Icons 3.0 available on the Mac App Store
NOTE: As of 9/8/11 Icons now has its own site.
This page will remain here for historical purposes but any new information about Icons will be posted on the new site. I’d like to thank everyone for making Icons such a huge success.
You’ll also notice that the comments have been closed for this post. If you require support or wish to submit feature requests please visit the newly established support forums at http://empoc.com/forums/ There you will find support for all of the applications developed by Empoc, LLC
2011.06.24 – Current Status – Waiting for Review
2011.06.24 – Current Status – Approved Waiting for Developer Release
2011.06.24 – Current Status – Processing for App Store
2011.06.24 – Current Status – Ready for Sale
Release Date 2011.06.24 – Get it from the Mac App Store – Only $4.99
Icons 3 User Guide (1.4 MiB, 662 hits)
Icons 3 User Guide (1.4 MiB, 662 hits)
What’s new in Icons 3.0?
*** Profiles ***
*** Live Dock Preview for Mac Icons ***
*** Pre-Made Custom Overlay Glass Masks ***
*** Apply Icons to Folders, Files and other Apps ***
*** Central Location to Drag your source image into ***
*** Favicon Export ( Originally added in version 2.2 ) ***
New Feature Definitions:
- Profiles:So you’ve got your source image imported into Icons and you’ve started messing around with all of the available settings and options and you finally have it just the way you want it and its ready to be exported. What now? You would most likely export your icons and then close the app only to re-open the app some other time to create more icons with the same settings. So you start all over trying to get those settings perfected again.Well, now with Profiles, once you have your settings the way you want them all you have to do is click on the “New From Current Settings” button on the lower left corner of the Icons User Interface to create a profile that will store all of your settings. When you want to use all of the same settings again, simply find the profile you’ve previously created from the list of available profiles on the left side of the User Interface and click on it. In an instant your imported image is transformed and will have all of the settings applied to it that you had previously set.Icons comes with a few simple pre-defined profiles as well as a default profile that will revert your settings back as if you’ve never made any changes at all. Profiles is a wonderful addition to Icons which I’m sure many of you will find very useful.
- Live Dock Preview for Mac Icons: One really great new feature in Icons 3.0, is probably one that would easily be overlooked if you were not specifically looking for it. That feature is the ability to preview the icon in its current state on your dock. You can find this feature on the right side of the User Interface within the Global Options panel. The feature is called, “Preview Mac Icon in Dock”. A simple click on this checkbox will replace the Icons icon with the icon you are currently working on and better yet, it updates live as you make changes.This feature provides a great way for you to see very effortlessly see what your icon will look like from a users perspective on a dock.
- Pre-Made Custom Overlay Glass Masks: Wow, what a mouthful. So, as you may or may not be aware, Icons has the ability to besides using the default shine / glass effect to use a custom one instead. Many of you are probably wondering what that’s all about. I’m sure there aren’t very many of you that have even used this feature before. Icons 3.0 expands on this feature by adding yet another option to the mix of things. Now you can use the default shine / glass effect, import a custom one, or pick from some of the Pre-Made effects. Icons 3.0 comes with 6 different styles to start with and will be updated to include many more.This feature will provide you with some nice effects to add to your Icon with a quick simple click you can transform your entire icon with a different look, why? Well, maybe its Christmas and you’re feeling festive and you want a quick way to give your icon a holiday theme without having to go into Photoshop and re-editing your icon. This is what this feature is all about.
- Apply Icons to Folders, Files and other Apps: This is one of my favorite features that I’ve implemented in Icons 3.0. This feature allows you to use your icon in the state it is currently in and apply it to a folder, a file or even an app. Just think, you are working on a project and you just so happen to be working on the Icon for your project. Why not go ahead and apply the Icon you are working on to the folder that your project is stored in. Wouldn’t that make it easier to find and set it apart from the rest of the many folders you’ve got sitting on your desktop?Now I know this feature isn’t for everyone, I for one like my folder icons to look like folder icons, except for maybe application folders like Adobe, etc… where I like to brand the folder with the logo of the company but that’s just me. Have fun with this one.
- Central Location to Drag your Source Image To: Let me say it again, Central Location to Dra.., ok never mind. I’ve had quite a few requests for this feature. In Icons all the way up to version 2.2 you could only drag images onto the 512 x 512 image block which was ok in the beginning because when Icons was at version 1.0 there weren’t as many tabs and options and panels as there are now. At any point you could be working on a different panel observing a different view and maybe you want to import another image. The old way of doing things required you to go back to the Original panel to drag an image into Icons.Now with Icons 3.0, you have a central location that you can drag your image into no matter what view you are currently working from. If you’ll look at the upper left side of the Icons User Interface, you’ll notice a rectangular dotted block, “Drag Image Here”. This view will always be constant and will always allow you to drag in a new image.
- Favicon Export: This feature was originally added in version 2.2 but I thought I would list it here anyway since I haven’t talked about it much. I think at this point I have pretty much every Icon specification covered, except for Windows Icons, does anyone want the ability to export Windows Icons??? So, basically the Favicon export feature adds the ability to export your custom created icons as Favicons that you can use with most of the browsers out there, how many are there now? A million different browsers? Really, how many do we need? Here’s a good question, but please don’t flood the blog with comments, what’s your favorite browser and why?
Well this covers all of the new features in Icons 3.0. Of course there has also been some slight bit of code enhancements as well as a rating system that I’m sure all of you will love dearly. No worries though, it will not nag you too much. Some of the bug fixes include minor glitches when exporting, reflection not updating with the rest of the views (it was being lazy), and the text dragging is now fixed so it doesn’t jump all around the screen (had to give it some Ritalin). All in all I think version 3.0 of Icons turned out great and I couldn’t have done it without all of the great feature requests and bug reports I’ve received over time.
Please keep the feature requests and ideas coming and be sure to report bugs as they arise. I do my best to fully test each application before submitting it to the App Store but my quest for perfection is still an ongoing project so there may be a few bugs here and there.
One last question, who thinks its time for me to move Icons to its own website with a support forum and documentation? Let me know because this is something I’ve been considering for a while.
Check out the screen shots below for a sneak peek at Icons 3.0:
Get Icons 2.0 on 3/1/2011 from the Mac App Store
to the Mac App Store
2011.02.24 – Current Status – In Review
2011.03.01 – Current Status – Available on the Mac App Store
Release Date March 1st 2011
*** The only Icon App on the App Store that exports ICNS, the Mac App icon file with rounded corners and shine. ***
Icons was one of the first native Mac Apps for previewing and generating iOS device icons. Since then, Icons has gone through some major updates and a complete new look.
Icons still does everything that it used to do but now you can do so much more. See for yourself, check out the features below:
● Preview with Rounded Corners
● Preview with Shine & Rounded Corners
● Export with Rounded Corners
● Export with Shine & Rounded Corners
● Add OpenFeint Logo to any of the 4 corners of your icon
● Add Overlay Text ( Supports Font Selection, Color, Size and Position )
● Overlay a Custom Glass Mask
● Adjust the corner radius
● Adjust the Shine Alpha
● Export for iPhone, iPad and iPhone 4
● Export for Android
● Export for Mac ( ICNS support )
● Export Custom Size
● Export iTunesArtwork (512 x 512)
● Set a Custom Icon Name
Icons is simple to use. Just drag your 512×512 image file into the app and Icons will immediately load all of the icon previews to instantly see how your icons will look in all available sizes. What you do from there is up to you, when you are satisfied with the outcome, export your icons for immediate use.
Supports PSD, PNG, TIFF, BMP, JPEG and many other file formats.
If you have any questions / comments / suggestions / issues you can visit the support site and leave a comment or email me at chris@chris-fletcher.com I try to answer all comments on the same day I receive them.
Please rate and review my application. Icons was developed in my spare time, support Indie developers. Thank you for your support
Below are a few screen shots of Icons 2.0. Additional information such as a screen cast tutorial, glass template and user generated glass templates will be added soon after the release of Icons 2.0.
*** UPDATE 2011.03.11 ***
Icons 2.1 has been submitted to the Mac App Store. Icons 2.1 includes several bug fixes and code optimization as well as a brand new feature. Icons 2.1 allows you to export an image with reflection of your source icon. You can manipulate all of the reflection settings by changing the size, opacity and gap of the reflection. Check out the screen shot below.
Icons 2.1 also has a brand new app Icon. I’ve decided to do away with the black background but I liked the rounded corners so I decided to make it transparent. Check out the screen shot of the new icon below.
87 Responses to “Icons”
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Comments are now closed, please use the forums to post bugs, suggestions or questions. You can get to the forums by clicking here Support Forums
I bought it from the Mac App Store, but all I get is a crash at startup… I’m currently not a very happy customer… Is there a way to make me a happy customer?
Ricounet,
Let’s start with the crash log, can you send that to me? you can email it to support@empoc.com. Once I have that I can get a better idea of what the issue is.
Chris
I’m already smiling again. The crash log is on its way…
Icons are squashed – app forces reflections on everything. Please email me, I started to add a review, but just removed it. Would rather give you the opportunity to resolve – as app has potential – like the flexibility.
B,
I appreciate you not jumping directly into a negative review. I will look into this issue and find out what is causing this to happen. I’ll get back to you and let you know. In the meantime if you have further questions, you can email me at chris.fletcher [at] empoc [dot] com
Chris
B,
I figured out the problem and am submitting an update to Apple… Hopefully they will not wait too long to approve it.
Chris
Hi Chris,
after workling a little with icons 3.1 i figured out that the app itself allows to save profiles.
thats a fine thaught, but it is not working.
whenever i save a profile i dont get any message, but the pofile will not appear under the profiles tab.
any ideas?
running osx 10.6.8
thanks in advance
Timo
Timo,
I am looking into this issue, it appears that you aren’t the only one experiencing the problem. Can you please tell me what options you had selected when you tried to save the profile, this would greatly help in troubleshooting / reproducing the issue.
Thanks,
Chris
First of all i dragged i a 200 by 200 pixels jpg image (MAC Screenshot unseing secrets to change the suffix to jpg)
I Selected Rounded Corners & Glass
I Selected Gererate Custom Icon
Corners & Shine were:
Alpha 70
Corner Radius 20
Custom Icon was set to 200
Rest on right side was left default.
In the Tab bar above i hat the Costum Icon one clicked.
Thanks.
Timo
Timo,
Thanks for the information… I think I may have already solved the bug and will be releasing an update within the next week to fix this issue as well as some additional feature requests I’ve received lately..
Chris
Hi Chris,
First, sorry for my english,
Congratulations for your app. I have installed and it’s not useful for me for two reasons:
1. Only works for 512x512px images. It would be great that effects like round corners run in small images. I need your app to round corners of 57x57px icons.
2. It would be great also that you can export images to a 256 colors png. I need to work in a web enviroment and is too size large image.
Do you have in mind to develop these changes?
Thx for your app.
Eduardo,
Thank you for your comment. I will be performing some minor updates to Icons, within the next week and I will see if I can get your feature request in with those updates, if not I will try to get it into the next release.
Chris
Thanks for this product. Simple and easy, but I have two problems:
The same icon return differents results (with the same parameters) between the Icon express and icons version.
In the Icons version, I can’t save a new profile o I can’t get the new Profile saved.
Thanks
Rafa,
What are some of the differences, could you provide me with some screen shots? I am looking into the profile issues, it seems to be a random problem only affecting some people.
Chris
Hi Chris, I have been trying to download version 3 for 2 days from the app store however it comes up with an error. There isn’t a discription of the error so I can only assume the error is the file or the server.
I am not sure you would be aware of this so I thought I would drop you a line to let you know.
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
Sorry that you are having an issue and thanks for letting me know. The issue is most likely on Apple’s side, since I have no control over how my apps are downloaded once I submit them to Apple. You may want to try to contact Apple about the issue. Just out of curiosity is this from doing an upgrade or is 3.0 your first purchase of Icons.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have already been using the program and love it so in answer to the question it is on upgrade. Just so you know even 2min ago I was still getting the error.
Thanks
Neil
Hi Chris,
I still cannot get the upgrade file.
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
Have you tried to remove the version you have and then re-downloading from the App Store?
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have just tried your suggestion and now I don’t have use of the program at all. I still get the same error. Please help me resolve this issue.
Thanks
Neil
Hi Chris,
Here is a link to a capture of the error.
The file is in my dropbox @ http://db.tt/zAMXacB
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
Try this:
All of the temp files for the Mac App Store are located here: ~/Library/Application Support/AppStore/
I’m sure you know ~ means your user directory and not the drive root.
So to fix that “An Error has occurred” perform the following:
1. Sign out of the Mac App Store (Store Menu -> Sign Out)
2. Quit the Mac App Store app
3. Delete anything underneath ~/Library/Application Support/AppStore/
4. Restart the Mac App Store app
5. Sign into the Mac App Store (Store Menu -> Sign In)
After signing back in, you should see your downloads start over.
If you want to try a safer alternative and you are familiar with using the command line you can try this.
1. Open Terminal
2. Enter defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true
3. Relaunch the AppStore
4. Choose the menu item Debug Menu -> Reset App
5. Choose the menu item Debug Menu -> Check for Available Downloads…
Please let me know if either of these solutions worked for you.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Sorry did not work.
Let me ask you a question will 2.6 to 3 be an unpaid update or do I pay for 3?
Neil
Neil,
3 is a free update.. All of the updates are always free.
I’m not sure what to tell you at this point… Have you tried to contact Apple?
Chris
Hi Chris,
I was going to do that in the next couple of days. I really appreciate your time on this issue.
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
No worries, I wish I could help you more with this… Just out of curiosity, you did try deleting the app from the application folder, right? If you can get it somehow to totally disappear from your computer, I can send you a promo code so you can download it for free.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have sent an email to support. If they can not correct this issue I will take you up on the promo code.
Thanks
Neil
Hi Chris,
I was just on the apple support area and could not find anywhere to report an error with a download.
Do you have an email address I can use?
Neil
Neil,
I think maybe support@apple.com should work…
Chris
Hi Chris,
They say that email address is no longer used for email support you have to pay for a call or try and fix it through the website.
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
Give me your email and I’ll send you a promo code.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Sorry for all the difficulties.
Here is my email neil.davis@mac.com
Thanks again
Neil
Neil,
No worries, I’ve sent you a promo key, hope you get it working.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the promo key however the key can only work if I can download a working copy. There is no link on your website for a download.
If I remove the program and the information related to this program on my computer Apples app store remembers I have downloaded the file and then I am a square one again.
Thanks
Neil
Neil,
Send me the serial number of your Mac and I will email you a copy of Icons 3.1
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have been able to update the file because of the update on the app store.
So good news we are back running.
Thanks for your diligence in dealing with the issues great job.
Neil
Neil,
That’s great, I’m glad you finally got it working… You think you could review and rate Icons on the app store for me?
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Still the same error.
Thanks
Neil
I just bought the app and tried it. All I could dragging an image into the image area. Everything is grayed out. Please advise.
Van.
Van,
All the options will become available to you when you drag in the image.
Chris
I’ve been enjoying Icons 2. Thank you for creating it.
One interface quibble that is driving me a little crazy: I can’t drag a new file onto the Icons icon unless the Original tab is selected. This makes iteration a real pain in the behind.
I’d really like it if I could be in a tab such as “iPhone 4…” with my settings in place and be able to drag a new file into Icons and just have it work (replace the source image and apply the current settings in the current view). That would be a huge efficiency.
Martin,
Thanks, I’m glad you find the app useful
I will make sure that I get the changes that you mentioned in with the next release.
Chris
Hi Chris,
When I try to create a custom icon, the pixel size says it’s 512. However, once the png icon has been created, it is 200 px x 200 px. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
Dave,
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. It’s been a pretty busy week. Can you provide me with the source image you are using, so I can test…
Thanks,
Chris
hi there – just downloaded this app – and nothing exports – comes up with error box YOu have Not selected to generate any icons. I get this message even though I HAVE selected icons and ticked boxes AND give the icon a name…
any ideas where I’m going wrong – or am I being stupid?
amadeus2011
think I may have solved the problem 28 seconds after submitting this comment. ‘goes and hides in corner with red face.
thanks amo2011
Amadeus,
I’m glad you were able to resolve the issue, what was the solution?
Chris
Hello Chris,
I am looking into get an icon creator app like yours, but I was wondering if it could be used to generate icons for Mac apps as well. All I noticed mentioned was that you could generate them for iPod / iPhone / iPad but no mention of icons for Mac programs.
Thanks,
Brady
Brady,
Icons does export icons for Mac Apps as well.
Chris
Simply does not work for me. All I want to do is add a text overlay. I type in the text adjust it, select Export for iphone, ipad etc, but the generated files just contain my original icon, no text overlay! Help!
Peter,
Could you provide me with some more information?
What type of Mac are you using what version of OS X?
Can you email me the source image so I can try to reproduce the problem?
Chris
using 10.6.7 on 2010 imac.
Peter,
Have you tried various source images? Can you send me screen shots of all the selected options as well as the source image and the exported image?
Thanks,
Chris
Great app; a huge timesaver compared to manually making these icons via Photoshop. My only request would be to add an option for creating favicon.ico files too — the last piece of the puzzle when creating mini sites to promote client apps.
VeryVito,
This amongst other features will be available in the next release of Icons. Thank you for your suggestion.
Chris
Your program looks nice, but it totally failed to create OSX icons. The text that i placed on the icons will not be included in the icon file. The icons not displays their symbols under OSX (for example in the dock or in the toolbar of the Finder). The icons behave more like image files.
It looks fine in “Icons” App
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/158796/WebPic/123Icons.jpg
But in Finder it looks not fine
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/158796/WebPic/123Finder.png
Oliver,
Maybe I’m not clear on what the issue is, but the Mac OSX icons that Icons exports are for use with apps that you would develop to be used as the applications icon. Hope that helps.
Chris
I’m not easily impressed. . . but that’s ipmrseinsg me!
Let me correct it.
Exp. I drag a 512×736 JPG image onto Icons and it tells me its only 15×22 ???
As I mentioned I tried a lot of different sizes.
A 512×512 BMP image says its 15×15.
Can you help lease?
Try setting the PPI of the image to 72 in Photoshop
Every time I drag an image onto the app it says its not big enough.
I tried 512×512 and bigger images with the same result.
I made the images in PhotoShop!!
I tried PNG and JPG with the same result.
Hi Chris,
great App!
I’ve downloaded Version 2.1. Now i’m trying to generate iPhone Icons. I get round icons when i use default corner radius 90 (looking like Mac OS Icons). What is right value for iPhone icons?
Dimitri,
The default corner radius should be the right radius for iphone icons.
Chris
Right. PPI of my image was wrong. Thanks!
No problem, glad you got it working
Hello Chris
I downloaded 2.1
When I exported the icons all png files were distorted. Any ideas
Wayne
Wayne,
Can you provide me with a screen shot and the source image that you used, so I can troubleshoot.
Thanks,
Chris
I also cannot export. Have definitely checked all the boxes required. It just DOESN’T work! Looks very pretty but not much use!
Cathi,
This seems to be a random issue and I am trying to figure out why. I myself am not able to reproduce the issue. Could you possibly email me the image you are using? I want to rule out the fact that it could be an issue with the source image. If in fact it is an issue with the source image then I will figure out what it is and fix it in an update.
Chris
I can’t export or save, icon says my icon is finished, I select my desktop as a destination. no icon!
phillip,
Did you place any check marks in the the boxes to generate icons?
Chris
I can’t get the icon to be exported… When I type an icon name, click Export Icons, there is a dialog box saying the icons has been created but this is not the case… this is version 2.0. Help!
JF Martin,
Have you tried it without putting in a name?
Chris
I think you have to select the “Generate …” checkboxes to choose which icons should be generated. Otherwise you may get an info that icons have been generated, but there aren’t any.
Tammo,
Good point, I’ll put a check in the app to check if any of the boxes have been selected. Working on some more updates as well. I’ll hopefully be submitting ver. 2.1 to Apple this weekend. If you’ve got any special feature requests or issues please let me know and I’ll see if I can squeeze them in with this update.
Chris
Well, tried again with both Export checkmarks on and off and same result. The Open dialog box is shown with an “Open” button which is confusing, it should says “Save” or “Export”. So great potential but can’t really use it to save icons!
Not sure why you are having this issue. Some screen shots would help though.
Chris,
My wife just purchased Icons to create icons for my upcoming Mac program. We cannot figure out how to add an OpenFeint logo to our icon. A help system would be nice.
Could you please let us know how to do this?
Thanks.
Scott
Scott,
My apologies, the Open Feint Logo is located on the right side of the app. I have a screen cast tutorial on this page that can walk you through it. If you have any issues please let me know.
Thanks,
Chris
Cool app, really love it.
A wish for a new feature : We also (manually) generate an image, each time we create / update existing icons, which is the rounded “apple generated” icon, but with a “shine” below the icon. We use that for our blog / homepage, and I think it could be cool if your app could also generate this too.
See an example of this here : http://www.netcoders.biz/2011/03/01/twinfruits-update-sent-to-apple/
Tony,
Great idea, I’ll look into implementing this.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Does your application support batches of files? If not, can you make workflows with your app in Automator? I have over 300 images I’d like to use with your app but doing them manually is out of the question.
Paul,
Icons currently does not support batch processing. This is something that I have been looking at implementing. Just trying to figure out the best way.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I really like the UI of Icons 2.0. Unfortunately this new version still does not apply effects that are close to what Apple is doing. Have a look here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8723171/Icons2Glitches.png
I generated this screenshot by using white, gray (50%) and black squares to generate the icons.
- The gloss effect on the black icon right, but there seems to be a white border missing at the bottom.
- The gloss effect on the gray icon is less pronounced than Apple’s.
- The edge of the gloss effect on the white icon is basically invisible.
- On all icons, the corner radius is still too large.
- On all icons, the corners still not look antialiased, at least compared to the smooth edges of Apple’s icons.
Could you please fix these?
Take care,
Tammo Freese
Tammo,
Thanks for the quick comparison, I appreciate the input. Have you tried to adjust the alpha of the shine effect and the value of the corner radius? I’m thinking that the reason the shine does not show up as good on the white and gray is because I am not using a shadow on my mask. I will try and add a shadow to see if that will make a difference. When I have a new mask ready I’ll post the mask here and you can download it and try it out.
Let me know what you think,
Chris