The basics

IconPainter can create icons with any number of columns, any number of rows and with any number of colors. It runs with three windows open. One for the toolbar, one for the pixel grid showing the icon in detail and a third for the actual image of the icon being worked on. if desired, the pixel grid window can be closed and the image worked on directly.

Painting pixel by pixel

By clicking the mouse on any pixel in the pixel grid the current color will placed into that pixel. By pressing and dragging the mouse the pixels passed over will be similarly filled with the current color. To erase a pixel so that it returns to the background color first make the background color the current color by clicking on the background color box underneath the grid. Then click on the icons to be erased. The background color can be used for any other painting operation just like any other palette color. IconPainter does not use the idea of an unpainted pixel which is important when saving in some file formats (See the notes on transparency for more explanation on this).

Painting shapes

Click on the appropriate icon in the toolbar to tell IconPainter you want to create text, a line ,curves or a shape (the principle shapes are illustrated in the icon at the top of this page). A drop down menu appears to ask what kind of drawing operation you want to perform. In most cases this is "outline", "fill" or "fill and outline". The "fill" color is the current color and if you "fill and outline" then the outline color will be the second color. The status bar will then turn blue and give instructions on what to do next. This will involve either dragging, typing (for text) or clicking and moving the mouse for polygons. If you decide you don't want to go ahead with painting the shape then use "Cancel" in the popup menu to cancel it.

Polygons

When creating a polygon it can be sketched by clicking on the polygon's corners one by one. There is no limit to how many corners there can be. This lack of a limit means that the distance between the polygon's corners can be as small as a pixel and interesting shapes can be created. If the polygon is "outline" only then it is not closed by default ie. you must sketch a closed "outline" polygon if that's what you want. If the polygon is "filled" or "filled/outlined" then it will be closed automatically by IconPainter no-matter where the corners are.