Microangelo description
Microangelo - View, create, edit and manage icons

You will find in Microangelo Toolset four integrated icon utilities, each designed to excel in its specific area of expertise.

All Toolset components provide complete support for Windows Vista hi-resolution (256x256) icons and Vista image compression! Click on any of the tool icons above for more details on each component.

Librarian is designed to recognize and access icons in every file and image format supported by Windows 95 through Windows Vista. Open all types of icon libraries to view, organize, add, remove or replace the icons they contain.

Use Librarian to search, locate and extract icons from files, folders, or entire disk drives on your computer or network. It's workspace allows you to view and manage all image formats within an icon resource. Replace or edit icons inside of program files. Software developers: Librarian's command line support automates the addition of Vista icon formats when building your applications.

Use Studio to edit icons and make icon (ICO) and cursor (CUR) files. Its rich editing and drawing tools will help you create outstanding icons and cursors. Studio's editing tools and options allow you to create custom gradients with unlimited colors and transparency levels, draw smooth anti-aliased edges, paint with adjustable opacity, and add dithering/dodge/burn effects to every drawing tool! Import PSD, PNG, JPG and BMP graphics.

Studio includes enhanced scaling and sharpening options to optimize their display at any size. These features and additional options - nudge tools, screen capture, and a real-time Preview window - make Studio your complete solution for editing icons and cursors!

Animator is designed to make and edit animated (ANI) cursor files. It's toolset and interface are identical to Microangelo Studio, with enhanced features for creating animated cursors. Watch your animation take shape in Animator's real-time Preview window while you edit!

Explorer is a perfect "home base" for all of Microangelo's components. Use Explorer to browse for icons, cursors, and animated cursors. Explore folders for for icon files, view icon and cursors animations, and sort files by detail, for example, the number of icons they contain. Launch any Toolset component from Explorer's toolbar or file display.

Here are some key features of "Microangelo":

Rich Project Files
· Save your work to Creation's project file format to preserve your icon and cursor designs complete with layers, attributes, saved selections, and more. Your entire project is preserved for future enhancments or derivative works.

Layered Export/Import
· Export and Import functions specifically include PSD (Photoshop) and PNG file formats because of their ability to include multiple layers and their support for unlimited colors and semi-transparency (alpha channel). Images can also be imported from JPG and BMP formats and exported to BMP format in 24-bit or 32-bit (with alpha channel) formats.

Edit Icons With Multiple Layers
· Creation's "Layers" window provides easy access to:
· Adjust the opacity of each layer
· Link layers together
· Select the active edit layer
· Toggle visibility on or off for any layer
· Edit layer names
· Drag layers to re-arrange front-to-back order
· Add or Remove layers

A Master Artist's Color Palette
· Outstanding icons and cursors begin with an outstanding source of color. Creation's versatile Palette window offers every artist a virtual spectrum of color options.

Configurable Editing and Drawing Tools
· Creation offers elegant tools, specifically designed to edit icon and cursor images. Tools can be further configured with options such as Anti-alias, Opacity, and Tolerance settings.
· A powerful array of Selection Tools includes Rectangular, Elliptical, Lasso (irregular shapes), and Magic Wand (select by color and tolerance). Build complex selections by adding or subtracting areas with any combination of tools. In addition to edit commands (Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear), selections also play an important role when used with drawing tools and menu commands.
· Icon drawing tools include a Pencil, Line, Flood Fill, Brush, Gradient, Shape (rectangular and elliptical, solid, outlined, or both), and Text tools.
· Pick up colors from existing pixels with the Eyedropper.
· The current foreground and background colors are easily checked, changed or swapped at the bottom of the tool window.

Powerful Gradient Tool
· Smooth, colorful gradients are crucial to make the best Windows XP icons. In Creation, gradients are limited only by your imagination!
· Foreground to Background
· Foreground to Transparent
· Rainbow
· Copper

Your Own Gradients
· Whether you're familiar with Adobe Photoshop or not, you'll be delighted to use Creation's Define Gradient tool to create spectacular gradients for your icons and cursors.
· Create as many Transparency anchor points as you need. Select any anchor to adjust its transparency level or adjust the "mid-point" location with its neighbor.
· Create color anchor points and blend two colors or build a rainbow! Select any anchor to choose a fixed color or the current foreground or background color.
· Use a pre-defined gradient or add to the gradient library of selections with the Load and Save options.

Additional Features
· Rotate layers to any angle
· Add Drop Shadows to layers or entire images
· Save and Load Selections
· Individual tool settings for opacity, anti-alias, tolerance, etc...
· Merge and duplicate layers
· Unlimited Undo and Redo operations
· Highly-visible editing cursors and hints
· Publish Check insures support for targetted platforms.


Requirements:

· Intel Pentium III processor
· 128MB RAM (256MB recommended)
· 16-bit or greater video card
· 1024x768 or greater Desktop


Limitations:

· 21 days trial.