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README.TXT
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1991-08-01
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README.TXT
NOTES ON ICON CREATOR VERSION 1.0
=================================
This file contains up-to-date information, as well as miscellaneous
material not mentioned in other documents.
The following topics are discussed in this file:
1. Clarifications and Operational Notes
1.1 Backup Copies of .EXE and .DLL Files
1.2 Windows Version 2.x Application Icons
1.3 CGA Icons and Mirror Draw
1.4 Monochrome Support and the Tool Bar
1.5 Grid, Transparency, and odd-sized Icon Work Area
1.6 Automatic Image Control & Number of Images in
"Display Resource Statistics"
1.7 Double-Click in Icon Preview Area Has Been Removed
1.8 Operation of Open Next & Open Previous
1.9 Situations Where the Color Selections are Reset
1.10 Message "At least one image in the icon you just saved did not exist
in the Application / Library file"
1.11 Message "Icon not saved! Image specification in Application / Library
file differs from current icon images"
2. Additional Features
2.1 Additional Drawing Aids (the Control and Shift Keys)
2.2 Additional Accelerator Keys
2.3 Miscellaneous Options
3. ICREATOR.INI File
4. UnCrush File Decompression Utility
5. Files Included on the Installation Diskette
1. Clarifications and Operational Notes
=======================================
1.1 Backup Copies of .EXE and .DLL Files
----------------------------------------
When you save an icon into a .EXE or .DLL file, a backup copy is made
prior to any changes. The file prefix will remain the same, but will
be followed by either .EX~ or .DL~. The backup copy is only made the
first time you save an icon into one of these files. As long as you
don't remove the .EX~ or .DL~ files from your hard disk, all
subsequent icon saves into these files will be made without an
additional backup. The purpose of these backups is to provide an
unchanged copy of the application so that it may be easily restored
if needed. If you wish to remove the backup file from your hard
disk, it is recommended that you copy it to a diskette for
safekeeping. While Icon Creator takes the utmost care to ensure the
integrity of any changes to applications, this will provide an
additional "peace of mind."
1.2 Windows Version 2.x Application Icons
-----------------------------------------
Icon Creator does not directly support the modification of icons in
Windows Version 2.x applications. Icons under Windows 2.x are
monochrome only, and generally not of much interest to the icon
enthusiast. If you wish to extract an icon from a Windows 2.x
application, the best method is to run the application, minimize it,
and use the capture feature of Icon Creator to grab the image from
the screen.
1.3 CGA Icons and Mirror Draw
-----------------------------
If you are working on a CGA format icon (32 x 16 pixels, monochrome),
the Mirror Draw feature of Icon Creator will not produce centered
results.
1.4 Monochrome Support and the Tool Bar
---------------------------------------
Icon Creator will operate on a monochrome display. However, the tool
bar is presently displayed only in color, and some of the tools are
difficult to make out.
1.5 Grid, Transparency, and odd-sized Icon Work Area
----------------------------------------------------
If you use the grid when the Icon Work Area is an odd number of times
larger than the icon being edited, it will appear as if there is a
"grid within the grid." The simplest workaround is to resize the
Icon Work Area to an even factor. This can be done by resizing the
main window of Icon Creator.
1.6 Automatic Image Control & Number of Images in "Display Resource Statistics"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automatic Image Control will create an image to match your display if
you edit an icon from a .ICO file that does not contain such an
image. Because of this, you will notice an "extra" image if you
display the resource statistics for the icon. The newly-created
image will be added to the icon file only when you save the icon.
1.7 Double-Click in Icon Preview Area Has Been Removed
------------------------------------------------------
The Icon Creator User's Guide mentions that the dialog box for
changing the background of the Icon Preview Area can be activated by
double-clicking in this window. This has been disabled, since it
interfered with the other methods of changing the background. You
may still activate the dialog box by selecting it as a menu item. In
addition, a new accelerator key (Alt+I) has been added to allow quick
access to the dialog box.
1.8 Operation of Open Next & Open Previous
------------------------------------------
The Open Next and Open Previous commands always operate on the entire
directory. Thus, if you narrow a directory search to "arrow*.ico" in
the file open dialog box, open one of these, and then select Open
Next it will choose the next icon file in the directory, even if it
doesn't match the narrowed search criteria.
1.9 Situations Where the Color Selections are Reset
---------------------------------------------------
Under the following situations, the currently selected color choices
(foreground and background) will be reset to the defaults of black
for foreground and transparent for background:
1) When opening an image with less than the current number of colors.
In other words, going from 16 colors to 8 colors to monochrome.
2) If a dithered color is selected and the eraser tool is chosen.
1.10 Message "At least one image in the icon you just saved did not exist
in the Application / Library file"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message will appear if you attempt to save an icon into an
Application / Library file that does not have all the images
contained in the current icon. As an example, if you create an icon
with both 32x32x2 and 32x32x16 images and save it into an icon within
an application that does not contain the 32x32x2 image, this message
will appear. The 32x32x16 icon was successfully saved. The message
is simply for your information.
1.11 Message "Icon not saved! Image specification in Application / Library
file differs from current icon images"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message will appear if you attempt to save an icon into an
Application / Library file that does not have ANY of the images
contained in the current icon. As an example, if you create an icon
with a 32x32x16 image and attempt to save it into an icon within an
application that only contains a 64x64x16 image, this message will
appear.
If you wish to save the icon after getting this message, do the
following:
1) Be sure Automatic Image Control is turned off
2) Select Image | New
3) Select an image that matches the Application / Library icon.
4) Select "OK" to copy the current image to the new one.
5) ReTry the save. (If you didn't delete the original image you will
get the message described above stating that "At least one image...")
2. Additional Features
======================
2.1 Additional Drawing Aids (the Control and Shift Keys)
--------------------------------------------------------
When drawing with the rectangle, ellipse, or scissors tool, you may
hold down the Control key to move the outline around the Icon Work
Area. This is extremely useful when drawing ellipses, as they are
difficult to position accurately.
When drawing with any of the tools that are affected by Tools
Squaring, the Shift key will alternate the current mode.
2.2 Additional Accelerator Keys
===============================
Accelerator keys are now available for two additional functions:
Alt-I will activate the "Change Icon Preview Background" dialog
Alt-C will initiate a "Capture" operation.
2.3 Miscellaneous Options
-------------------------
There are several options which can not be set directly from within Icon
Creator. These options are located at the end of the ICREATOR.INI
file.
AnimateIcon - (default=YES) - Determines whether or not the Icon
Creator icon is animated (color cycled) when the app. is minimized.
AnimateInterval - (default=1500) - number of milliseconds between
each cycle of icon animation.
IPACycleInterval - (default=350) - number of milliseconds between
each cycle when user holds a mouse button down while in the Icon
Preview Area.
NumUndoBuffers (default=8) - the number of Undo/Redo buffers. Note
that you can actually undo (n-1), as the last buffer allows you to
Redo to where you started from.
SaveWindowPos (default=YES) - Whether or not to save window positions
when Set Preferences dictates "Save On Exit". This is useful
if you like having your options stay as you left them, but
want to be able to freely move the windows around without
having the last position become the "default".
ForceStandardPalette (default=YES) - Will force the use of the
standard 16-color palette when saving an icon if you are running
under a driver supporting 256 (or more) colors. This option exists
to rectify a known anomoly in the way Windows handles colors with
drivers supporting 256 (or more) colors. Under normal circumstances,
there should be no need to change this setting.
3. ICREATOR.INI File
====================
This file is used to store options for Icon Creator which are read on
startup. Most of the options are saved automatically (depending on
the settings of "Set Preferences"), but a few must be done manually.
For the manual ones, please see section 2.2 Miscellaneous Options.
The automatic information which Icon Creator keeps in this file is:
- Save Settings on Every Exit
- The search path used for File Opens
- The File Type (Icon, Application / Executable, or Cursor)
- Show Cursor Position
- Show Drawing Dimensions
- Show Grid
- Show Shadow
- Smooth Pen Drawing
- Undo From Tool
- Automatic Image Control
- Mirror Draw Setttings
- The position and size of the main window
- The position of the Drawing Dimensions window
- Whether or not Context-Sensitive help line is activated
4. UnCrush File Decompression Utility
=====================================
This utility is included on the installation diskette, but is not
installed on your hard disk. It can be used to individually
decompress files from the installation diskette without having to
reinstall the entire product.
A common use for this might be to refresh the sample icons and
cursors included with Icon Creator. To do this, follow these directions:
1) Insert the installation diskette in a floppy drive (assume A:)
2) Change to the directory where you want the icon/cursor samples to
be placed.
3) Execute the following command from DOS:
A:\UNCRUSH A:\ICONS\ICONS.LIB
4) The decompressed files will be placed in the appropriate
directory.
5. Files Included on the Installation Diskette
==============================================
Files ending in a ".??$" are single compressed files. Files ending in
".LIB" are libraries of compressed files. These files can be
individually decompressed by using the UnCrush program supplied on
the diskette.
cursor.ex$ - The Cursor Control application
cursor.ini - The Cursor Control INI file
icreator.ex$ - The Icon Creator application
icreator.hl$ - The Icon Creator help file
icreator.ini - The Icon Creator INI file
install.exe - The installation program
install.inf - The installation script
meter.dll - Part of the installation program
palette.lib - A set of sample dithered palettes
readme.txt - This file
uncrush.exe - A decompression utility
icons\icons.lib - A set of sample icons and cursors