Custom SharePoint 2010 theme?

I would like to create a custom theme for SharePoint 2010. My theme is quite complex, created with background images and a quite different look and feel from the standard theme. I have read that you can create themes with MS PowerPoint, is the tool right for me or should I wor开发者_JAVA技巧k directly with the master page? Thanks a lot...

Involving PowerPoint in such a process would most likely be a big mistake. You should use Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010, it's free.

64 bit version, http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=566d3f55-77a5-4298-bb9c-f55f096b125d

32 bit version, http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=d88a1505-849b-4587-b854-a7054ee28d66&displaylang=en

Designing a complex SharePoint template is hard work and requires lots of planning and good structure.

Good luck.

You can only do so much with SharePoint when it comes to designing and building custom themes. If you need to have deep control over the theme - which is necessary for complex layouts - go straight to using custom CSS, images and possibly make Master Page changes (although this is rarely recommended).

Also, if you are going to take this fully custom route, make a copy of the default files and then customize the duplicates. If you modify the default files, when you update SharePoint to newer versions, there's a good chance your code will be overwritten by the updates.