Image Format

There are currently three compatible image formats for themes with specific use cases;

  • .bmp - the bootlogo only (24-bit, True Colour bitmap).
  • .png - any static images within ./images/static/, backgrounds in ./images/wall/, and overlay.png.
  • .gif - creating animated backgrounds within ./images/wall.

What is consistent across most of these uses is that the resolution has to be 640x480 resolution (same as the device itself).

Tip: If you are struggling to find a method to easily convert an image to a 24-bit .bmp file, there are many online converters that can do this for you. There are also similar places to convert a video file to a .gif file easily as well.

Menu Graphic Design

If you are new to graphic design in this context, there are many places you can start with to get the most out of the muOS theme engine. Most people designing visual assets will use software such as Photoshop, Photopea (this one is online and free to use), Illustrator, GIMP, Procreate, Aseprite (pixel art app), or Affinity.

With the introduction of individual list item images (in muOS Beans), themers can now simulate complex navigation you would see in other CFWs or software menus. The most common use case example for muOS is altering the main menu (muxlaunch) from vertical lists to icon-based navigation. Here are three examples of this;

"GamePal" by vacarotti "GbOS" by ciskao "Plexus" by LMarcoMiranda
Single row horizontal
navigation across two pages		 Multi-row horizontal navigation Vertical scrolling navigation

To achieve this, refer to both the Theme Structure and Scheme File pages - but to put it simply in these three specific cases…

  • Create an image folder within ./images/wall/ named muxlaunch, with files named; explore.png, favourite.png, history.png, apps.png, info.png, config.png, reboot.png, and shutdown.png.
  • Duplicate .scheme/default.txt and rename it to muxlaunch.txt. All values here under [LIST] must have their alphas set to =0 to make the list items invisible, and [MISC] NAVIGATION_TYPE=0 or =1 (0 is vertical navigation, 1 is horizontal navigation).
PS Blue (by VagueParade)
Animated background with
static images on top

If you would like an animated background, place your background named default.gif or mux_example.gif in ./images/wall/ and set [MISC] ANIMATED_BACKGROUND=1 in order to tell the corresponding program(s) that it is expecting a .gif file (instead of a .png).

Static Images: These are very useful when using animated backgrounds, as you can save your theme size + quality by placing icons on top of a looping background. The file structure is the same as if you were placing an muxlaunch folder in ./images/wall/, but you cannot use a default.png in this case.

Use fullscreen static images sitting underneath your header/footer in your program(s) by changing [MISC] STATIC_ALIGNMENT=X to 3.

Feel free to take inspiration from other themes as well if you are struggling to find a way to implement the perfect type of menu navigation for your theme.