IconPainter (Version 1.2) installation notes

The IconPainter ZIP file name indicates the date that the product version in the file was built in day/month/year order. The IconPainter ZIP file contains 5 files. The product is packaged into the single JAR file. This can be run by either double clicking on it in Windows (or a single click in Solaris) or alternatively with the command 
      java -jar IconPainter.jar
The IconPainter JAR file is self-contained and should not be tampered with. This JAR file cannot be run as an applet in a browser, instead it must be run as a standalone application (similar to a '.exe' file on a PC). It can be placed in any directory on a users machine. When it runs it will create two directories as subdirectories to the directory where it resides. These are called "props" and "myicons". The directory "props" contains files for saving session information as well as registration information. The directory "myicons" is the default directory for saved icons. If the user saves the current palette a third directory called "palettes" will be created. Erasing any of the directories is not critical as they will automatically be recreated by IconPainter however they also contains registration information so the registrattion code may have to be re-entered.

The user manual for the product is contained within the help menu and it might be best if this is looked at first.

The minimum recommended PC for the product is a Pentium 133 with 24 MBytes of RAM. The product will start ponderously on a P133 but runs perfectly well. It is written entirely using the Sun Java1.2 JDK and users must have this installed on their machine. Java 1.2 is available free at Sun's website.

Known issues

Display problems

If you use a Windows PC and the IconPainter windows are not repainting properly then right click on the desktop and select properties. This gives you the Display properties dialog. Select Settings then Advanced and turn down the graphics acceleration. Turning down the acceleration may also cause the cursor to flicker in which case turn off IconPainter's animated logo by using the appropriate option in the "Settings" menu.

Paying for IconPainter

IconPainter is shareware and the idea is that you have 30 days to play with it and after that you should either register the software or delete it from your machine. (Archiving it is legally OK). To encourage payment IconPainter puts two crossed lines through any images saved until the software key is entered. These lines ruin the image but at least image saving can be demonstrated. In addition, while the software is unregistered the text "Evaluation software" will appear in the frame title.

Registration is done through the KAGI software registration service. The small Windows program included can be run to generate a form that can be e-mailed, faxed or posted to Kagi. They should then automatically issue a registration code which is entered through the option in the help menu. If a code isn't forthcoming then e-mail the author to find out what's going on. If payment must be made by credit card over the phone ring Kagi in the US on (510) 658-5244 (5 dollar surcharge for phone orders). For more information about paying as well as online registration go to the EquitySoft pricing page.

Installing the latest IconPainter over older versions.

If you want to preserve the "myicons" directory from an older version then it's quite ok simply to replace only the old version's JAR file with the newer JAR file. In this case it's quite probable that most settings from the last session eg.current color, will be reset.

Bugs and feedback

Bugs should be sent to EquitySoft@iname.com and product news can be found at http://www.kagi.com/EquitySoft. All feedback is most welcome.
© 1998 all rights reserved, Colin Mummery.