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<*><*><*><*> IconMeister (v1.4) <*><*><*><*>
Copyright (C) 1989
All Rights Reserved
by Michael Bodin
The time has come to throw IconEd in the TRASHCAN! Now there's
IconMeister, THE paint program for creating Icons. This program was
designed for making Icons of all types, sizes, and colors. IconMeister
is packed with features for creating interlace, 8 color, and dual
icons. IconMeister has twice the features of IconED packed into the
same size code space. This is a MUST GET for all Icon masters!
IconMeister is designed to replace the IconEDitor found on the AMIGA
EXTRA's release disk. Ever since I bought my first AMIGA 1000 I have
been waiting for a better Icon editor to be written. True, you can
now use a utility program to turn icons into brushes and vice versa.
And then load up DeluxePaint (I II or III) to modify the icon. But
this seems like alot of extra steps to create a quick and simple icon.
That's where IconMeister comes in! This program handles all types
of icon creation, quickly and easily. The code is just slightly
larger than IconED so replacing it on your disks should be no problem.
But, that is the only similarity to IconED. IconMeister has all of the
popular drawing tools, like PENCIL, LINE, RECTANGLE, CIRCLE, etc. You
can also change the default colors to match any workbench enviroment,
as well as, define 8 color icons. But enough of this babble, lets get
down to business and explain the many features of IconMeister...
______________________________________________________________________
First lets cover the screen layout. The IconMeister has 3 primary
windows for creating icons. The 2 ICON windows are the main drawing area
for your icons, while the Tools window is where you select which tool
you wish to work with. These windows are ALL attached to the Menu, so
no matter which window is active the menus are always active. There are
also windows for color control, files requester, and animation.
Icon Windows: These windows can be re-sized up to a maximum of 250X110
for full size icons. Clicking inside the window or clicking on the size
gadget for the window will make it the active window. While the window
is active you can use the right-Amiga menu shortcuts and all tools have
a keyboard equivalent, which can be selected only when either Icon
window is active.
Tools Window: This window can be moved anywhere vertically on the
screen. This window is where you select the tool or function you wish
to use. Most tools have a keyboard equivalent, however, the clear screen
function and eraser fuction must be selected from this window. Also
this window contains the color gadgets. To select a new drawing color
just pick the color box you want, a small box will highlight your sel-
ection. These gadgets are set up 0 - 3, left to right. If you are
set up for 8 colors you will see colors 4 - 7 on the bottom row.
Color Window: This window opens up from the SCREEN menu. The color
gadgets are displayed the same as in the tool window. To select a color
to work on just select the associated color box. Again it will highlight
with a small box drawn around it. When you select a color the sliders
will adjust to show the current settings for that color. To change the
the color just click and drag on the slider knob, when you release the
new color will be displayed. The RESET gadget reloads the last colors
set up, back into the screen.
Files Window: This file requester is actually a window. You can drag
it all over the screen. The icon windows and tool window can still be
used, if you forget one last thing. However, the menus are turned off
until the file window is cancelled or closed. All files on the disk
will be displayed. (File window opens looking into the startup directory)
The default gadgets let you select either DF0: or DF1:. But, you can
always type in the drive specification in the Drawer string. The same
file window is used for OPENing or SAVEing icons. You will see a gadget
marked OPEN or SAVE depending. The CANCEL gadget is just that and cancels
the current operation. The file string can only be a file with ".info"
appended. You cannot (and I don't know why you would) load any other file
but icon info files. If you type in a name for a new icon be sure and
include the .info part! Or you can select one of the files displayed by
clicking on it and the filename will be copied into the file string. To
see more files on the disk just move the slider up or down. The files
are displayed in groups of five.
Animate Window: The animate window opens from the menu. This window is
used to display dual icons so you can see what the finished product will
look like. This window can be dragged anywhere on screen. To see the
icons FLIP just click inside the window. To close just select the close
gadget in the top left corner.
ICON TOOLS: (keyboard shortcut)
~~~~~~~~~~~
PENCIL (p) This tool is used to draw single pixels in freehand style
LINE (l) This tool is used to draw straight lines between any two
given points. Just click and drag out the line.
RECTANGE(r) This tool is used to draw rectangles of any size. Just
click and drag out the rectangle you want. (FRAME only)
CIRCLE (c) This tool is used to draw circles of any size. Just click
and drag out the circle you want. (FRAME only)
TEXT (t) This tool is used to type text into the screen. Just click
inside the window where you want the text to start. To get
out of TEXT mode and back to keyboard commands hit the
ESCAPE key.
FLOOD (f) This tool is used to flood an are with a color. This is
what you will use to turn the (FRAME only) tools into a
solid shape.
CLEAR () This gadget is used to CLEAR the active window. This
action can be UNDOne.
UNDO (u) This gadget will undo the last change. (NOTE: if you undo
text written into window ALL text written when you last
selected the text tool will be wiped out. (or simply said
if you undo text the whole sentence goes,not just the last
character typed!))
ERASER () This tool is used to erase larger areas to backround color
SCISSORS() This tool is used to cut out a section for pasting into
either icon window. This tool will also be activated when
the save routine is called. You MUST frame the area of the
icon you wished saved.
PASTE () This tool is currently NOT ACTIVE. (This will basically
allow you to cut and paste parts of your icon)
(NOTE: This function will be active in the next revision)
UNKNOWN () This gadget appears as a "?" in the tools window. This
item though not implemented in this version will be for
magnifying the image.
(NOTE: This function will be active in the next revision)
COLORS (]) These gadgets are used for selecting the color you wish to
([) draw with. You can cycle through the available colors by
pressing the right bracket character to increment the
color number and the left character to decrement the color
number.
PROJECT MENU:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEW Select this item to start a fresh new icon. Clears both
Icon screens.
OPEN Select this to open an icon from disk. The file will be
opened if possible and the icon will be displayed in
ICON #1 window. If its a dual icon then the alternate
(or selected) image will appear in ICON #2 window. The
menu setting will also reflect the icon type.
SAVE Select this to save your icon creation to disk. You can
re-edit an old icon and save it back again or you might
use NEW and create a whole new icon. Regardless once you
select save you will see the word -FRAME- above ICON #1
window to indicate this window is where you will cut out
your icon image. If you are working on a dual icon the
cut still comes out of window #1. (So, be sure and leave
space in your cut for any size difference between image
#1 and image #2). Once the image for the icon is cut out
you will then see the file requester. Proceed or cancel
as you choose.
SCREEN MENU:
~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERLACE Chosing this menu item will call up a requester asking
if you are sure of your choice. Currently when going to
interlace or 8 color screen NO DATA IS PRESERVED!! The
screen is closed down and reopened in the new format, but
all images will be lost! (BEST to do this at the start of
your session!)
8 COLOR Chosing this menu item will call up a requester asking
if you are sure of your choice. Currently when going to
interlace or 8 color screen NO DATA IS PRESERVED!! The
screen is closed down and reopened in the new format, but
all images will be lost! (BEST to do this at the start of
your session!)
Set COLORS Choosing this menu option will open the color control
window. Adjust the colors the way you like 'em and close
the window when done.
ICONTYPE MENU:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SINGLE Choosing this option sets you up to create single icons
only. This is the default setting.
DUAL Choosing this option sets you up to create dual icons.
Using this option you must draw the UN-SELECTED image
in ICON #1 window and the SELECTED image in ICON #2
window.
TOOL Select this if you want to create a TOOL type icon.(DEFAULT)
PROJECT Select this if you want to create a PROJECT type icon.
DRAWER Select this if you want to create a DRAWER type icon.
DISK Select this if you want to create a DISK type icon.
TRASH Select this if you want to create a TRASHCAN type icon.
HIGHLIGHT MENU:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BACKFILL Select this to set the highlighting to backfill. This
method is the default and tends to have the best look.
COMPLEMENT Select this to set the highlighting to complement. This
method complements the icon image when selected.
OPTIONS MENU:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANIMATE Select this menu option to open up the animate window for
viewing dual icons in action. Just click inside the win-
dow to FLIP images.
COPY 1->2 or 1<-2 This option will copy the entire icon window
from window 1 to 2 or from 2 to 1. Makes creating dual
icons alot easier.
ABOUT MB takes his bows. <-GRIN-> (Also shows current version
number of the program.)
I have tried to make the IconMeister program as "intuitive" as pos-
sible. For this reason I recommend jumping right in and creating a
simple icon. This is the best way to learn how this program works. I
am currently working on the next release to include the magnify and
paste functions as well as any other suggestions I receive. Please
drop me a line and tell me what you like and don't like about the
program so I can make improvements.
IconMeister is SHAREWARE! PLEASE take note that I AM a starving
programmer looking to make a living. I am currently umemployed and
I can use all the help I can get. (Beg Beg Grovel Grovel) So, if you
like this program and are using it please send in your money. I will
update only registered users with the latest and greatest versions!
Please send $15.00 (such a small price to pay!) to...
Michael Bodin
2912-A Battle Mountain Way
Tallahassee, Florida
32301
I can also be reached on Compuserve, PeopleLINK, GEnie, and the
Lattice BBS's. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what new
things you would like to see incorporated into IconMeister.
CompuServe User # 72571,3240
PeopleLINK MBODIN
GEnie M.BODIN
Lattice Mike Bodin