Creating Icons for Windows


Step 4: Creating the 8-Bit and 4-Bit Images


Creating the 8-Bit Images: Now that you have the 24-bit images ready to be made into 32-bit icons, you need to create 8-bit versions. The 8-bit icons will be displayed in any color mode lower than 32-bit.

The 8-bit versions will not have the 8-bit alpha channel so they will need to have their edges cleaned up as there's no antialiasing (that is, their edges will be jagged).

Select each XP image format in Studio, performing the following steps for each image:

  1. Click the New Image Format tool button.  
  2. Use the New Image Format dialog to create a 256 color version of the same size as the XP image. Be sure to select the checkbox, "Begin New Image using Current Image".
  3. Clean up the edges with solid colors, removing any antialiased pixels. Use consistent stair-stepping to make your jagged edges less pronounced.
  4. Check your image on a light background such as white to see how the image looks.

Figure 17. Cleaning up your images for 8-bit color depth

Creating the 4-Bit Images: If you want your icons to look good down-level, provide 16-color versions of your icon.

Select each XP image format in Studio, performing the following steps for each image:

  1. Click the New Image Format tool button.  
  2. Use the New Image Format dialog to create a 16 color version of the same size as the XP image. Be sure to select the checkbox, "Begin New Image using Current Image".
  3. Clean up your images using colors from the 16-color palette.
  4. Use a black outline on the bottom and right edges of the image.
  5. Use a dark gray or other dark color outline for the left and top edges of the image.

Figure 18. Example of 4-bit icons

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