Plain old gray screens may be functional, but if you want to capture your users'/customers' attention there is a quick and easy way to "kick it up a notch" (wonder if that TV Chef minds if I use his catch phrase).

ActiveSkin 4.3 from Softshape is an ActiveX control that you drop on a form and add a line or two of code to apply a skin to the form.  At just $99 this is a small investment when compared to other options available to let you spice up your applications. ActiveSkin supports: Microsoft Visual Basic 5 - 6, Borland Delphi 3 - 6, and Microsoft Visual C++ 5 - 6.

Above is a simple data entry style screen before applying an Active-Skin.  The same screen takes on a much different look as in the following screen shots after applying a skin.

The above style is called Web-II and the next is called Media.

Skinning a screen is a simple matter of dropping the ActiveSkin control on a form, loading a skin, and then adding a line or two of code.  In my example demo, I dropped the Control on my form 4 times and loaded a different skin for each control.  I then was able to have my menu apply one of the skins by referencing the Skin number.  

"Skin4.ApplySkin Me.hWnd"

In this snippet I am referencing the 4th ActiveX instance I dropped on the form and am using the ApplySkin method to the window.  It really is pretty easy (trust me, VB is not my language of choice).

Although there are many more skins provided when you purchase a license for ActiveSkin, I will only show two more skin screen shots in this review.

The skin shown above is called WinAqua and the next is called Paper.

What the screen shots don't show you is the nice mouse over effects on buttons and the drop down menu.  In the sample app I created to show ActiveSkin I added a menu to let you cycle through the skins I included in the application.

I have to tell you that I have a couple of things I am not crazy about with ActiveSkin.  First, standard labels are not supported - not skin able.  So each field label on your form has to use an Active Skin Label instead.  Many other controls, such as list boxes are also not skin able and don't appear to have a corresponding ActiveSkin control.  However, if you just want to quickly add some style to your data entry screens, ActiveSkin may be just what you need.