicVariables=1

MaskImageName defines the location of your outside mask image and DynamicVariables allow to insta-update the view of the widget.
When your done it might look like this:

Downloads:
Bigsur Skin: https://www.deviantart.com/fediafedia/art/Big-Sur-RC1-for-Rainmeter-846882462
Custom File: https://cloud.degoo.com/share/2pJEnNWqMice5ROI1ujFTQ
Replace the Type.inc file the in @Resources\Structure\Regular\ folder

[death.crafter]

Didn't quite get what you pulled there. From what I guess, those are two skins. And you placed one top of the other.

If so, you didnt really need to create a mask image from other softwares. You could have used shape meters as containers to achieve that. Just saying. It's a pretty solution if you don't move around your skin much.

[eclectic-tech]

What this does access our desktop wallpaper location and place it under the mask.
NOTE: Only use your screen resolution wallpaper or blur mask will break

Well, that IS the problem with this method... your wallpaper MUST match your screen resolution or this gets ugly!
You can not use any of the display methods: Fit, Fill, Tile, Stretch, Center, Span, etc.

As mentioned above ImageMagick, or Khanhas's MagickMeter plugin, can overcome these issues.
You can see this in my Sigma package in the 'Share your creations' forum thread; just sayin'

[death.crafter]

Well, that IS the problem with this method... your wallpaper MUST match your screen resolution or this gets ugly!
You can not use any of the display methods: Fit, Fill, Tile, Stretch, Center, Span, etc.

As mentioned above ImageMagick, or Khanhas's MagickMeter plugin, can overcome these issues.
You can see this in my Sigma package in the 'Share your creations' forum thread; just sayin'

My wallpaper plugin

[eclectic-tech]

My wallpaper plugin

It worked fine, but I decided, since MagickMeter already can capture the wallpaper, to use that plugin rather than add another plugin to the package.

If your plugin had minimized all open windows before the capture I may have used it, but it did not offer a real advantage over what I was already using.

Thanks for going to the trouble of making a plugin for capturing the desktop, I may use it in another project.