I tried using one of your icons on a Windows 2000 desktop, but it only showed
the default application icon. What can I do to correct this?
This is because Windows 2000 and earlier does not support Windows XP's
24bit color enhancements. If you want the icon to appear correctly on the user's
desktop (on a legacy operating system), you will need to use the 8-bit (256 color)
ICOs that we provide. You can also convert the icon to remove the XP color by using
any of the several icon design tools available on the web. This limitation would
not apply to icons used within the application (i.e.: the programs interface). It
is a restriction of the operating system itself and would only affect icons displayed
on the user's desktop (or viewable within Windows Explorer). We are not aware of
any way around this other than to suffice to only 256 colors.
Why do the GIF icons look jagged compared to the other formats?
This is because GIF only supports 256 colors, but the other formats allow
for 24-bit color. The limitation is in the file format, and is not directly related
to our icons. VirtualLNK
does not
recommend GIF format. Whenever possible, we advice that you use PNG format,
as it also supports alpha transparency and has optimal color quality. Unfortunately this requires
some additional work for web usage (see below).
Why do PNG images show a grey/blue background when viewed in Internet Explorer?
Unfortunately Internet Explorer 6.0 and below does not support PNG transparency.
In this case, we recommend that you convert the PNGs to JPG and replace the background
color to match that of your website. There are several tools available on the web
to do this in batch mode. Another option is to use Adobe Photoshop or other design
software to replace the background color of the JPGs we provide to that of your
target background color, etc.
I really would like to use PNG for Web Development, is there any way around
Internet Explorer's lack of support for it?
There are several articles on the web that show you have to use PNG format
with Internet Explorer 6.0 and below. Most of these methods require knowledge of
PHP or other scripting methods. Most experienced programmers should find this method
to be a very viable solution. Firefox on the other hand has full support for PNG
format.
The following resource provides links to two seperate solutions and some additional
information on PNG alpha transparency:
http://www.mywebsite.force9.co.uk/png/png-alpha-transparency.htm