 |
|
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
|
 | ||||||||
|
 |
 |
|
 People Contact Icon |
|
Add People Contact icon to cartIcon sizes: 256x256, 64x64, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16, 512x512
File formats: ICO, GIF, PNG, BMP
Purchase entire Large Flat Icons now! View Large Flat Icons now!
Download demo icons
What Are Icons?
A number of independent vendors are offering 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 platforms, and what standards are defined for Windows icons, Mac icons, and PNG icons.Computer icons are an integral part of any modern GUI. Icons are small pictures of standard resolutions 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 common elements of a user interface are better visible than text, can be recognized faster, and are certainly easier on the eyes.
Originally developed in 1970 by the Xerox Research Center and widely deployed by the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows systems, icons make computer novices feel more comfortable with computer systems, learn faster and interact 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 multiple image formats for storing icons. Microsoft Windows systems store Windows icons in the platform-specific ICO format. Apple Macintosh computers use Mac icons in their specific formats, while Unix-based systems employ PNG icons for most applications. As such, icon software is generally available for the Windows and Apple systems, while Unix users can create their icons with just about any graphic editor.
As a rule of thumb, icons are square images that come in a variety of standard sizes and color resolutions. Most systems support icons of 16x16 to 128x128 pixels, while some systems readily accept icons as large as 512x512 pixels. The big 512x512 pixel icons were first used in Mac OS Leopard.
Pixel dimensions of all icons are platform dependent. For example, Windows icons are defined 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 sizes of up to 256x256 pixels in True Color only. Optionally, images 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 previous versions of Windows and for lower resolution icons. Other systems such as Windows Mobile can employ standard icons of other resolutions, e.g. 24x24 pixels.
Numerous independent vendors are offering 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 that include icons drawn a common style or theme.
Copyright © 2009-2022 Aha-Soft. All rights reserved.
|
More info
