File Icon Tutorial for Vista?
Hello,
We are working on updating our application for release in early 2006 and we would like to update our UI to follow guidelines of Windows Vista. Is there a beta for the guideline or when is the official release of the guidelines?
We noticed that the icons appear to be generated from a 3D based graphics application. Can you give any insite on the system used? It doesn't appear to be Illustrator or an Adobe product. Any ideas would be welcome.
Thanks,
Cary
IMHO, if you are releasing your product early 2006, it's not worth thinking about Vista yet. There's very few components that are finalized, which means that anything you code for will change when Vista is released at the end of 2006.
If you're using .NET (preferably 2.0), that's as close as you can get with your release schedule ...
Hope this helps,
Josh Lindenmuth
Let me restate what we are looking to do. We really are only looking to update basic Icons and graphic images used in our application (not the dialogs and other UI items related to Vista). We have seen the Icons generated in Vista and we are wanting to follow this look versus the XP style since it fits our application better. However, we are unclear which application is used by Microsoft to generate the Vista Icons. XP used an application like Adobe Ilustrator, however the Vista Icons look to be generated by a 3D Based Application. Can anyone give me an idea what is used?
Thanks
Cary
AH. If you're just going for a Vista look and feel, you'll need to create pictures using something like Photoshop or Illustrator then use an icon editor to convert the pciture to an icon. Some people use 3D editors to first create the image (anything from AutoCAD to 3D Studio to Maya, all depending on the application and tools available).
Vista uses a completely new icon format that can't be read by prior versions of windows (including Windows XP). This format supports both vector graphics and bitmaps, which is why many of the Vista icons scale so well at multiple levels.
If you're looking for things like semi-transparent icons (supported by Vista, e.g. in the screenshots of the Aero themed recycle bin), you'll have to wait ... there's nothing currently comparable in XP.
Did this help?
Josh Lindenmuth
Visual design guidelines for the icons haven't yet been published, beyond the general advice that's available in the user experience guidelines (available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/experience). Depending on how strong a design style you want for your icons (i.e. do you have your own distinctive visual style for graphics, or are you trying to look integrated with the OS), these may suffice as it is.
Josh is right that Windows Vista uses a new icon file format, but it's not a total break from previous versions. We have added support for 256x256 bitmapped icons, not vectors. However, we have incorporated PNG compression to keep the sizes of icons from getting too large; 256x256x32-bit bitmaps add up quickly.
Cheers,
jeff
