Modifier Keys

IconBuilder supports the following modifier keys:


Clear, Import, Open, Apply View to Photoshop Layer or Done

		Use Option to skip the check for discarding changes


Center Icon

		Use Option to center all sizes


Delete, Revert and QuickBuild™

		Use Shift to modify all of same size
		Use Control to modify all of same depth

		Use Option to affect both the Grid and Aqua sections


More BuilderTips

Here are some extra tips that are not shown in the interface:


Turn off BuilderTips

You can turn off the BuilderTips by clicking on the small Iconfactory icon at the bottom of the window. When you do this, you'll see the name of the current icon file and it's size.

If the file is missing 1-bit icon resources, you will also see a warning. The 1-bit icon resources are required for compatibility with the Finder (even when you are only using 32-bit icons.)


Apply View to Photoshop Layer

If you accidentally apply the view to a Photoshop layer that contains data you want to keep, use Photoshop's undo (Command-Z) to restore the layer.

When you are viewing data or mask (instead of both), the layer will be updated without an alpha channel. This allows you to modify either part of the individual icon.

We wish we could automatically create a new layer, but the Photoshop API won't allow it. Sorry.


Add Data, Add Mask and Add Both

These buttons can be used to modify the icon grid one resource at a time.


Dither Icon

You can also use Photoshop's RGB to Indexed color algorithms to dither the icon (make sure to select the Mac system palette). Often, this will give you better results than IconBuilder's built-in function.


All Mac OS and Mac OS 8.5+

If you are creating an icon that will only be used on Mac OS 8.5 or later, use the Mac OS 8.5+ format. This will result in a smaller file because icon resources will not be duplicated for backward compatibility.

You can see the size difference between the two formats if the BuilderTips are turned off.