IrfanView: Saving ICO with transparency

[Terry Pinnell]

Not something I do very often but needed a custom .ICO file just now so
made one in IrfanView. A 32x32 JPG, red letters on a blue background,
saved as an ICO file:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/TP2-32x32-Both-RedOnBlue.ico

Then decided I'd prefer a transparent background, i.e. just the red
letters. So I used the Options dialog in IrfanView:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/IrfanView-ICO-1.jpg
and in the resultant window clicked in the blue. Call that option #1, and
all worked as expected, giving me the transparent icon I needed.

But I'm unsure how the other 3 options would be used? What is the 'main
window colour'? IOW, how do you set up the transparency colour in each of
the other 3 cases:

#2. Both checkmarked
#3. Neither
#4. 'Use main window...' checkmark greyed.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Mayayana]

I think it's just a case of function overkill. It used to
have only a checkbox to save transparency. The main
window color checkbox seems to be an option to select
the background color without needing to go through the
click-on-the-image step to select the transparent color.
It doesn't really make much sense, though, because
icons sometimes don't have an unambiguous "background"
color.

So, check "Save Transparency" to get a transparent
color. Check the "main window color" checkbox if you think
it's exhausting to have to click in the window to choose
a transparent color, and you don't mind risking that IrfanView
will pick the wrong color. If you don't check it, IrfanView will
present the window where you can click on the color you want
transparent. Try it out. It'll be obvious once you do it.

[Terry Pinnell]

Thanks. But I had tried that "main window color" checkbox and there was no
transparency in the result.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Mayayana]

--
"Terry Pinnell" <terr...@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:ob5kj8hpg88c42c0c...@4ax.com...

| Thanks. But I had tried that "main window color" checkbox and there was no
| transparency in the result.
|

I see you're right. That's weird. From the help:

"If you activate the option Use main window color for transparency, the
current window color (Properties->Viewing) will be automatically set as
transparent color."

I made the error of assuming the function made sense and
that therefore the checkbox text must be worded badly. But
it actually means what it says. It sets the IV window background
color as the transparent color! I tried it and it works. In my
case I set the IV background gray, to match my default window
frame color. I can't imagine what Mr. Skildjan was thinking.

[Terry Pinnell]

Thanks for the follow-up, Mayayana.

Yes, unless i hear to the contrary I think that option is unlikely to be
useful! I'll ask Irfan about it.

[Me]

Not sure if this helps, but with Gimp, you can quickly create a 32 bit
icon with transparency ie:
File | new...
select 32 x 32 px
select advanced options | fill with Transparency
- create your icon
Export file - use *.ico extension on file name
save dialog comes up with options to modify palette, bit depth
(including 1 or 8 bit alpha transparency)
The "look" of icons using 8 bit alpha transparency seem to have been the
norm for about the last decade.

[Terry Pinnell]

Thanks. I did install Gimp a few years ago but found learning it rather
heavy going. I use a combination of PaintShop Pro 8 and IrfanView, with
the occasional use of FastStone Image Viewer.

[Terry Pinnell]

Terry Pinnell <terry...@DELETEgmail.com> wrote:

>Thanks for the follow-up, Mayayana.
>
>Yes, unless i hear to the contrary I think that option is unlikely to be
>useful! I'll ask Irfan about it.

Here's his helpful reply:

--- Start paste ---
Main window color: start IrfanView without the image and see the window
color.

==> "Use main window color" option makes sense only IF the loaded
image was already transparent, so you can use the same color again
... without an extra click.

If you have a JPG image, which is never transparent, uncheck that
option, so you will see a preview window and you have to click and
choose the new transparent color.
--- End paste ---

[Mayayana]

| >Yes, unless i hear to the contrary I think that option is unlikely to be
| >useful! I'll ask Irfan about it.
|

I seem to be missing at least 2 posts in this thread. I don't
know why.

Talking about "window color" is confusing, but it also applies,
in my tests. If I use an image with transparency and resave
as another image then checking that box will save the same
transparent color. If I save a solid image then it actually does
set the transparent color to be whatever the IV window color
is, which makes no sense. And how often would a transparent
image be resaved? If I edit the image I won't be doing that in
IV. So the option would only apply when saving a GIF to ICO,
GIF to PNG, PNG to GIF, etc. I don't think I've ever done any
of those operations. ... I'm guessing that that pointless and
confusing extra option in v. 4.35, which was not present in
v. 4.33, will disappear in a later release. :)

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:14:38 -0400, Mayayana wrote:

[Transparency to main window color]

> how often would a transparent image be resaved? If I edit the image I
> won't be doing that in IV. So the option would only apply when saving a
> GIF to ICO, GIF to PNG, PNG to GIF, etc. I don't think I've ever done any
> of those operations. ... I'm guessing that that pointless and confusing
> extra option in v. 4.35, which was not present in v. 4.33, will disappear
> in a later release. :)

That *you* don't do such things doesn't mean, /nobody/ does. Editing
existing icons to create new ones can perfectly be done in IrfanView
with Paint plugin, for instance. And when creating a whole bunch of
them, the removed tedious extra-step to select the transparent color
on saving is welcome.

BeAr
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