Java comes with a very few built in look and feels. In this article we shall see various free and a few commercial look and feel libraries that you can use to spice up your swing applications.

The Look and Feel Libraries are broadly divided into two categories.

1. Skinnable
2. Non-Skinnable

Skinnable look and feel can not only change the look and feel of wigets in your application but can also change the look and feel you window title bars and borders.

For Example:

Non Skinnable look and feel do not change the appearance of your title bars. They only change the look anf feel of other widgets.

For Example

Below we shall see various Look and Feels for Java Applications.

EaSynth

License: Apache License 2.0

Development: Active

Size: 347Kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: Yes

EaSynth look and feel is a Synth based look and feel, the name \"EaSynth\" comes from \"Easy Synth\", because this look and feel is generated by EaSynth look and feel designer, this can be much easier than doing it manually. EaSynth look and feel and its source code (including the XML, Painter and GraphicsUtils classes java code and look and feel project file) will be released under the Apache License 2.0 very soon.Now you can get the stand-alone look and feel JAR file inside the EaSynth Look And Feel Designer package and integrate it into your application.

Oyoaha

License: Free Apache Like License,

Development: Active,

Size: 382 Kb

JRE: 4 or above

Skinnable: Yes

Oyoaha look and feel is an open source project similar to EaSynth .It introduces new feature like transparency, sounds and is Skinable

Skin Look And Feel

License: Free Apache Like License,

Development: Active,

Size: 382 Kb

JRE: 4 or above

Skinnable: Yes

Skin Look And Feel is able to load theme packs (a bundle of GTK - The Gimp Toolkit - and KDE - The K Desktop Environment - skins).It Enhances your application GUI controls such as Buttons, Checks, Radios, Scrollbars, Progress Bar, Lists, Tables, Internal Frames, Colors, Background Textures, Regular Windows. Skin Look And Feel (aka SkinLF) also includes NativeSkin to create irregular windows.

Substance

License: BSD License,

Development: Active,

Size: 3.4 Mb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: Yes

Substance Java look & feel is a project to provide a modern look & feel that combines graphic ideas from Windows XP / Vista and MacOS 10.4.The Substance library adds many more cool L&F to java applications.These look and feels provide many additional features which the built in look and feels do not have:

Themed Title Bar ,Configurable Button Shapes,Animated Progress bars etc

FH Look And Feel

License: GPL License

Development: Active

Size: 1.0 Mb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

FH look and feel, is a open source project .Provides Change of borders, textures and icons along with the change of theme.

Info Look And Feel

License: GPL and Commercial License

Development: Active

Size: 145kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

it is a Java Swing look and feel based on the Metal look and feel. It's designed to have a slim, clean appearance. It has support for themes.

JGoodies Look

License: BSD License

Development: Active

Size: 2.0 Mb

JRE: 4 or above

Skinnable: No

The JGoodies look&feels make your Swing applications and applets look better. They have been optimized for readability, precise micro-design and usability.

LipstikLF

License: GPL License 2

Development: Active

Size: 2.0 Mb

JRE: 4 or above

Skinnable: No

LipstickLF is a Java Swing look and feel based on KDE Environment. Despite many Swing LookAndFeels none of them suits well with native Kde apps decorated by Lipstik engine. This one makes KDE user's life a bit sweeter imitating Lipstik look. Although it's not exactly (pixel-to-pixel) the same as original, it should give you a nice impression

Liquid Look And Feel

License: GPL and Commercial License

Development: Active

Size: 395kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

Liquid is a new look and feel for Java GUI applications based on Swing. It is based on Mosfet's Liquid 0.9.6 theme for KDE 3.x.

NimRod Look And Feel

License: LGPL License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

NimROD Look & Feel is an extension of the Metal Look & Feel. The user is able to change the colours with properties.

Napkin Look And Feel

License: BSD License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

Makes your Java Swing applications to provide support for Look and Feels modeling Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 applications.

Office Look And Feel

License: BSD License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

Makes your Java Swing applications to provide support for Look and Feels modeling Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 applications.

PgsLookAndFeel

License: Apache software License

Development: Active

Size: 322kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

It aims be a very modern cross-platform LookAndFeel with nice features and much interaction for users.

Quaqua Look And Feel

License: BSD License

Development: Active

Size: 6.1Mb

JRE: 1.3or above

Skinnable: No

The Quaqua Look and Feel (Quaqua) is a user interface library for Java applications which wish to closely adhere to the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for Mac OS X.

Squareness Look And Feel

License: Similar GPL License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 1.4or above

Skinnable: No

It's a minimalistic flat look and feel with bright colors that are easy on the eyes.It's part of the Squareness skin suite. The suite provides skins for Windowblinds, Java, Firebird. It aims to deliver a consistent look and feel across all your applications.

TinyLAF

License:GNU LGPL License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

This look and feel is a (mostly painted) pluggable Look and Feel for Java 1.4. TinyLaF can look like Windows 98 or like Windows XP. With the assistance of the control panel, the user can define the component's colors and behaviour.

Tonic Look And Feel

License: GNU LGPL License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

This pluggable look and feel is a substitute for the default native look and feel of Swing, 'Metal'.It contains considerable graphical noise, distracting the user from the key elements of the GUI.

The Alloy Look And Feel

License: Commercial License

Development: Active

Size: 198kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

The Alloy Look and Feel, a new generation look and feel for Java™ Swing applications..

The Alloy Look and Feel enables developers to dramatically improve the user interfaces of Swing applications with minimal effort. With its unmatched appearance, an outstanding active feel, extensive functionality, and high performance there finally is a Java™ look and feel that closes the gap to the latest native GUIs without sacrificing performance or functionality.

JTattoo

License: Free and Commercial License

Development: Active

Size: 600kb

JRE: 1.3 or above

Skinnable: yes

JTattoo consists of several different Look and Feels for Swing applications. All of them enables developers to improve their application with an excellent user interface

Sythetica

License: Commercial License

Development: Active

Size: 600kb

JRE: 5 or above

Skinnable: No

Sythetica is a 'Look and Feel' for Swing and is based on Synth which is part of version 1.5 of the Java2 Platform, Standard Edition.It provides components with rounded borders, shadowed popup menus, nice icons and a new, fresh look. Moreover it enables you to modify existing LAF's, or to create your own LAF only by editing a XML based configuration file.

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Anonymous   |62.116.122.xxx |2008-06-23 17:01:16 It's SWING not SWINGS you moron

TIGGR  - Harsh Much!?   |221.121.73.xxx |2008-06-24 00:25:05 get over it AcronymNazi! to er is human

Vimal  - I guess the author wants to signify plurality   |203.197.168.xxx |2008-06-24 02:51:20 I see that everywhere in the article, the author has used the word "swing". "Swings" has been used only in the title. I guess that the author wanted to signify plurality

Babatunde Adeyemi  - Mr     |193.238.30.xxx |2008-06-24 03:28:44 Of all the Looks and Feels above, the ones worthy of mention are JTattoo, Alloy Look and Feel and Synthetica. Never got Office Look and Feel to work perfectly. JGoodies too is good but with time you get tired of looking at the app you built with it but it's still better than JTattoo in my opinion. Alloy Look and Feel is the best, probably because it is commercial. Also of worthy mention is Synthetica, it sure pimps up an application but the better themes that might get you interested in using it are also commercial. Substance does not make your application look professional no matter the theme you use, though Kirill would kick against this(no puns intended).

Anish  - Download   |116.90.227.xxx |2008-10-22 13:44:30 hi, there are no download links... so how can i download these jar files...? Thankx in adv.

Anonymous   |222.126.119.xxx |2008-11-05 00:46:57 Character problem. empty comment

RajNOX   |125.214.164.xxx |2009-01-18 12:40:01 yoo.. grt

Baumann   |84.156.90.xxx |2009-02-03 02:09:04 Synthetica is definately skinnable - see provided themes at http://www.javasoft.de/jsf/public/products/synthet ica/themes

narkus  - Thanks dude, great job   |190.166.64.xxx |2009-05-05 20:41:02 I'm new to java and was looking for this. TY

Formiks   |77.120.49.xxx |2009-05-23 13:12:36 Thanks! It's really helped me!

knottedhandkerchief  - Synthetica     |217.204.71.xxx |2009-06-01 09:50:32 Synthetica requires signing of applets to get round Synth bugs, apparently.

Arda  - How can i add this packs?   |88.240.94.xxx |2009-07-17 05:05:30 Hello everyone.I'm the beginner of look and feel.I want to know how i can add or use this packs on my applicataions?Can i entegrate these pack to eclipse or netbeans?

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