NOTE: icon7 currently requires System 7.0x and Color QuickDraw with your monitor set at 256 colors!
icon7 makes customizing icons easier than ever if you are using System 7. Thank you, Apple, for providing the ability to paste custom icons via the 'Get Info' dialog. However, don't you (Mac users) tire of having to launch a paint program to build those icons? And not everybody (shockingly) has ResEdit. Well, now you don't have to go to such efforts.
icon7 is a color icon editing utility that allows you to create new or edit existing icons for your files. It provides the standard bit-image editing tools to create masterpieces(?). The newly created works of art can then be saved just as though you had pasted them in the 'Get Info' dialog. (You can also save an icon family as a separate ResEdit(tm) or Icon7 document-- just choose the appropriate item in the submenu of the 'Save As' menu item under the 'File' menu).
To edit a new icon family, launch icon7 by double clicking its icon and a new 'Untitled' window will appear momentarily. Use the icon editor as you would any other bit-oriented painting utility. (However, you can refer to the accompanying document, 'Icon7 Window Layout' if you require further guidance.)
To open an existing icon family, drag the document (no folders or volumes, though, sorry!) on top of the icon7 icon. The program will launch, and your icon will appear in a new document window. When you save the new version, it will be added in the same way as pasting it from the Finder (via 'Get Info'). This means that if you decide you hate your changes, you can just select 'Cut' while in the 'Get Info' dialog and the custom icon will be history. Remember though, that the changes are gone forever (unless of course, you duplicated your effors in a separate ResEdit or icon7 document).
When you open a document to edit is existing icon family, the icons are retrieved in the following way: 1) if the file already has custom icons, then those icons are what will appear in the Icon7 document window. 2) if no custom icons exist, then icon7 will search the Desktop Database (where the Finder keeps records of files, including icons) and retrieve the icons from it. 3) If neither of the previous methods works, then the document will appear and no icons will be shown, just blank areas for you to do with whatever you choose.
As I stated previously, icon7 currently requires 256 colors. This limitation will be addressed, as time permits, in a future version. I do not know how it will perform in an environment where more than 256 colors are available, as I do not have access to such an environment. If anyone finds out, please let me know!
Please submit shareware fees and comments to:
Scott A. Johnson
3916-12 Newport Avenue
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
AOL: DevScott
CompuServe: 71035,3273
Thanks!
Scott Johnson
DISCLAIMER
The author, Scott A. Johnson, makes no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the fitness of icon7 v1.0 for any purpose. Use it at your own risk. The author claims no liability for data loss or other problems caused directly or indirectly by icon7 v1.0.
