IconBOSS is a general purpose color icon editor for the Macintosh and, more specifically, a Macintosh running under System 7.xx. With this application you may view and edit the icon of any file on your system (as of this version, viewing or editing folder and volume icons is not supported, although that might change with a future release). If you elect to make changes to the icon, you have the option to save the new icon in a separate file (perhaps for use at a later date) or you may update the icon for the file itself, similar to the way you can paste custom icons in System 7’s Get Info dialog. The advantage to updating icons in this fashion is that you can always go back to the old icon by selecting the icon shown in the Get Info dialog and choosing ‘Cut’ from the Finder’s EDIT menu. The disadvantage to this method is that you will of course lose your custom icon once you have cut it in the manner described (unless you also saved the icon to an IconBOSS document or ResEdit document!). Please note that to save custom icons with IconBOSS, you must define the black and white version of the icon. This is so because the mask for the icon family is derived from the black and white icon.
SHAREWARE NOTICE!
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If you choose to keep this application, you are obligated to pay a $25.00 (US) shareware fee. Please send check to:
Scott A. Johnson
3916-12 Newport Avenue
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
Send comments and suggestions via e-mail to:
America Online : DevScott
CompuServe : 71035,3273
Launching
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To run the application you can do one of two things: 1) Double click the IconBOSS icon shown in the Finder. IconBOSS will begin execution and create a new, untitled icon document with which you may edit your own icon for later use. 2) Drag the icon of a file whose icon you wish to modify on top of the IconBOSS icon. While the IconBOSS icon is hilited, release the mouse button. IconBOSS will begin execution and an icon document displaying the icon family (an icon family is the set of icons that comprise what the Finder will display based upon how many colors you have your monitor set to) of the file you chose will be displayed. You are ready to make any changes to the icon at this time.
IconBOSS Window Layout:
Editing Icons
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You can change an icon in any way you choose by using the painting tools displayed to the left in the document window. These tools work as in any paint or image editing application. I have tried to make the set of tools as complete as necessary to achieve the intended goals of this application.
Colors are available via the color palette which can be ‘torn off’ the color selection area in the document window. Just click in this area and the palette will appear. You can then simply drag the palette to a location of your choosing and once you have released the mouse button, a palette window will be created. If you are editing the 8-bit icon, you can choose the palette you would like to use. You have two options: you can use either the Apple Icon Colors palette or a palette of 256 colors. Actually, the Apple Icon Colors palette contains a subset of colors from the 256 color palette; it’s just that these are the colors Apple recommends you use when designing color icons. You can make this choice by selecting the appropriate option under the Color menu. Note that if you are not editing the 8-bit version of the icon, these options are not available and you must use the palette you already have.
At the bottom of the icon document are the various representations that the icon might assume, depending on what Macintosh and monitor the icon is being displayed with. You can see that both standard size (large) and small icons are shown here. You can change which representation you want to edit by clicking the mouse on one of this images. You can instantly define one image by clicking on an already existing one and dragging it to the rectangle which will enclose the image you want to define.
That’s really all that needs to be said about editing the icon. As I stated previously, it is like using any standard paint program. If you have never used a paint program just play around in a new untitled document (it’s probably best not to experiment with an icon you’d rather not screw up, although it is easy to recover from such mistakes); you'll find that you can get around with ease sooner than you might've thought!
CAUTION! As with any application that messes around with resources (and IconBOSS does), it is best to modify only icons of a *COPY* of a file, NOT the original!
Saving your changes
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Once you have completed an editing session, and perhaps intermittently during the session, you should save your work. There are a few options available to you:
• If you are editing an already existing icon, choosing ‘Save’ from the File menu will save the work as though you had selected the icon in the Finder and selected ‘Get Info’. The newly changed icon is ‘pasted’ into the resource part of the file so as not to replace the original icon (but if the current file icon is already a custom icon, it WILL be replaced). This is nice because it allows you to retract your change and go back to the old way by ‘cutting’ it via the same ‘Get Info’ dialog.
• You can also save an existing icon to a separate icon file (which can be either a ResEdit document or IconBOSS document) for later use (or safe storage). Do this by selecting the ‘Save As...’ menu option under the File menu. A submenu will appear that shows the document options (IconBOSS or ResEdit). Choose which type of document you would like to save and release the mouse button. A standard ‘Save’ dialog box will appear in which you can place and name this icon file. Click the ‘Save’ button to actually save the icon.
• If you are editing an original icon, selecting ‘Save’ from the File menu will allow you to save the icon in a standard IconBOSS document. Use the process described in the bullet immediately prior to this one.
Conclusion
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That is really all there is to it! This section denotes a few peculiarities that may arise when using this program.
Peculiarity #1: My icon changes are not reflected in the icon shown in the Finder after I have saved them. What’s the deal?
Reply: Apple has not documented or has not made possible the ability for an application to tell the Finder to redraw an icon. However, I think that it may be possible -- I just don’t know how it is done. (If you are a programming whiz and know this information, please, I’d love to learn!) For now, the icon changed can sometimes be updated if you close the window wherein the icon resides and re-open it. This, however, does not always do the trick and you might just have to wait until the next time you start your Macintosh to see the new work of art.
Peculiarity #2: Why can’t I drop folder or volume icons on the IconBOSS icon to edit them?
Reply: Because editing folder or volume icons is not supported in this version of IconBOSS.
Peculiarity #3 (for icon-techie-nerds like myself) : All icons require a mask image to indicate how the icon is to be drawn against the background. Why can’t I see this mask or change it?
Reply: Originally, IconBOSS was supposed to be a real simple tool for making minor adjustments to icons. In fact, it started out as a simple icon viewer! Obviously, it has turned into nearly a full-blown icon editor. The mask issue was something I have not had time to implement yet and is on the agenda for a future release. Your patience in this regard is much appreciated. For the time being, a default mask is being generated based on the contents of the black and white icon image (and this is one reason why you MUST define this image in order to be able to save the icon, otherwise, your new icon will never be visible! The other is that the 'Custom Icon' feature of System 7 also requires the black and white version).
Release Notes
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Version 1.01
• Maintenance release of IconBOSS
- Rename IconBOSS (was icon7, but there is a commercial product of said name)
- Fixed bug where program would not start on some Mac IIs
- Fixed bug which caused some icons to be displayed with erratic coloring
- Fixed save routine which had previously failed if the file had no resource
fork to start with
- IconBOSS now retrieves default icons from system resources if custom icons
do not exist for the specified file and bit depth.
- repaired and to some extent enhanced Cut & Paste editing features.
- fixed problem with 'Select All' menu command
- fixed a problem with a sometimes disfunctional paint bucket
- other minor fixes
Version 1.0
• Original release of IconBOSS.
Acknowledgements
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Special thanks go to Susan Clark (AFC Borg) and especially Paul Smallwood (AFC Paul) for their kind and generous efforts to help me get IconBOSS through a fairly difficult 'birthing' period. Thanks, also, to many others who have commented on IconBOSS and expressed interest and encouragement. A very special thanks for those 80 some people who downloaded that first, very brief, release and had put up with its many flaws! A lesson has been learned!
About the Author
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My name is Scott Johnson and I am a student of Computer Science at a branch site of Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I have been programming the Mac for only a year and a half now and the longer I do this sort of thing, the more I learn, and the more I find out I have yet to learn! This kind of challenge is what makes designing software for this creature very rewarding!
However, rewarding as it is, there are certain fiscal responsibilities to be considered and this is where I could use help (I’m a college student, remember?). A great amount of time has been spent on this project; your shareware payment will help to encourage me to write more software which (I think) is useful to Macintosh users of all kinds.
DISCLAIMER
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The author, Scott A. Johnson, makes no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the fitness of IconBOSS v1.01 for any purpose. Use it at your own risk. The author claims no liability for data loss or other problems caused directly or indirectly by IconBOSS v1.01.
