Introduction
Lubuntu makes you configure the theme for each LXDE component separately.
Openbox Window Titles
Openbox themes can be found at box-look.org or use this list of websites: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Openbox_Themes_and_Apps#Openbox_themes
Openbox themes can be installed automatically by double-clicking the ".odt" file (or by using "Openbox Configuration Manager" or the window border tab on "Customize Look and Feel") , unless you get a themerc file, which needs to be installed manually.
if you get a zip with a themerc file, you'll have to do something like this to move the uncompressed theme (a directory containing a themerc) into the /usr/share/themes directory:
unzip theme_by_dude.zip ls sudo cp -r SomeTheme_Openbox /usr/share/themes
(the same can be done with PCManFM if you open the /usr/share/themes folder as root)
More info at the Openbox Wiki
- After the theme is installed. Select it with "Openbox Configuration Manager" or "Customize Look and Feel"
Taskbar Panel
LXPanel (the bottom taskbar) uses bitmaps to theme itself. You will need to pick out a bitmap for the button, and second bitmap for the bar. === Start === First, download an image you'd like to use as a "start" button. Right click directly on the Lubuntu start button, and select "Menu" Settings.
Click browse to select the image file. The image will be shrunk in proportion to fit the panel. You're done.
Taskbar
http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/gradient/ and http://www.generateit.net/gradient provide tools to generate gradients on the web. The bar bitmap needs only to be 1 pixel wide.
Right-click on the bottom panel left of the window list. Select "Panel Settings" from the pop-up menu. On the "Panel Preferences" dialog, switch to the "Appearance" tab, and you will see an button to select an image background. Select the file and you're done.
Desktop Background
PCManFM draws the desktop in Lubuntu. If you don't see "Desktop Preferences" context menu when you right-click the PCManFM desktop, you will have to run this command: pcmanfm --desktop-pref
On the "Desktop Preferences" dialog, there is an option to select your desktop background or wallpaper.
Widget Theme
You can select the look and feel of buttons and widgets in Lubuntu by installing a GTK+ widget pack.
After you download a GTK 2 or 3 theme off http://gnome-look.org , you will need to extract the archive to the ~/.themes directory. You can create this directory with PCManFM or the "Archive Manager" extract dialog. (~/ is your home dir) Be warned that .themes directory is a hidden directory, and it is hidden from you by default. If you right-click on the "Archive Manager" dialog, you will see an option to view hidden files, a similar option is in the PCManFM menu. After you place the contents of the archive into the ~/.themes directory, please restart "Customize Look and Feel" to see the new theme listed on the first tab.
Icons
You can download icon archives at http://gnome-look.org You will need the tar.gz files. Some icon packs, contain multiple tar.gz files, so you'll need to unpack those to get to the tar.gz files.
To install the icon archive, open "Customize Look and Feel" and select the "Icon Theme" tab. You will see an "Install" button on the left. Select the icon archive you have downloaded, and wait for "Customize Look and Feel" to disappear. After restarting, you should see the new icon set listed on the "Icon Theme" tab. Click and you're done.
More reading: