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Extras Disk: Tools Drawer
IconEdit:
Application screenshot available [.gif format]
IconEdit personalizes your Workbench by changing the appearances of existing icons and creating new ones.
Draw and edit icons in the magnified view box of the IconEdit window.
The Normal and Selected view boxes show the icon images at actual size. Several gadgets in the window draw squares, circles, and straight lines, giving you more control over your drawing.
There are three sub-windows in IconEdit: the Normal and Selected view boxes and the Magnified View Box, which fills most of the window.
Each of these is an "AppWindow" - you can drag an icon into that window to load it, rather than using menus.
Clicking in the Normal view box displays the selected image of the icon as long as you hold down the selection button.
Colour selection:
The Colour Selection gadget lets you select a colour for drawing. In addition to the standard method for selecting a colour by pointing to it and clicking the selection button, this gadget allows you to choose two colours at once.
To create a "checkerboard" pattern, select the first colour, hold down Shift, then select the second colour.
To create a pattern of vertical bars, select the first colour, hold down Alt, then select the second colour.
Keyboard shortcuts: Press P to cycle forward through the colours. Press Shift+P to cycle through dithered patterns using the background colour. Press I (slash) to reset the colour to a solid pattern.
Magnified View Box:
Use the mouse to draw your icon in this box. Click the selection button to display a pixel of the selected colour. Hold down the selection button to draw while moving the mouse.
The pointer turns into cross hairs when it is in the magnified view box. The new pixels appear at the centre of the cross hairs.
Pixel coordinates (relative to the upper left corner) appear in the IconEdit window title bar to show the position of the cross hair.
To load an existing icon into IconEdit, drag the icon into the magnified view box.
Drawing Tools:
- The Freehand gadget (S)
The Freehand gadget lets you quickly draw unstructured shapes. If you select this gadget and then draw in the magnified view box, the pixels fill in as the mouse passes over them.
However, you may not get a continuous line and some pixels may not be filled in. Use this gadget to sketch an icon that you intend to fill in the details on later.
- Continuous Freehand Gadget (D)
The Continuous Freehand gadget is similar to the freehand gadget, except that it produces a continuous line. When drawing continuous lines, there is a delay before the display catches up with your movement.
- Circle Gadget (E - outlined circle) (Shift+E filled circle)
To draw a circle or oval:
- Select the circle gadget.
- Point inside the magnified box at the point where you want the centre of the circle, hold down the selection button, and move the mouse.
- Release the selection button when you reach the correct size and shape.
Selecting the right portion of the gadget draws filled circles. To fill the circle with a dithered pattern, select two colours from the selection gadget.
Selecting the left portion of the gadget draws an outline of a circle. To double the thickness of the circles outline, hold down Ctrl before releasing the selection button.
- Box Gadget (R outlined box) (Shift+R filled box)
To draw a box:
- Select the box gadget.
- Point inside the magnified box at the point where you want a corner of the box, hold down the selection button, and move the mouse.
- Release the selection button when the box is the correct size and shape.
Selecting the right portion of the gadget draws filled boxes. To fill the box with a dithered pattern, select two colours from the colour selection gadget.
Selecting the left portion of the gadget draws an outline of a box. To double the width of the box's sides, hold down Ctrl before releasing the selection button.
To draw a three-dimensional box, similar in appearance to the Workbench gadgets, hold down an Alt key while drawing a box outline.
To draw an 'unselected" box hold down left Alt. To draw a selected box, hold down right Alt.
- Line Gadget (L)
To draw a straight line:
- Select the line gadget.
- Position the mouse where you want the line to start.
- Hold down the selection button.
- Move the mouse to the line ending position.
- Release the selection button.
Double the thickness of the line by pressing Ctrl before releasing the selection button.
- Fill Gadget (F)
Use the fill gadget to fill an area of the magnified view box with the selected colour.
Select the fill gadget, then click within the area you want to change to the same colour as the dot under the cross hair.
Note: The fill gadget does not fill a patterned area. However, solid areas can be filled with the checkerboard or vertical bar patterns, if selected.
- UNDO (U)
Select UNDO to cancel the last mouse action performed in the magnified view box.
- Clear (Shift+C)
Select the clear button to clear the entire area inside the magnified view box.
- Normal/Selected Radio Buttons (Shift+S Selected) (Shift+N Normal)
The Normal and Selected radio buttons switch between unselected and selected images for an icon.
The normal image is how an unselected icon looks. The selected image is how an icon looks after you have clicked on it.
When the Normal radio button is selected, any image drawn in the magnified view box appears in the normal view box at the top of the window.
When the Selected radio button is used, you can create the image that appears when the icon is selected. You can only use this radio button when the Image menu item is chosen from the Highlight menu.
Any image created appears in the selected view box.
Note: Any part of the image that is moved off the edge of the magnified view box is lost.
Press the corresponding arrow key to move the image.
Project Menu:
The items in the Project menu let you open and save icon files.
Edit Menu:
The items in the Edit menu allow you to use the Amiga's Clipboard to import IFF ILBM clips that were created with other programs.
- Cut: (Right Amiga+X)
Deletes the image in the magnified view box and copies it to the Clipboard.
- Copy (Right Amiga+C)
Copies the image in the magnified view box to the Clipboard.
- Paste (Right Amiga+V)
Copies any image in the Clipboard to the magnified view box, replacing the current contents.
- Erase
Erases any image in the magnified view box. You can erase everything or save before erasing.
- Open Clip
Copies an existing IFF file into the Clipboard. A requester asks for the name of the file to open. You can then Paste the file into Icon Edit.
- Save Clip As
Saves the current contents in the Clipboard to a specified file.
- Show Clip
Displays the current contents in the Clipboard using the Display program. To exit Show Clip, press Ctrl+C. If the Display program is unavailable, Show Clip cannot work.
Type Menu:
The items in the Type menu let you specify the type of icon changed or created.
- Disk: (Right Amiga+1)
Represents the disk icons appearing in the Workbench window.
- Drawer: (Right Amiga+2)
Represents the drawer icons appearing in a disk window, such as the Utilities or Tools drawer.
- Tool: (Right Amiga+3)
Represents a tool, such as the Calculator, Clock, or IconEdit program.
- Project: (Right Amiga+4)
Represents a project, a file that has been created by a tool, or any of the icons in the Storage drawer.
- Garbage: (Right Amiga+5)
Represents the Trashcan drawer.
Highlight Menu:
The items in the Highlight menu let you determine how an icon appears when it is selected.
- Complement: (Right Amiga+7)
Highlights the entire icon, including the background of the box surrounding the icon. For example, if you are using the default Workbench colours and the icon is surrounded by a field of grey, the grey becomes blue when the icon is selected.
- Backfill: (Right Amiga+8)
Highlights the icon, but not the background of the box. For example, if you are using the default Workbench colours and the icon is surrounded by a field of grey, the grey remains the same when the icon is selected.
- Image: (Right Amiga+9)
Allows an entirely different image for the selected icon (a dual image icon). For example, the drawer icons on the Workbench are dual image. When you select a drawer, a new image of an open drawer appears.
Images Menu:
The items in the Images menu let you manipulate the images in the normal and selected view boxes and import IFF images created with other graphics programs.
- Exchange: (Right Amiga+E)
Swaps the images that appear in the normal view and the selected view.
- Copy:
Copy is dependent on the selected radio button. If Normal is used, the image in the normal view is copied to the selected view. If Selected is used, the image in the selected view is copied to the normal view.
- Use Template:
Copies a box resembling the standard Workbench icon "tile" into the magnified view. You can then create your new icon within this box.
- Load:
Loads previously saved images, without changing the name of the icon being edited. When you point to the Load menu item, a submenu appears.
- Save Image: (Right Amiga+K)
Saves an image as a picture data type file.
- Restore: (Right Amiga+R)
Returns the Icon Edit window to its state prior to opening the window or selecting New or Open.
The available Load submenu items are:
Extras Menu:
The items in the Extras menu control additional convenience features of IconEdit.
- Recolour: (Right Amiga+M)
Swaps the second and third colours in the colorant selection gadget. By default the second colorant 5 black and the third colorant is white. Use this to convert pre-Release 2 icons to the current colorant scheme.
- Auto TopLeft: (Right Amiga+T)
Moves the image to the upper left corner of the magnified view box.
- Colour Palette:
Opens the Preferences Palette editor to change the default colours.
Settings Menu:
The items in the Settings menu allow you to save various IconEdit options.
- Use Grid?:
Use Grid? displays each pixel in the magnified view box distinctly, with the background colours surrounding it. When Use Grid? is not chosen, the pixels blend together smoothly. The default is for the grid to be on.
- Create Icons?:
Create Icons? saves an icon with an IFF Brush file for the contents of the magnified view box. If Create Icons? is not chosen, no icon is saved. The default is for icons to be saved.
- Save Settings:
Save Settings saves all of the current IconEdit settings, including the size and position of the Icon Edit window, the file requesters, and all of the menu item settings.
Tool Types:
IconEdit supports the following Tool Types:
- CLIPUNIT=<n>:
Specifies the Clipboard unit to use. The default is 0.
- XMAG=<n>:
Enlarges the width of the magnified view box. XMAG accepts a number from 4 to 16. The default is 4
- YMAG=<n>:
Enlarges the height of the magnified view box. YMAG accepts a number from 4 to 16. The default is 4.
- LEFTEDGE=<n>:
Specifies where to place the left edge of the editor window.
- TOPEDGE=<n>:
Specifies where to place the top edge of the editor window.
- FRLEFTEDGE=<n>:
Specifies where to place the left edge of the file requester, relative to the editor window. For example, FRLEFTEDGE=0 aligns the left edge of the file requester with the left edge of the editor window.
- FRTOPEDGE=<n>:
Specifies where to place the top edge of the file requester, relative to the editor window.
- FRWIDTH=<n>:
Specifies the width, in pixels, of the file requester.
- FRHEIGHT=<n>:
Specifies the height, in pixels, of the file requester.
- PALETTE=<path>:
Specifies the complete path to the Palette editor when the Colour Palette menu item is chosen. The default is SYS:Prefs/Palette. Change this only if you have moved your Palette editor.
- SHOWCLIP=<path>:
Specifies the complete path to the utility used to display the Clipboard. The default is SYS:Utilities/Display. If you only have one floppy drive, copy the Display program onto your Extras disk and change its path. Change this Tool Type if you use another program for displaying the Clipboard.
- NOICONS:
Disables the ability to create icons when saving support files, such as when saving a file as an IFF brush.
- NOGRID:
Disables the use of the grid in the magnified view box.
- ICON DRAWER=<path>:
Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Open and Save As menu items in the Project menu are chosen.
- ILBMDRAWER=<path>:
Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Load and Save IFF Brush menu items in the Images menu are chosen.
- CLIPDRAWER=<path>:
Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Open Clip and Save As Clip menu items in the Edit menu are chosen.
- ALTDRAWER=<path>:
Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Load menu item in the Images menu is chosen.
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