Realworld Icon Editor

[Victoria Steigerwald]

Theprogram can create icons compatible with all versions of Windows, as well as Mac OS Tiger. It's also able to manage icon libraries. And RealWorld Icon Editor even has a few extensions available to add more capabilities, like the ability to run a few Photoshop-compatible image filters within the editor.

Please note, the program is available in both a Standard ($47) and Professional ($89) edition: the primary differences are that the Professional version supports batch processing options, and it provides the option to use workstation licensing, where multiple users may run the application on the same computer. Find out more on the RealWorld site

While most image editors could be used to create small icons, an icon tool is a utility which is (almost) exclusively devoted to designing icons, and has special features and tools designed to make quick work of small icon design.

While I'm not comfortable recommending a single best Icon Editor, this review will introduce the top icon editors available for Windows, and discuss their pros and cons. It will be up to you to decide which one best suits your needs.

Icons have common uses such as application icons, CD-ROM icons, favorite icons on websites and more. The icon format is designed to support multiple images - in essence it is a container, which holds all the information on each different version of the same image. Icon color depths, folder views, operating system and resolutions, are tied directly into the users system. Those factors contribute to the location and how the icon will be displayed.

Icon editors implement functions missing from most image editors like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop Pro. For instance, icon editors can create or modify icons from scratch while being able to take common graphic files and convert them into icon files. While you can use a photoshop plugin in any image editor, an icon editor could be the right choice for you.

The new Windows Vista that is coming out next year will support twelve icon formats. One is the 256x256 icon which will seem a bit "large" on a 96-DPI screen, but keep in mind that technology has been designed for future screens. For example future LCD screens will support resolutions up to 240/320 DPI. Windows XP allows 24-bit color and 8-bit alpha transparency information, and the older Windows versions makes them to non-transparancy with a restricted color palette. With the icon format you may have multiple color depths and pixel dimensions. That avoids having the operating system into forcing a single image into different sizes and restricted color selection.

It's not clear if Windows Vista icons are supported. There is no way to make certain fixed intervals on the grid look darker than the other grid lines, which can help in figuring out the position of an icon.

Heaventools AWicons Pro has 12 types of gradients for use in their icon editor. I could not find a save gradient feature in AWicons Pro. There are lots of gradient types, but the gradient feature is still limited as if you wanted to save a gradient effect so you could load it again easily I found no way of doing that. Which is a small feature, but could turnout to be a huge timesaver if implemented.

Overall Heaventools AWicons Pro is a tool that is written well for the most part. The interface provided seemed like it could be efficient after you get used to not being able to work with it full screen as you cannot maximize it. Has plenty of tools you can use to create and edit icons with. Only one file can be edited at a time without opening the program again.

Axialis IconWorkshop has a interface called "Axialis Software User Interface" and it allows you to select one color for the "User Interface Type" to base the rest of the interface on and if you simply do not like how it does you can turn it back to the Standard Windows User Interface in the preferences. Along with the user interface you can change the backgrounds of the full screen mode when of when you open a media file using the full screen, the document windows background, and also the Scale 1:1 Preview background.

The grid in Axialis IconWorkshop can also have stronger lines at certain fixed intervals with the value being in pixels in which you control by changing a number or even disabling it if you do not like it at all in the preferences. The default for the stronger grid lines is eight. The stronger lines being enabled helps when drawing icons as it can be used as a good reference to count the number of pixels that a certain place in the icon is in a specific direction.

Axialis IconWorkshop has five gradient types you can choose from. I saw where you could save color swatch gradients, but this does not appear to be the same as saving gradient colors for easy using. The gradients will do a good job however for most stuff but if you want to do some advanced gradient effects then it would take a few more steps to achieve it. You can save 32-bit dlls from icon library files directly from the program starting with version 6.03.

Overall Axialis IconWorkshop was written well also. It was easy to jump right into it and start creating and editing icons. I have had good success working with it while writing this review. The object packs are a good addition that novice users will find that will come in handy while they are learning icon design. They are also good to get the creativity flowing when you don't have any ideas on what you want an icon to look like. Most of the interface seemed to provide efficient work flow. Allows more than one icon file to be opened at a time.

The Corporate Edition (the one I reviewed) has all the features and permits to create commercial/shareware applications, not the Personal Edition. For the difference between Personal and Corporate it is recommended you check out the difference in each edition for more info.

Eclipsit uses several different created exe's in their Microangelo Toolset to provide some of what is built into the other two commercial icon editors I looked at. The interface uses the default windows look and doesnt have their own look added to it. There is no way to make certain intervals of the grid to look darker than the other lines. The color finder also seems like a nice tool which allows the user to find all of a certain color in an icon. You can rename a created .icl from this program to .dll in a file explorer and it will be a 32-bit dll.

Eclipsit Microangelo Toolset has 2 types and has some preset color values you can load. You can just as easily create and save gradient files which would allow for faster icon designing as you could save your favorite gradient you made to a file then re-open it whenever you need it. It also has a cool way of applying the gradient.

Overall Eclipsit Microangelo Toolset is a set of well written programs. Some of the stuff could be confusing to new icon artists for a little while until they get used to it. You can only edit one icon file with multiple formats in a window at a time without launching the program twice. A thing that confused me a first was the undo, not with the feature itself but if you undo with the keyboard shortcut and let off with the CTRL key before the Z key you will toggle the Zero Opacity and then must hit Z again before you can paint again. Other than that the interface provided seemed to allow you to work efficient in most cases.

IconCool Studio has their own interface type that you cannot change, so if you do not like it then you are out of luck. The grid in IconCool Studio can also have stronger lines at a fixed interval of eight. The stronger lines being enabled helps when drawing icons as it can be used as a good reference to count the number of pixels that a certain place in the icon is in a specific direction. You can change the color of the selection and grid in the options.

IconCool Studio has 6 gradient types you can choose from. One of them is a image gradient which allows you to select an image and use it as the gradient. The gradients will do a good job however for most stuff but if you want to do some advanced gradient effects then it would take a few more steps to achieve it.

Overall the trial of IconCool Studio is written well, but it still has a long ways to go in my opinion. There are some stuff that makes creating and editing icons a little more in efficient, for instance the color picker in the main window you have to scroll up and down to get to other colors. It appeared to us that their is no scale 1:1 on the main screen as what is on it appears to shrink it down in width and height. If you try it out you may have to do like I had to do on my computer as the icons did not show up on the toolbar after installing it which turned out to be that the shortcuts had no start in folder entered in them, so it was looking for a data folder at the location of the shortcut. Allows more than one icon file to be opened at a time, which it puts into the list of opened icons at the right of the screen.

The interface uses the default windows look and doesnt have their own look added to it. There is no way to make certain intervals of the grid to look darker than the other lines. It does have a perspective grid in which you turn on if needed and it would help with icon creation that needs a perspective. You can change the Scale 1:1 Preview background color. Easy one click access to switch between open documents is a nice feature also. You can rename a created .icl from this program to .dll in a file explorer, but it will only be a 16-bit dll.

Aha-Soft IconLover has 28 types of gradients for use in their icon editor. I could not find a save gradient feature in IconLover. The gradient types is plenty, but the gradient feature is still limited as if you wanted to save a gradient effect that you modified, so you could load it again easily I found no way of doing that. Which is a small feature, but could turnout to be a huge timesaver if implemented.

Overall the interface was written well and should be pretty efficient for you. The gradients are plenty and should aid when you need an icon with a gradient. Allows more than one icon file to be opened at a time, which it puts into tabs. The program is right up there, but please see our very important note later on in the review about the company.

Also, please note Aha-Soft, Icon Empire, and sibcode all appear to be the same company just under a different name, therefore only Aha-Soft was reviewed. Here is a list of programs that all appear to be from the same company mentioned above some if not most of them are icon programs others close to being icon programs. Kinda crazy.. Aha Soft ArtIcons and ArtIcons Pro, Aha Soft ArtCursors, Aha Soft IconXP, Aha Soft IconLover, Aha Soft IconUtils Icon Empire Icon Craft, Icon Empire IconoMaker, Icon Empire Perfect Icon, Icon Empire Icon Processor, Icon Empire Pixel Editor, Icon Empire ICL-Icon Extractor, Icon Empire CustomIcons Sib Icon Studio, Sib Icon Editor, Sib Icon Converter, Sib Icon Extractor, Sib Cursor Editor, Sib Icon Replacer I first noticed Aha-Soft so I decided to review IconLover, which appeared like the best icon editor they made out of the comparison table.

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