Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Graphic@333Mhz · Jun 30, 2001, 02:11 AM

OK I'm sorry but I tried useing Icon Composer, I'm a huge Icon Nut, I LOVE the ones I found at icon.cx and I am a regular veiwer of Icon Factory stuff (although I generaly use my own custom icons).
But when I saw I wouldn't have to use Icon Builder the public trail demo thingy any more, and that I could make these sweet 128x128 icons I was nearly exstatic. I took the time to install all the developer tools JUST so that I could create new icons. (45 minutes on a 333Mhz is crazy freaking crazy)
But then I find the program, (one would think it would have a better Icon wouldn't you? Kinda ironic) I find that, I can't figure out how to create an icon!
OK I'm not stupid, I'm not some sorta newbie to useing apple products or anything (although I am pretty much solely graphics) but I simply can't figure out who the heck I use the program to create an icon that I can copy into another space!
I checked out all the menus, all the exporting possiblities, control clicked every place I could THINK of and yet still no brand new icons made in fireworks for my purdy little Blueberry iMac named Fred. won't someone please tell me how to get the program to work? If not for me, do it for little Fred, he's crying out for help in his own simple text comand J way. Please someone HELP!
Or at least tell me a place witha tutorial, heck if you want I'll send you the icons I make!

acur128 · Jun 30, 2001, 03:59 AM

From what I can tell, & I could be missing something also, that app has no editing component... seems you can just import images from the File menu->Import Image menu selection or drag the image file itself from the Finder into one of the icon windows in a new file. It will ask whether to scale the image or not, & once there the image can be dragged to any of the other icon windows to coplete the icon family. The files can be saved only as ".icns" files, the default OS X icon format. Qualifying image files for import/drag & drop seem to be just about everything (.jpg, .gif, etc..., icns,... even Windoze .ico files) except Classic Mac OS icons!? Also, copy & paste don't appear to be available. Guess it's good for pumping out .icns files, but seems like the editing must be done in a Graphics/Icon editing app first. And the icon does seem to lose something at 128x128...
acur

Angus_D · Jun 30, 2001, 06:12 AM

It's not meant for editing icons. All it does is takes images and assembles them into a .icns file for including in your application bundle.

The problem is that these .icns files aren't like the icons files that you get from people like IconFactory, which you can copy and paste.

I investigated this a while back. .icns files appear to store the icon data in the data fork, whereas files with pasted on icons appear to store the data in a "icns" resource in the resource fork, but in the exact same format. You can convert these manually using something like HexEdit and ResEdit in Classic. I might make a converter for these at some point, but it would need a little wrapper for Carbon ResourceFork code. OTOH, I have been planning on writing one of those for a while, so it might happen

Graphic@333Mhz · Jun 30, 2001, 04:39 PM

OK so if I'm right you just told me, it makes icons, but unless you know how to make your own program to finish the job for you, and you're simply a code stupid person who uses dreamweaver for HTML, and does the tables useing Firework's Slice feature there is no way to make my own custom icons that I can USE just yet?
Crud that really sucks.
Well if you ever do make that program I'd really like you to mail me a copy at [email protected]
Anyway this kinda sucks for me don't it?
And why the heck did it ask me for a picture if It won't even display it?
Anyway here's a peek at the kind of Icon I wanted to make.

tie · Jun 30, 2001, 05:24 PM

Use Iconographer 2.0.2, available from google search

to make icons.

(Why do I have to log in to post in this forum?)

Angus_D · Jun 30, 2001, 07:32 PM

Originally posted by Graphic@333Mhz:
<STRONG>OK so if I'm right you just told me, it makes icons, but unless you know how to make your own program to finish the job for you, and you're simply a code stupid person who uses dreamweaver for HTML, and does the tables useing Firework's Slice feature there is no way to make my own custom icons that I can USE just yet?
Crud that really sucks.</STRONG>

No, that's just plain wrong. It creates .icns files. These are used for icons for Cocoa Applications and the documents they create, and probably Carbon applications if they use the new bundle format. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about and can't wait to yell and scream and bitch. Just because you don't understand doesn't mean that it sucks.

Synotic · Jun 30, 2001, 11:54 PM

Originally posted by Graphic@333Mhz:
<STRONG>OK so if I'm right you just told me, it makes icons, but unless you know how to make your own program to finish the job for you, and you're simply a code stupid person who uses dreamweaver for HTML, and does the tables useing Firework's Slice feature there is no way to make my own custom icons that I can USE just yet?
Crud that really sucks.
Well if you ever do make that program I'd really like you to mail me a copy at [email protected]
Anyway this kinda sucks for me don't it?
And why the heck did it ask me for a picture if It won't even display it?
Anyway here's a peek at the kind of Icon I wanted to make.

</STRONG>

Basically you make an image and save it as JPEG and open it in IconComposer and it makes a .icns file. But it is best if you use a Photoshop file with transparency and import that and IconComposer will generate an alpha from that. If you have the actual .psd file you made that from, send it to me and I can make it into a .icns file if you want.

[email protected]

Angus_D · Jul 1, 2001, 04:16 AM

He doesn't want a .icns file, he wants a file with an "icns" resource, so he can copy-paste the icon about.

Graphic@333Mhz · Jul 1, 2001, 10:07 PM

I'll look into the google thing first, (don't want to trouble you, but if worst comes to worst)

But um... would you need a PSD file or would a PNG do cause that's what format fireworks does, and it I use 3 without the PSD converstion option. like if that was the only avalible option I could make a PSD but icon composer does read png files

Graphic@333Mhz · Jul 1, 2001, 10:10 PM

By the way Angus_D I don't want to "rant and bitch"
I simply want to find out how to propperly use a tool located in the DEVELOPER tools.
So I figured I'd go to the deveolper forum and ask about it since I couldn't find help else where.
I would have posted on the main OS X forum. But I figured it WAS a developer issue

Angus_D · Jul 2, 2001, 02:46 AM

Well, even if you didn't intend to, you were. Anyway, I think any format that QuickTime understands should work, and I don't think PSD will. Try PNG, otherwise try JPEG, I think that works. Just try things and if they work, you're in luck.

Boodlums · Jul 2, 2001, 04:54 AM

Hmm. I guess it should've been called "Icon Compiler"

-Walter