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Creating Transparent or Inverse Regions in Device Images (Image Editor for Icons)

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The latest version of this topic can be found at Creating Transparent or Inverse Regions in Device Images (Image Editor for Icons).

In the Image editor, the initial icon or cursor image has a transparent attribute. Although icon and cursor images are rectangular, many do not appear so because parts of the image are transparent; the underlying image on the screen shows through the icon or cursor. When you drag an icon, parts of the image may appear in an inverted color. You create this effect by setting the screen color and inverse color in the Colors window.

The screen and inverse colors you apply to icons and cursors either shape and color the derived image or designate inverse regions. The colors indicate parts of the image possessing those attributes. You can change the colors that represent the screen-color and inverse-color attributes in editing. These changes do not affect the appearance of the icon or cursor in your application.

Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.

To create transparent or inverse regions

  1. In the Colors window, click the Screen-Color selector or the Inverse-Color selector.

  2. Apply the screen or inverse color onto your image using a drawing tool. For more information on drawing tools, see Using a Drawing Tool.

To change the screen or inverse color

  1. Select either the Screen-Color selector or the Inverse-Color selector.

  2. Choose a color from the Colors palette in the Colors window.

    The complementary color is automatically designated for the other selector.

    Tip

    If you double-click the Screen-Color or Inverse-Color selector, the Custom Color Selector dialog box appears.

For information on adding resources to managed projects, please see Resources in Applications in the .NET Framework Developer's Guide. For information on manually adding resource files to managed projects, accessing resources, displaying static resources, and assigning resources strings to properties, see Walkthrough: Localizing Windows Forms and Walkthrough: Using Resources for Localization with ASP.NET.

Requirements

None

See Also

Accelerator Keys
Icons and Cursors: Image Resources for Display Devices