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 Data Transmission Icon |
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Add Data Transmission icon to cartImage sizes: 256x256, 128x128, 48x48, 32x32, 24x24, 16x16
File formats: BMP, GIF, PNG, ICO
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What Are Icons?
Numerous independent vendors are providing custom icons in sizes and resolutions common to certain systems. The article explains what icons are, how they are designed and implemented in various platforms, and what standards are defined for Windows icons, Mac icons, and PNG icons.Computer icons are incorporated into any modern GUI. Icons are small pictograms of standard resolutions that visually represent objects, actions, and other concepts. In window-based systems, icons are used as a faster, more intuitive way to communicate with the user. Icons depicting common elements of a user interface are more visually appealing than text, can be recognized faster, and are easier for new computer users.
Originally introduced in 1970 by the Xerox Research Center and widely deployed by the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms, 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 commands. 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 graphic formats for storing icons. The Windows systems store Windows icons in the platform-dependent ICO format. Apple Macintosh computers store Mac icons in their specific formats, while Unix-based systems use PNG icons for most applications. As such, icon software is generally available for the Windows and Mac OS platforms, while Unix users can create PNG icons with any image editor.
Generally speaking, icons are square pictograms that come in a number of standard sizes and color resolutions. Most systems use icon sizes of 16x16 to 128x128 pixels, while some systems readily accept icons as large as 512x512 pixels. The large 512x512 pixel icons were first used in Mac OS Leopard.
Pixel resolutions 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 are supplied in standard sizes 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, 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 previous versions of Windows and for lower resolution images. Other systems such as Windows Mobile can employ standard icons of other sizes, such as 24x24 pixels.
Numerous independent designers 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.
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