Axialis IconWorkshop 6.11 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - Axialis IconWorkshop

1. What is IconWorkshop? Just another icon editor?
   Not just another icon editor. This is all-in-one application that includes all the features you need to deal with icons: an editor to create from scratch or retouch icons; tools to create icons from images (PSD, BMP, PNG...) or create images from icons; a converter to create Windows? icons from Macintosh?; an icon searcher/explorer with thumbnail preview to work with icon files and batch create icons; a photoshop plug-in and more... This is why it's widely used by icon professionals.
   
   
2. Can I creat windows XP icons with IconWorkshop?
   Yes, Axialis IconWorkshop permits to create Windows XP icons with Alpha Channel up to 256x256. For more information on icons see this topic. To learn more on how to create Windows XP compliant icons, see this topic.
   
   
3. What are the differences between an image and an icon?
   A computer image is a bitmap (composed of pixels) or vector (composed of drawing paths) picture, which can be saved using various formats (BMP, PSD, GIF, JPEG, WMF...). All these formats have several different properties (bitmaps, vectors, compressed, layered, animated...) and can be used to store pictures at any sizes and resolution.
   
   Icons are different from standard images. They are have standard sizes (usually small): 16x16, 32x32, 48x48... One icon is composed of several images. Each of them with a different size and number of colors (mono, 16 colors, 256 colors, 16.8M...). And the most important property of an icon is the ability to include transparent areas. This allows seeing the screen background behind the icon within its square image (see illustration below).