Skin Editor
- 2 minutes to read
A skin determines the appearance of all visual elements in DevExpress VCL controls. Each skin consists of multiple skin elements that correspond to individual UI elements, such as buttons, combo boxes, drop-down menus, etc. Different UI elements may have one or multiple states (enabled, disabled, hot-tracked, pressed, etc.). A skin element stores information on all states that the corresponding UI element can have.
DevExpress VCL controls ship with vector and raster skins. Vector skins use SVG images that render sharp elements regardless of DPI changes. These skins are recommended for users with high-resolution monitors and high-DPI settings. Raster skins use bitmaps as skin elements.
Skin Editor Tool
Skin Editor is a standalone application installed automatically with DevExpress VCL components. You can use the Skin Editor to create custom skins based on one of the skins shipped with the VCL Skin Library.
The Skin Editor includes multiple tools that help you find, edit, and preview your changes in individual vector or raster skin elements. Refer to the following topic for an overview of the editor functionality: Skin Editor UI.
Run the Skin Editor
To run the Skin Editor, open the Windows Start menu, navigate to the DevExpress VCL 24.2 category, and click VCL Skin Editor to run the editor.
Command Line Mode
You can run the Skin Editor in the console to export multiple skin projects (SKINPROJ files) as binary skin files (SKINRES). Refer to the following topic for detailed information on supported command line parameters and examples: Command Line Parameters.