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mcd

? about ICNS and ICO files in deliveries...

Maybe this is a silly question, but I feel compelled to ask anyway... :)

Why do the chefs include separate ICO and ICNS files by size? Don't these file types have the ability to include multiple sizes within a single file?

Posted by mcd on Apr 10, 2007 in Blab | 5 comments

gswd on Apr 10, 2007

I don't know. I do know that when I used an online utility to create a favicon, when I looked at the actual file later it did have 2 sizes displayed. But I never really thought about it, because I thought it was specific to favicon file.

mcd on Apr 10, 2007

I know favicons tend to have multiple versions of an icon included in one file, and it can be seen sometimes when looking at site favicons in Safari vs. Firefox.

I was just wondering in general, if there is some special reason to pack multiple icon sizes separately, when you can alternatively just create one icon file that contains all of the sizes.

cynicalpink on Apr 11, 2007

I was wondering that too. I also wonder if IB could pack the Mac icons in an IconFactory iconcontainer format.

iconmaster on Apr 11, 2007

The reason to put all those resources into a single ICNS or ICO would be if you're making a desktop icon. Generally we're aiming more at developers who might want to include an icon in a toolbar or other UI widget, in which case they'll probably only need one size.

But anyone's free to take those files apart and put more images in.

mcd on Apr 11, 2007

Thanks, John. I don't really mind either way if the icon resources are separate or combined in one file. I was just curious to know what the advantages/disadvantages might be to keeping them separate. Thanks for the info!