|
|
| With Windows Vista Microsoft© introduced quite a few exciting changes in how icon resources are developed. Windows Vista icons are very detailed and the new design concepts are polished, refined and graceful. The Vista icons style, along with a totally new look to the interface graphics, contribute towards the elegant interface appearance changes for Windows Vista©. |
|
|
|
|
 Vista icons are much more realistic in appearance in comparison to the looser, illustrative style of Windows XP icons. |
| The largest size included in the Vista icons resource is 256 x 256 pixels. This may sound quite large for our present 96 DPI displays, but it will be quite suitable for high-DPI displays being developed which will support 240/320 DPI resolutions. Including the 256 x 256 pixel size in the Vista icon resource guarantees that the icons will display at their highest quality on these larger monitors. |
 |
| The perspective for Vista icons changes to clockwise at a 45° angle. The smaller images in the icon resource, such as the 16 x 16 pixel view for toolbar and tree views, may be developed using a frontal perspective with less detail so that these smaller icons will also look their best. |
 |
| Shadows in Vista icon objects are indicative of true, realistic depth just as they exist in any object in the real world. Vista icons do not have the flat lower-right drop shadows that are default for Windows XP icons. The light source is also completely different in Vista icons. All objects now face directly into the light source. From Windows 95 to Windows XP the light source on all icons has always come from the top left and objects are rotated counter-clockwise, away from the light source. The Vista icons placement and lighting will be completely opposite in comparison to Windows XP and older Windows system icons. |
 |
| The user can change the Vista icon sizes by zooming in from high, medium to low size settings using a slider in Windows Vista Explorer©. This slider control feature allows for easy enlarging or shrinking of the Vista icons. The icons size preference can be set to reflect globally for all Vista icons or on a per-folder basis. Because of this new feature application developers will need to include the 256 x 256 pixel, high resolution image in the icon resources for their program identity icon and document icons. Doing so will provide your users with the full, rich visual experience they'll expect when using the Windows Vista© operating system. |
| The Windows Vista icons resources also include the indexed 256 color, 8-bit versions of the image metaphors because Microsoft's Vista© will still support older hardware and software configurations. These will require that the Vista icons be backwards compatible so it will be necessary to add these older color depth formats to the new icon resources. |
| The 256 x 256 pixel image instance in the Vista icons resource is a compressed PNG image. The PNG format assures that the image will be high resolution and have full alpha channel transparency support. The additional benefit of the PNG format for the large size is the excellent compression capability of PNGs. This will allow for a small sized icon file even though it includes an image that's 256 x 256 pixels. |
|
|
|
| Windows Vista icons contain four default sizes. These sizes are 256 x 256 pixels, 48 x 48 pixels, 32 x 32 pixels and 16 x 16 pixels. It also contains the same four sizes in 8-bit 256 color depth for backwards compatibility. Vista icons are compatible with Windows XP, but Windows XP will ignore the 256 pixel size image included in the Vista icon resource. Windows XP will just display the standard 48, 32 and 16 pixel icon sizes. |
|
|
|
|
Because of the huge variation in size of the Vista icons, from the large instance of the icon metaphor to the smallest, their master image files will need to be developed as vectors. Unlike raster images, the vector image format is resolution independent so it will allow for the drastic upsizing and downsizing needed to develop the perfect custom Vista icons. A raster program should only be used for post-processing, final touch-ups and fine-tuning the Vista icons in the last stages of their development.
At Microsoft's Windows Vista Icon Development Guidelines the recommendation is for program developers to "Hire an experienced graphic designer. For great graphics, images and icons work with experts. Experience in illustrations using vector art or 3D programs is recommended."
Because of our extensive experience in vector icons design and graphics development we're totally ready and prepared for all your Vista icons and graphics update requirements. At Iconica Custom Icons we've always developed our icons in vector format using Adobe Illustrator, the vector graphics industry standard. For over a decade we've been developing icons for our clients using this very same high quality and best possible format that Microsoft recommends for Vista icons design. Iconica Custom Icons will make sure your software or web application is 100% 'Vista ready' with perfectly crafted custom Vista icons and graphics. Contact us today!
|
|
|
|
| For more information on the Windows Vista icons design and requirements visit Microsoft's Windows Vista© Icon Development Guidelines. |
|
