The gang at the Iconfactory has unleashed IconBuilder Pro 2.1, a free (to registered users) that corrects a “small, but significant” bug when IconBuilder was used in conjunction with Mac OS 9.1.
Some users experienced color shifts when creating icons for Windows in lower bit depths. That’s corrected with version 2.1. However, since this bug only applied to the creation of Windows icons, the fix was unnecessary for IconBuilder Lite.
Written by veteran Photoshop filter author Craig Hockenberry, IconBuilder is a “real world” solution for creating 32-bit icons. Thanks to the use of layers (and their transparent properties), Photoshop makes an ideal editor to create the blended shadows, smooth outlines and translucent areas of 8.5-plus icons, said Hockenberry. You use Adobe Photoshop as your editor, in combination with IconBuilder as your assembly tool.
IconBuilder Pro 2 lets developers and artists create icons for the Mac OS and Windows platform. Version 2.0 was the first product to offer the ability to construct thumbnail (128×128 pixel) icons for use with Mac OS X.
IconBuilder Pro is available at he Iconfactory for US$69 and supports the building of Classic, Modern and Mac OS X icons for the Macintosh, as well as Windows 95/98/NT/2000 icons. The $29 lite supports icon creation of Classic and Modern Mac icons only.