This article provides information on the following topics: • What are the differences between Windows® and Macintosh® icons? • Image formats included in Macintosh® icons • Various Macintosh® file types • Transfer an icon between Windows® OS and Macintosh® OS • What are the differences between Windows® and Macintosh® icons? Microsoft Windows® and Apple Macintosh® icons are very similar. They both have several image formats embedded in the same icon. But the file format is totally different. You cannot use Macintosh® icons as is under Windows®. The file format is not compatible. same under Macintosh® OS which cannot read Windows® icon files. supports the following Macintosh® icon files: ICNS, RSC and BIN. You can easily open them into the Icon Editor and save them as Windows® ICO format. During this operation, we recommend you to remove special Macintosh® formats which are useless under Windows®. You can also read a Windows® icon and save it as Macintosh® format. Recommended image formats embedded in icons are slightly different in Windows® and Macintosh®. See the comparison tables below: Some image formats are unavailable in won't event permit you to create them. If you try to save or convert a Windows® icon to Macintosh®, some format will be removed. Note that all image formats can be created in Windows® icons, even custom formats not listed above. Top of Page Image formats included in Macintosh® icons Only a limited list of image formats are available in Macintosh® icons (no other or intermediate formats can be defined): for Macintosh®icons to ensure display compatibility on old Macintosh®systems with B/W screens. Top of Page Various Macintosh® file types Macintosh® icons can be saved using two different file between Windows® and Macintosh®. ICNS - This is the standard Macintosh® icon file format. Only one icon (with several formats) can be saved in this format. This format is the most commonly used. RSC or RSRC - This is the Macintosh®resource file format. It is used mainly by developers. This format can contain several icons. Axialis IconWorkshopä support reading of RSC files with several icons but can write only RSC files with one icon. BIN - MacBinary format. This format permits to easily transfer files between Macintosh® and Windows®. For more information on this format, visit this We strongly recommend to use this file format to transfer your icons to Macintosh® because it is compatible with Macintosh® file system which and the resource fork. The data fork contains the data included in the file (a text file for example). The resource fork contains the image or icon which permits to display it on screen. See below for more information on transfer from Windows® to Macintosh®. Top of Page Transfer an icon between Windows® OS and Macintosh® OS To transfer and icon between Windows® and Macintosh®, the easiest method is to use the MacBinary format. This format permits to generate an icon compatible with the Macintosh® OS forks. file handy for transfer, mail attachment or Web publishing. When IconWorkshopä saves an icon in MacBinary format, it writes the icon in the resource fork. The data fork is left empty. As a result, as soon as you receive or see the file in Macintosh®, the icon appears automatically. Then, you can handle it using the standard Finder/MacOS user interface. Top of Page months a new generation of flat LCD displays will have much higher resolutions. The screens won't be larger but the number of pixels per inch (DPI) will increase. This will result in smaller items on screen including icons. To compensate this effect, Apple® has planned to create a new resolution-independent user interface and the ability to display icons with higher definition in Tiger. This format is highly compressed of a 48x48 icon! It will change deeply the way you'll create icons in the future. But be sure we'll add many features to help you in future versions. To get an idea of things to come, see an icon snapshot comparing Top of Page Top of Page For the same reasons of compatibility with hi-res screens Top of Page Related Topics make cursors Send us feedback about the site. Microsoft, Windows, Windows XP, Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation Adobe, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator are registered trademarks of Adobe System Incorporated Apple, AppStore, Ipod, iPhone, iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc
Clker.com is owned by Rolera LLC, 2270 Route 30, Oswego, IL 60543 support\at\clker\dot\com
Comments