Phase 1: The Object (Visual Mastery)

In Total Launcher, everything — an app icon, a text label, a background shape, or a widget — is an “Object”. Learning how to style one object yields knowing how to style them all.

This phase covers the visual attributes: Appearance, Geometry, and Effects.

Before you can change how an object looks, you must enter the design menu.

• Method 1 (Direct): Long-press (tap and hold) to highlight the object and open the Object Design menu at the top of the screen.
  • *Action:* Select Edit icon (pencil) in the center of the page to quickly resize or move the object or
  • *Action:* Select the Options icon (gear) in the Object Design menu to open the full attribute list.
• Method 2 (The Edit Mode Toggle): If long-press is disabled (common in finished themes), pinch-in on the screen to open the main menu and toggle Edit Mode which displays a current state of Edit off in the lower right corner. Tap it to turn it “On” .

New users often confuse “Scale” with “Size.” It is critical to distinguish them.

• The Bounding Box (Size): This is the physical clickable area of the object.

• The Bounding Box (Clickable Area):
• How to change: Long-press the object to select it, then drag the blue handles or tap the Edit icon (pencil) and input specific W (Width) and H (Height) pixel values.
• Visual Sizing (Content):
  • For Text: Use Scale X (%) in the Text Options to stretch or compress the font width.
  • For Icons: Use Icon Padding in the Icon Options. Increasing padding makes the icon appear smaller without shrinking the clickable bounding box.

• Rotation or Transformation
  • Rotation: Spins the object on a 2D plane (like a clock hand). Range is -180° to +180°.
  • Transformation: Tilts the object in 3D space (X and Y axes).
    • *Note:* Rotation must be activated before Transformation options become available.

Text objects can be static (labels) or dynamic (data).

• Static Text: Plain labels like “Home” or “Apps.”
• Dynamic Text: Total Launcher can display system data. When adding text, you can choose standard formats like Date (e.g., M/d/yyyy) or Time (e.g., hh:mm), or use Text Tags for battery, RAM, or unread counts. See the dialog

here.

Found under the selected (highlighted) object's Options > Text as shown in the dialog

here.

• Typeface: Choose from system fonts or user-imported TTF files.
• Capitalize: Forces all text to UPPERCASE automatically.
• Scale X (%): Stretches the text width. <100% creates “condensed” font; >100% creates “wide” font.
• Label Lines: Limits text to 1, 2, or 3 lines (useful for preventing long app names from overlapping other icons).

Use more than the default app icons.

• Icon Packs: Apply a global icon pack to all icons in Launcher Options, or override a single object by selecting Options > Icon > Icon Pack.
• Color Filters: A powerful tool to silhouette an icon.
  • *How it works:* Apply a solid color (e.g., White) over a colorful icon. This flattens it into a minimal shape.
• Settings: Set White color to 50% transparent (slider) and Saturation to 0% to make it grayscale (Black & White) or to 100% for full color.

Every object sits on a “canvas” called the Background.

• Solid Color: Select a single color in the option color of the launcher's Color Picker (supports transparency/alpha).
• Shapes: Choose Rectangle, Oval, Rounded Rectangle, Arc, Squircle, or Polygon.
  • *Gradient Tip:* In the Shape menu, there is Color 1 and Color 2. Set them to different colors to create a gradient, or set Color 2 to “Transparent” 100% to get a fade-out effect. Then select Fill to pick the desired effect.

Color Picker: Round Rectangle Color1 Red Color2 Green	Shape: Fill dialog Color1 Red Color2 Green		Color Picker: Rount Rectangle Color1 Red Color2 Transparent	Shape: Fill dialog Color1 Red Color2 Transparent

Shadows are applied to the content (the text letters or icon shape), not the bounding box.

• Radius: Controls the blur. A high radius (e.g., 20px) looks like a soft glow; a low radius (1px) looks like a hard outline.
• Offset X/Y: Controls the light source direction.
  • *Pro Tip:* Set Offset X and Y to 0 and use a bright shadow color to create a “Neon Glow” effect around text.