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 First Aid Icon |
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Add First Aid icon to cartIcon sizes: 256x256, 128x128, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16, 512x512
File formats: ICO, GIF, PNG, BMP
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What Are Icons?
Many independent vendors are providing custom icons in sizes and resolutions common to certain computer platforms. The article explains what icons are, how they are used and implemented in various systems, and what standards are defined for Windows icons, Mac icons, and PNG icons.Computer icons are incorporated into any graphical user interface. Icons are small pictures of standardized sizes that visually represent objects, actions, and symbols. In graphical user interfaces, icons are used as a faster, more intuitive way to communicate with the user. Icons depicting typical elements of a user interface are more visually appealing than text, can be recognized faster, and are certainly easier on the eyes.
Originally introduced in 1970 by the Xerox Research Center and widely popularized by the Mac OS and Microsoft Windows platforms, icons make new users feel more comfortable with computer systems, learn faster and work more efficiently. Icons can be used to replace or supplement text messages. Widely used in menus, toolbars, on buttons and in new ribbon-style user interfaces, icons have come a long way from the original concept.
There are several image formats for storing icons. The Windows systems store Windows icons in the platform-dependent ICO format. Mac OS computers store Mac icons in their specific formats, while Unix-based systems use PNG icons for most applications. As such, icon editing software is generally available for the Windows and Mac OS platforms, while Unix users can create their icons with any graphic editor.
As a rule of thumb, icons are square pictures that come in a variety of standard sizes and color resolutions. Most systems use icons of 16x16 to 128x128 pixels, while some platforms readily accept icons as large as 512x512 pixels. The large 512x512 pixel icons were first employed in Mac OS Leopard.
Pixel dimensions of all icons are operating system dependent. For example, Windows icons are specified as images in 16 and 256-color gammas as well as True Color images with alpha channel. Windows icons come in standard resolutions of 16x16, 32x32, and 48x48 pixels. Windows Vista implements new standards for Windows icons, including icons in resolutions of up to 256x256 pixels in True Color only. Optionally, icons of 128x128 and 512x512 pixels are supported. Interestingly, the high-resolution Windows Vista icons are stored in compressed PNG format instead of Windows ICO used in older versions of Windows and for lower resolution images. Other systems such as Windows Mobile can employ standard icons of other resolutions, such as 24x24 pixels.
Many independent vendors are providing custom icons. Aha-Soft offers a wide selection of Windows icons, Mac icons, and PNG icons in all sizes and resolutions common to those platforms. The company provides royalty-free icons individually and in matching sets incorporating icons drawn a common style or theme.
Copyright © 2009-2012 Aha-Soft. All rights reserved.
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