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.