Designer窶冱 Studio窶冱 ability to work with icons has been briefly mentioned in previous chapters. However, with the release of version 1.5, Designer窶冱 Studio becomes the world窶冱 most powerful icon editor and its many features deserve a bit more attention.
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Creating And Opening Icon Files
There are three methods of working with icons: creating or editing an individual folder icon, creating or editing a icon set or working with icons within the Kaleidoscope color scheme environment. All three of these choices are available from the File menu under New File... or Open File or Folder Icon... When working with a color scheme, there is a third option in the File menu: New Icon Set From Scheme. This allows you to create a secondary file filled only with the icons from your color scheme. Once an icon or icon set is opened, all the standard graphics tools are available for drawing or editing icons in the Resource Editor.
Saving Icon Files
There are a number of options for saving your icon files. If you have opened an individual icon or folder your only choice is to resave that icon in a location of your choice. However, if you have been editing icons within the icon set environment, including icon sets extracted from color schemes, you have three options for saving your icons:
1. As a simple icon set file, a resource file filled with your icons.
2. Mounted on folders, allowing you to save the icons in usable form on actual folders.
3. As an Icon Installer.
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Installers
One of Designer窶冱 Studio窶冱 most exciting new features, Icon Installers replace all previous attempts at creating icon 窶徘atches窶 for other files. Until now, most icon patches were made with ResCompare which meant that individual patches must be created for every file in which a user might wish to install his or her icons. Saving your icon set as an Icon Installer allows you to distribute your icons in a small application which allows the user to insert your icons in any Kaleidoscope color scheme, the Kaleidoscope control panel, itself, any Niji appearance, the Appearance extension... almost any file you can think of that uses icons. The Icon Installer even lets you make a 窶彡lean窶 backup copy of the file you intend to patch.
Note: Once you have created your Icon Installer application with Designer's Studio, you can customize the appearance of the splash screen (DITL resource 129) with ResEdit or another dialog editor. Be careful while editing the Icon Installer with ResEdit; removing any resources may cause it to function improperly. You are free to distribute your Icon Installers in any form you wish, with no additional payment to the makers of Designer窶冱 Studio, as long as the Designer窶冱 Studio logo remains in the Icon Installer splash screen.
Note: Typing command-. or esc, while inserting icons with the Icon Installer application, will cancel the installation process and leave the target file unchanged.
Color Scheme Notes
While working in the color scheme environment, you are given the option of exporting all your color scheme icons into a icon set. This option, available in the File menu, will allow you to continue working solely on a file of icons and allow you to resave your color scheme icons in any of the three formats mentioned above. Do not forget that, unless you check the finder icons box when creating a new color scheme, you will not have any icons present in your scheme. You must then add them manually with the resource type and resource ID pop-ups (and, of course, the add resource button) or import a previously saved icon set from the option in the Resource menu.
