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IconArt v1.3
how to...

Email us your questions (ia@conware.org) and we'll post them here for all to use!

How to set the mask colour
  1. Simply select the colour you would like to repersent transparent squares on your icon.
    • This can be done by either clicking on the palette or right-clicking the icon.

  2. Click the arrow leading from the palette to the Mask box at the bottom of the screen

How to create an animated cursor
  1. First, open the animation screen. Click the movie button at the bottom left of the screen.


  2. Create the first frame for the animation.
    • Drawn from scratch.
    • Open existing icon.
    • Note: Do not open another animated cursor file as it will be loaded into the animation window, over the top of your animation.

  3. Right click the first frame (there may only be one frame) and select Copy From Editor.
    • Note: Be careful not to select Copy To Editor as your icon will be repleace with a blank frame.

  4. Now right click the frame (which should now contain your icon) and select Insert Frame After.


  5. Draw any changes to your icon in the main editor or open another icon for the second frame.
    • Note: Again, do not open another animated cursor file as it will be loaded into the animation window, over the top of your animation.

  6. Right click the blank frame and select Copy From Editor.
  7. <
    • Note: Once again, be careful not to select Copy To Editor as your icon will be repleace with a blank frame.

  8. Repeat the last two points until all of your animated cursors frames are correct.
    • You can edit any of the frames by either double clicking them or right clicking an selecting Copy To Editor.
    • You can preview your cursor by clicking on the play button on the left of the animation screen.
    • You can set the interval between changing frames on the left of the animation screen. The default is 100ms.

  9. Once you are happy with your cursor, click the Save button on the left of the animation screen. A seperate window will open. Select your options and click save.
    • Colour Depth: How many colours the cursor contains. We recommend 24 bit for desktop use but 256 colours for web applications.
    • Hotspot: This is the point on the cursor that responds to a mouse click. E.g. The tip of an arrow. The standard place for this is the top left of the cursor drawing.

How to use the assimulator
  1. Click the Assimulator button on the far left, second row of buttons at the top of the screen.


  2. Click the addition button to add the icon to the assimulator or first just the open button to open another *.ico file to add the icon too.
    • You can set the colour depth of the icons for when they are saved by clicking the arrow just under the addition button. Note: Colour depth changes are not made until the icon is saved.
    • Use the minus button to remove the selected icon from the file.
    • To create a new multi-icon file, click the new button at the top. Note: This will instantly clear all the icons in the assimulator.
    • To add other icons, just open them in the editor and click the addition button.

  3. Once all the icons are loaded, click the save button. A seperate window will open for you to enter the file name and choose a place.
    • If a program tries to open a multi-icon file and it doesn't support them, the first icon in the file will be shown.

How to extract an icon from a program
  1. Open the icon (or first icon) you would like to add to the assimulator.


  2. Choose your program file.


  3. Select which icon you would like to extract from the file. Note: Some program files may not contain any icons.
As always if you have any questions just email: ia@conware.org


 

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