As well as changing themes from a selection of pre-loaded Samsung offerings, you can customise the look and feel of your Samsung Soul by creating your very own themes.

The Samsung Soul has some nifty software inside that helps you to put together new themes quickly, so you can get your phone's menus and wallpapers looking just how you want them to. By changing the theme on the Samsung Soul, in one go you can change the appearance of the standby screen, background wallpapers, and the look of the menus.

The software makes it simple to make new themes quickly and easily - you don't have to be a mobile phone expert to do it. Usefully, there is an 'easy' option - requiring a few straightforward image and colour choices - and a more advanced 'expert' option, which provides the creative user with more extensive tools to fashion their own unique themes.

When you create and save a theme, it is stored in a gallery alongside Samsung's pre-loaded themes, or others you may have downloaded. It's easy then to apply them to your phone (see our article Changing themes on the Samsung Soul U900 for a step-by-step guide to how to do it).

Create themes (Easy)
If you choose the easy option for creating your own themes, there are only a handful of choices you have to make - for example, which image or pre-loaded pattern to use as the basis of the theme, and which selection of colours (if any) you want to use for your new theme.

The image can be any any photo you've taken or been sent, a pre-loaded wallpaper, or any other image file that's been downloaded or otherwise copied to the handset or on a memory card. Whatever you fancy, in fact. You can choose to create a theme using an image only, colours only or a combination of image and colours.

• Press the Menu button in the centre of the touchpad, or alternatively press the Menu softkey (Figure 1).
• In the main menu, highlight the Settings icon (it looks like a cog and spanner). Press the OK button on the touchpad or Select softkey (Figure 2).
• Scroll down to highlight Display & light settings. Press Select or OK, or alternatively press number 3 on the numberpad (Figure 3).
• Highlight Display. Press Select or OK, or press number 1 on the numberpad (Figure 4).
• Highlight My theme. Press Select or OK, or press number 1 (Figure 5).
• Highlight Create theme (Easy). Press Select or OK, or press number 2 (Figure 6).

You can now choose whether you want to create a theme by selecting an Image only, Colour only or a combination of Image and colour.

Option 1: Image only

• Highlight Image only. Press Select or OK, or press number 1 (Figure 7).
• You have three options to choose from: My files image - using any image file in your phone, Pattern - opting for one of a selection of pre-loaded patterns - or No background. The procedure for selecting an image or pattern is broadly similar but fewer clicks are needed to select a pattern.
• If you want to select an image from your photos, or another of your folders, highlight My files image. Press Select or OK, or press number 1 (Figure 8).
• Scroll down to the My files folder from which you wish to select an image (in this example, Camera album). Press Select or OK (Figure 9).
• Scroll down to the image you wish to use. Press Select or OK (Figure 10).
• After a few seconds, the phone's software will offer you three suggestions for how your new theme could look (Figure 11). Use the left/right touchpad buttons to rotate through the three options.
• If you want to use one of them, press Save or OK.
• You can now type in a name to identify your theme (or leave it as the default name) (Figure 12). Press Save or OK.
• You will be asked if you wish to 'Apply this theme for your phone now?'. You can press Yes to change to your new theme, or No to go back to the My theme menu without changing the current theme (Figure 13). In either case, the new theme will be stored in your theme gallery for use whenever you want it.
• Press the Call end button or Back button to get back to your standby page and view the new theme in place (Figure 14).

Option 2: Colour only

• Highlight Colour only. Press Select or OK, or press number 2 (Figure 15).
• You can now choose up to three colours as the basis for your new theme. Use the touchpad control to move along the colour line to choose your first colour (Figure 16).
• When chosen, press the central button on the touchpad. The first colour will show up on the screen (Figure 17).
• If you want to use this colour only, press Next, and three suggested themes will be presented onscreen for you to rotate through.
• If you want to choose more colours, instead of pressing Next, move the cursor along the colour line as before, and press the central touchpad button again to select the second colour. This will be shown onscreen side-by-side with the first colour chosen (Figure 18).
• You can now press Next to get a theme based on these two colours, or move the cursor along the colour line to choose a third colour, again pressing the central button on the touchpad (Figure 19).
• Press Next to get three suggestions for themes (Figure 20). Rotate through them using the touchpad buttons, and press Save or OK for the one you prefer.
• You can now type in a name to identify your theme (or leave it as the default name) (Figure 12). Press Save or OK.
• You will be asked if you want to 'Apply this theme for your phone now?'. You can press Yes to change to your new theme, or No to go back to the My theme menu without changing the current theme (Figure 13).
• Press the Call end button or Back button to get back to your standby page and view the new theme in place (Figure 21).

Option 3: Image and colour

• Highlight Image and colour. Press Select or OK, or press number 3 (Figure 22).
• Follow the same procedure for Option 1: Image only (above) until you select your image.
• You will then be taken into a similar colour selection procedure as in Option 2: Colour only (above), where you can choose up to three colours to go with your image (Figure 23).
• When you have chosen the last of the colours you want, press Next.
• As before, a choice of three suggested themes will be generated automatically for you to choose from. Rotate through them using the touchpad buttons, and press Save or OK for the one you prefer (Figure 24).
• You can now type in a name to identify your theme (or leave it as the default name) (Figure 12). Press Save or OK.
• You will be asked if you wish to 'Apply this theme for your phone now?'. Press Yes to change to your new theme, or No to go back to the My theme menu without changing the current theme (Figure 13).
• Press the Call end button to get back to your standby page or Back button to go back through the menus to see your new theme in place (Figure 25).

For a step-by-step guide to more advanced theme creation, using the 'Expert' option on the Samsung Soul, see our related feature How to create new themes for the Samsung Soul U900 (Part 2)