How can I create my own vbulleting skin?

[Brad]

A good place to start would be learning photoshop. This is the software of choice for image designers and there is a ton of information on the internet that deals with working with it. Going with another program like Paint Shop Pro or The GIMP can also be a good start, but be warned, not as much information exists on working with this software when compared to photoshop.

Learning photoshop will also allow you to take the picture in your head and make it 'real' without ever having to deal with coding a line of html. This allows you to focus on what you want from the design while you're still planning it, instead of fixing html errors because something did not render correctly only to realize that idea doesn't suit the style you're attempting to create.

Once you master photoshop you should get started with learning; xhtml, css, and a little javascript as it's becoming some what of a requirement if you want to do flashy designs for browsers with javascript enabled. If you're looking to go for an "AJAX" feel on your web page learning javascript from the get-go is a must.

Once you know the code you can start taking vBulletin apart template by template. Experiment with moving things around and just making them 'fit' better. In other words start by changing small things that bother you in the stock layout.

Now that you've gone through the templates and become familiar with them you're ready to design your own style from the ground up. There is no tutorial that explains this in detail. You must have the will, time, and knack to stick with this until you become good enough to do styles on your own. Expect to always be learning new things even years after you master the basics...the internet moves fast and what you learn today may be useless tomorrow when the next thing comes a long.