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How to Convert

First Load the picture by double-clicking on its filename.  The image viewing area is at the upper left, with the name of the image; the Zoom button and the Conversion area also become visible:

To Convert the Current Image to the target format (BMP to ICO or ICO to BMP), Click on the Convert button or press Alt-C. The new file will be saved in the current directory (its full path is just above the file lists).

The Suggested target file Name, at the right of the image name, will be the same, the target ico or bmp extension being implied.  For ex., the BMP version of ICOTEST.ICO will be saved as ICOTEST.BMP.  If you wish to change the target filename, click on the text box which contains it, or press Alt-N. Make any change, then press <Enter> (or click anything outside the text box) to accept the change, or <Esc> to cancel it

If the current image was cropped from a bigger BMP, the filename will end with "_C"; if the image filename is longer than six characters, it will be shortened to six. For ex., the target name of an image cropped from HUGEPICT.BMP will be HUGEPI_C.ICO.

Before you perfom the Conversion:

ICO to BMP: the icon may have a Transparent Background, which you may change: see  Background Color for Bitmaps.

BMP to ICO:  you must select a Transparent Color for the icon: see Transparent Color for Icons.

When the Conversion is done, the ICO and BMP file names are highlighted in the file lists. The Current image is then unloaded, and and the top portion of BMPtoICO is reset to its starting state.

Note on Colors:  If your monitor video mode is 256 colors or more, some dark colors may not convert properly (they will become black) or will not show properly when you crop an icon size picture from a BMP.  They will be a darker shade than those in the Windows color chart at the upper right.  If this happens, you can try to use an Icon Editor (for ICOs) or Windows PaintBrush (for BMPs) to change them later. You can also change your video mode to 16 colors before starting BMPtoICO, just to be on the safe side.


File lists

The *.ICO and *.BMP file lists are always shown so you can monitor your session at all times.

          Click on a picture name to Highlight it

          Double-Click on the name to Load the image

To Refresh a file list, click on it with the Right mouse button. This can be useful if you have done some file management outside of BMPtoICO.

To perform a File Action on an highlighted file, click the File Action button or press Alt-F.  See File Action for more help.

To View All ICOs and BMPs in the current directory, click on the View All button or press Alt-V.  See View All pictures for more help.

To Change Directory, click on the Dir. Change button or press Alt-D.  If an image is currently loaded, you will be asked if you want to proceed, since changing directories unloads the current image to guarantee that you are always in the right working directory. The Drive and Directory lists will appear over the buttons at the right: double-click on a directory name to update the file lists.  Then click on the Close button or press Alt-C; clicking on a filename in one of the two lists will have the same effect.


Crop BMP to Icon Size
Crop a BMP to Icon size

If the BMP you wish to Convert to ICO is too big, i.e. if its height or width is greater than 32 pixels, a new form appears automatically, with the full BMP in a view window at left, an Icon and some buttons at the right.   If the BMP is larger than the view window, there will be a vertical and/or an horizontal scroll.

The Icon Cursor, a transparent rectangle with a black border, is positioned at the top left.  Its content shows in the small Icon at the right, and is updated automatically as you move the cursor.

To move the Cursor pixel by pixel, Click on the Arrow buttons or Press the Arrow keys (a bit faster due to key autorepeat). To move even faster (for distances further than the cursor's dimensions), Click the Cursor near its center, then Drag and Drop it where you want it. The Cursor always stays inside the view window; to see other parts of a big picture, use the scrolls first.

You can view a Blowup of the Icon at any time by clicking on the Zoom button or by pressing Alt-Z.

When you are happy, click on the OK button. The Icon image will show in BMPtoICO's main form upon exit, ready to be converted into an Icon (and/or saved as a small BMP: see Image Menu).  To remind you that the image is cropped, the suggested ICO name will end with "_C", and the word "Crop" will be displayed below the Zoom button.

You can Cancel the Crop operation at any time by clicking on the Cancel button or by pressing the <Esc> key.


Transparent Color for Icons
Transparent Color for conversion to ICO

With Windows icons, you can select a color to be transparent so that the Wallpaper shows through the icon's surroundings when the program is minimized.

To select the Transparent Color, click on a color in the chart at the upper right. The default color when BMPtoICO starts is White, but if you change it the new color will become the default until you change it again.

If you don't want any color in your Icon to become transparent, select a color which is not present in your picture.

All the pixels that are of the selected color will be made transparent, so be careful if the surrounding color is also present in the picture itself.  You can always try to make those pixels as foreground color in an Icon Editor program.  Another solution to this problem is to edit the BMP file, coloring the area you wish to be transparent with a color that you don't use anywhere else:


    Contents

BMPtoICO facilitates conversions of BMP bitmaps to ICO Icons, and vice-versa.

Conversion

    How to Convert

    Image Formats

    Crop a BMP to icon size

    Transparent Color for Icons

    Background Color for Bitmaps

Image Menu

File Lists

    View All

    File Action

Shareware Information

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Image Formats

Icons

Only valid Windows 3.x icons can be Loaded into BMPtoICO.  An icon always measures exactly 32 x 32 pixels, but it shows as a rectangle because pixels are not square. An ICO file has exactly 766 bytes, its data is saved in a special format, and it can have a Transparent Color, usually its background.

Bitmaps

BMPs can be loaded directly if they are Icon size or smaller. If the BMP is bigger, a new form will appear with the BMP loaded full size. You can then Crop an Icon size picture out of it.

Bitmaps are saved with a color definition for each pixel and all colors become foreground. When you convert from an icon with a Transparent background, you can change its  Background Color.

NOTE:  If the BMP was saved with more than 16 colors and some colors are not part of the basic Windows palette, BMPtoICO will not show these colors properly; it is safer to convert only BMPs saved as 16-colors or monochrome  bitmaps.

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Shareware Information

     version 1.0

© 1995, My Cat Software

This program is distributed as Shareware, and it not crippled in any way. I prefer you to have the full package and decide if you wish to register or not. Also, being mostly house bound due to illness, I try to avoid trips to the Post Office... So I don't promise anything if you register, although a better version based on your comments might be in the future. Any comments are of course also welcome.

Registration price is only $15 US, or $15 Cdn if you live in Canada.  If you live outside Canada, please use a money order or bank draft if you can. Make all cheques or money orders payable to Lucie Dorais, not to MyCat Software.

Please send any correspondance to:

Lucie Dorais

603 - 222 Guigues

Ottawa, Ont.

K1N 5J2

Canada

E-mail:  l.dorais@genie.com

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Image Menu

Except for Exit, all items in this menu are enabled only if an image is Loaded.

Unload

Unloads the current image and resets the top portion in its starting state.

Copy to ClipBoard

Send the current image to the ClipBoard.

Save Crop as...

Save the crop from a BMP as a new bitmap.  This item is enabled only if an image is a crop from a BMP.

The suggested filename will end with "_C".  For ex., the suggested name for the cropped version of WIDEPICT.BMP will be WIDEPI_C.BMP; the original BMP is not modified in any way.

Exit

End BMPtoICO.

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Background Color for Bitmaps
Background Color for conversion to BMP

If the loaded Icon has a Transparent Background, you will be able to see BMPtoICO's grey background through it.  When you save it as a BMP, this grey background will be saved as the grey color, not as "transparent" (a concept that bitmaps ignore).

If you want a background of a different color, click a color in the chart at upper right to select it. The Current image background will immediately show the change.

The default background color is reset to Grey each time you load a new icon, because Grey is the color of the form, so you get the "transparent" effect if the icon has a transparent color.  If you see no change when you click on a few of the chart colors, it means that the icon does not have a transparent color.

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View All pictures

When you Click on the View All button, or press Alt-V, you get another form which shows up to nine ICO pictures on the left.  If there are no icons in the current directory, the form will show up to nine BMP pictures.

Only true Windows icons or bitmaps can be shown: bad ones are identified by a "BAD PIC" quote in lieu of the picture.  If a Bitmap is larger than icon size, it will be shown reduced to icon size, in its true proportions.

To make a picture "current", just click on it. The current picture, ready to be Loaded into BMPtoICO's main form, will be surrounded by a frame, and its filename will be displayed at the right.

To see a Blowup or a Full View of a picture, click on the button marked "Zoom" or "Full" (its caption changes according to the actual size of the current picture). To cancel the Full View, click on the OK menu item at upper right or press the <Esc> key.

To display another group of nine pictures, click on the "<<" or ">>" button (sorry, the flicker of the pictures when browsing ICO files could not be eliminated).

To change the type of the pictures, click on the ICO or BMP option button; if there are none of one type, the button will be disabled.

To load the current picture into BMPtoICO's main form, click on the Load button or press Alt-L.

To cancel View All, click on the Cancel button or press Alt-C or the <Esc> key.

The View All form and code are adapted from the ICONVIEW example in the Microsoft Press book Visual Basic Workshop, Copyright © 1993 by John Clark Craig.

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File Action

When you click this button, a PopUp menu appears, with the following items.  These actions are applicable to the currently highlighted filename in one of the two File Lists.

Delete

Delete the highlithed file; you will be asked to confirm.

Rename

Rename the highlighted file.  You only need to enter the filename, the extension and path are automatically added by BMPtoICO.

Copy

Copy the highlighted file with another name.  Enter only the filename (see Rename).

Info

You get the size in bytes of the file, and the last date and time it was last saved; if the file is Read-Only, the message will say so.

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