This site provides some useful info but I'm pretty sure some of the programs and stuff, mentioned on there, are either outdated, or you just don't need.
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcdxIJRSH9ypZGZzc2pxNDlfMjdnazk4OHNxZA&hl=en
If you go to this section of the forums:
Droid Themes - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum
You'll pick up bits and pieces on what some people have provided. I provided an extensive guide on how to use the SDK And AVD Manager Emulator where you can test your APK's after you edit them and see if they work on the emulator, if they look good enough, or just to simply test a complete theme before adb pushing it to your phone.
This site here:
Android SDK | Android Developers
Is where you can get the SDK, also need Java Runtime and JDK in order to get it working together. There are also a lot of useful info on that link about developments, icon design guides, eclipse + adt plugin, and a bunch of other stuff.
Here's a few extra sites to get some useful tips on different areas of themeing:
APK Manager 4.9
Apk Manager 4.9 - Makes Modifying Ur Apk A Breeze (Windows/Linux) - Page 8 - xda-developers
A thread on questions about editing PNG's
[Q] editting png - xda-developers
Some more guides on themeing
[GUIDE] Want to learn how to theme? - xda-developers
A little about deodex and odex (not really needed but good to understand about)
What's Deodex and Odex? [Archive] - xda-developers
xUltimate Tools (can be useful if you need it)
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/xeudoxus/47283-release-xultimate.html
Color Chart for XML editing
RGB #CC4A33 • RGB Chart & Multi Tool • Color • PerBang.dk
Some useful tips on how to edit XML's
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/te...dit-xmls-more-adb-apk-manager-how-basics.html
Tutorial on drawpatch9
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/up-coming-themers/123430-tutorial-drawpatch9.html
A little bit about how to theme with your Emulator
How to Theme With the Emulator
How to install a working Android Market on the Emulator
How Do I Install the Android Market on Android SDK - Tech-Recipes
How to use an SD Card for an Emulator (more like an ISO image rather than an SD Card)
How to create and use the SD Card with the Android Emulator « Android Development
Some ADB command lines to help you out with
ADB - Android Wiki
Icon Design Guidelines
Icon Design Guidelines | Android Developers
Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers (good for app development and/or themeing)
Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers | Eclipse Packages
APKTool (kind of like APK Manager but from different developers)
android-apktool - Tool for reengineering Android apk files - Google Project Hosting
This is what I use for themeing and app development:
JRE (latest version)
JDK (latest version)
Android SDK
Eclipse Galileo Java EE IDE
ADT Plugin for Eclipse
APK Manager 4.8 and 4.9
Notepad++
Photoshop CS5
7-zip and Winrar
Github
Dropbox
Autosigner
Beyond Compare
Smali
Baksmali
Smali Wrapper
Baksmali Wrapper
HxD
Color Code Chart
Bottom line... I really did not receive much help from anybody on how to theme. I basically had to scour droidforums, xda, and different websites to pull bits and pieces of things I needed. Tips, tricks, and eliminating tools I did not need. I had to set up everything on my own without any help and I was doing it blindly with no help either. It took me a good month to get things set up properly and I was better equipped using Linux Mint as a dual operating system along-side of Windows Vista but I had 3 bad virus hit my laptop and mess everything up so I can only use Windows Vista for now till I buy another laptop and make it a sole Linux operating system.
It's a shame that most of us cannot get help from the more experienced people but when we become experienced with it finally we are building the path for other new people to be able to do this easier instead of asking for help for months and giving up due to the lack of help at all. So, good luck with this!
