What's New?
Version 6.91
French & German Languages - The French & German languages have been implemented for menus and dialogs (help file is still english). Press F2 to open the preferences window and choose the appropriate language.
Various enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.90
New User Interface - The new interface supports hi-dpi displays up to 250%. UI icons have been redesigned to colored flat ones.
SVG images - You can import SVG images to create ICO and ICNS icons.
Support for Windows 10 icons - Create icons for Windows 10. Two new formats added: 768x768 and 512x512.
New Photoshop Templates - 5 new Photoshop templates are added. Now create icons for Windows 8 and Windows 10.
Photoshop plug-in compatible with CC, CC 2014, CC 2015 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Photoshop CC 32 and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Photoshop CC, CC 2014 or CC 2015.
Illustrator plug-in compatible with CC and CC 2015 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Illustrator CC 32 and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Illustrator CC and CC 2015.
New Free Sample Icons - Several new Free Icons have beed added to the Librarian.
Home & Professional Editions Merged - Starting from version 6.90, only the Professional Edition of IconWorkshop is available. Owners of the Home Edition are upgraded to the Professional edition.
Windows Customisation - The Windows Customization feature is no more available due to compatibility issues with latest versions of Windows.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Note about Layers: This feature is currently being developped and will be implemented in version 7.0
Version 6.80
New User Interface - The usability remain the same but icons, colors and illustrations are in the style of Visual Studio 2012, Windows 8 Metro.
Photoshop plug-in compatible with CS6 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Photoshop CS6 32 and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Photoshop CS6.
Illustrator plug-in compatible with CS6 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Illustrator CS6 32 and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Illustrator CS6.
Export to images formats 512x512 and 1024x104 - Now you can batch export the Mac icon images to 512x512 and 1024x1024.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.70
Support for 1024x1024 Macintosh icons for OSX 10.7 Lion - Create extra large icons for OSX 10.7 Lion. Axialis IconWorkshop now fully supports this size in all features (manual, multi-format, batch creation...).
Enhanced Adobe Illustrator plug-in - Now you can choose to export the whole artboard, including inner margins.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.62
New Object Pack "Professional Toolbars" - Professional Toolbars Object Pack is composed of 1296 objects which permit creating to create icons for toolbars in 48x48, 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16 formats. The style is smooth which make them suitable for commercial applications. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
New Batch Feature - Create Hot and Disabled versions of icons and images in batch mode.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.61
Windows 2000 compatibility - Compatibility with Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 has been restored.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.60
Loads New Image File Formats - Now loads several new image formats. Permits edition of image files and creation of icons from the following new formats:
Camera RAW Images (*.CRW;*.NEF;*.RAF;*.ORF;*.MRW;*.DCR;*.MOS;*.RAW;*.PEF;*.DNG...)
Dr. Halo CUT Images (*.CUT)
DirectDraw Surface Bitmaps (*.DDS)
Raw Fax G3 Images (*.G3)
Radiance HDR Images (*.HDR)
Koala Images (*.KOA)
MNG Animated Images (*.MNG)
Portable Float Map Images (*.PFM)
Portable Bitmaps (*.PNM;*.PBM;*.PPM;*.PGM)
Silicon Graphics Images (*.SGI)
Sun RAS Images (*.RAS)
Wireless Bitmaps (*.WBMP;*.WAP;*.WBM)
X-Bitmap Images (*.XBM)
XPixMap Images (*.XPM)
Saves/Exports to New Image File Formats - Now exports/saves images to the following additional file formats:
Radiance HDR Images (*.HDR)
Portable Float Map Images (*.PFM)
Portable Bitmaps (*.PNM;*.PBM;*.PPM;*.PGM)
Targa Images (*.TGA)
Wireless Bitmaps (*.WBMP;*.WAP;*.WBM)
XPixMap Images (*.XPM).
Exports all the formats of an Icon - Now export all the image formats included in an icon in several separate files (13 formats supported).
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.53
Compatible with Visual Studio 2010 - The installer detects and adds the IconWorkshop add-in in Visual Studio 2010.
Ability to create icons for iPhone 4 with Retina Display - This version supports hi-res preset (X2 resolution) for retina displays.
Photoshop plug-in compatible with CS5 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Photoshop CS5 in versions 32 bits and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Photoshop CS5.
Illustrator plug-in compatible with CS5 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Illustrator CS5. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Illustrator CS5.
New Object Pack "iPhone Tab Bar Icons" - This new object pack is composed of 333 objects designed to create high-quality icons for iPhone Applications. By using drag & drop in IconWorkshop combine objects to create in seconds icons for your applications. The image objects are optimized to create icons for all versions of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Two resolutions are provided for each object: 96x64 is based on the latest specifications of Retina displays (x2 resolution), and 48x32 for normal displays (iPhone 3G and prior). Learn More.
New Object Pack "iPhone Applications" - This new object pack is composed of 1144 objects designed to create high-quality icons for iPhone Applications. By using drag & drop in IconWorkshop combine objects to create in seconds icons for your applications. The image objects are optimized to create icons for all versions of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The resolution is based on the latest specifications of Retina displays (x2 resolution at 114x114). You can also create 512x512 illustration images for the AppStore. Learn More.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.52
Ability to create icons for iPhone and Android - the iPhone and Android operating systems use 72-PPI RGB/A PNG images as icons. This new version includes new image presets to create those icons.
New image PPI compatible with WPF - Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) requires 96 PPI images or use in forms. IconWorkshop now creates BMP and PNG files at 96 PPI.
New Installer - A new application installer has been implemented.
Various enhancements and bug fixes
Version 6.51
Ability to choose default image edition type - When opening an image, you can choose either the editor or the viewer window.
Various enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.50
Ability to edit bitmap images - Now you can open, edit and save bitmap images in different formats. This feature permits creating UNIX icons in PNG format as well as illustrations for websites in GIF or JPEG format.
Photoshop plug-in compatible with CS4 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Photoshop CS4 in versions 32 bits and 64 bits. You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Photoshop CS4.
Welcome window - The Welcome window is a handy tool for opening recent files, creating new projects and more. It is displayed in the center of the main window when no document is opened..
JPEG Optimizer - Now you can save images as JPEG and specify the JPEG compression ratio with instant preview.
New filter - The gaussian blur filter has been added.
New image enhancement - Now create Hot and Disabled effect on an icon, image or image strip.
Enhanced Drop Shadow - The drop shadow feature has been enhanced: now you can adjust color, angle, size, distance and opacity.
New Object Pack "Rinoa Toolbars" - Rinoa Object Pack is composed of 183 objects which permit creating icons for toolbars in 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16 formats. The style is clean and professional which make them suitable for commercial applications. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
New Object Pack "Milky" - Milky Object Pack is composed of 257 objects which permit creating hi-quality icons in sizes up to 256x256. The style is smooth which make them suitable for commercial applications and websites. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
New Object Pack "iKon" - iKon Object Pack is composed of 269 objects. It permits creating realistic 256x256 icons in sizes up to 256x256. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
New Object Pack "Function" - Function Object Pack is composed of 488 which permit creating icons for toolbars in 48x48, 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16 formats. The style is clean and professional which make them suitable for commercial applications. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
New Object Pack "Bright" - Bright Object Pack is composed of 296 objects which permit creating hi-quality icons in sizes up to 256x256. The style is realistic 3D which make them suitable for commercial applications and websites. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site. Learn More.
Various enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.33
Illustrator plug-in compatible with CS4 - The transfer plug-in is compatible with the latest version of Illustrator CS4 (version 14.0). You must re-install the plug-in if you upgraded to Illustrator CS4.
Enhanced User Interface - The user interface has been enhanced (better rendering under XP, color picker dialog box compatible with the industry standard).
Various enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.32
German and French languages - The German and French languages are now included in IconWorkshop distribution (menus and dialog boxes only - help file in English).
Various enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.31
Plug-in for Visual Studio® - The plug-in is a handy feature which permits working efficiently with Visual Studio® 2005 and 2008. The principle of this plug-in, as we've made it, is to create a direct bridge between the VS IDE and IconWorkshop. It permits to easily edit in IconWorkshop an icon included in a solution. Just open the icon in the Visual Studio® resource editor and launch the associated plug-in command. The icon is automatically opened in IconWorkshop and you can work on it as necessary. When you save it in IconWorkshop, the VS IDE automatically refreshes the icon document. Learn More.
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.30
Make and edit images strips for toolbars - Developers must create strip images to populate toolbar icons or imagelists. This new version of IconWorkshop permits editing image strips included in projects. It permits also creating new ones in a snap. The different images of the strip are opened separately in IconWorkshop. It permits editing the images as individual icons. The transparency is fully supported for easier edition (Alpha channel for 32 Bpp images and background solid color for 24, 8, 4 Bpp images). Learn More.
Enhanced Batch Merge feature - Now you can resize the final image while merging. Learn More.
New Object Pack #5 for Icons (Web Illustrations) - The pack is composed of 2532 hi-res image objects which have been designed to create high-quality icons for websites. By using drag & drop you can easily create icons featuring various shapes and, symbols for your website. With this pack create automatically a set of icons by using a new feature of IconWorkshop which permits merging a list of symbols over a fixed background. It contains 205 different symbols in several sizes and colors as well as hundreds of backgrounds. The possibilities are almost infinite! The full set of objects is available for download on our web site to registered customers only. Learn More.
New Object Pack #6 for Toolbars (Lite Toolbars) - Axialis Object Pack #6 is composed of 150 objects image objects permit creating icons for toolbars in 32x32, 24x24 and 16x16 formats. Using drag & drop, you can create icons by associating basic objects and action overlays. The style is clean and professional which make them suitable for commercial applications. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site to registered customers only. Learn More.
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.20
New User Interface compatible with Windows Vista™ - Dialog boxes, menu and icons have been redesigned to comply with new Windows Vista UI guidelines.
Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 plug-ins compatible with Windows Vista™ - Now you can install the Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 plug-ins and use them under Windows Vista.
Batch Merge feature - With the Professional Edition you can create a set of icons by merging several images with a common background (a button for example).
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.10
Compatible with Windows Vista™ - Many Windows Vista™ compatibility issues have been fixed in this version.
New Interface for Windows Vista™ - The application automatically detects Windows Vista™ and propose a new user interface compatible with the new Aero™ visuals.
Make program files containing Windows Vista™ compressed icon - Microsoft Visual Studio versions 6 to .NET 2005 do not support creation of executables with PNG-Compressed 256x256 icons for Windows Vista™. Axialis IconWorkshop permits to compress icons directly in EXE/DLL files and use Windows Vista™ icons in your software projects.
Create icons the professional way using ready-to-use Photoshop templates - 10 ready-to-use Adobe Photoshop® Templates are provided with Axialis IconWorkshop™. Load templates in Photoshop® directly from IconWorkshop™, draw your icons in several formats and transfer the whole work in IconWorkshop. Your icon is created in one step. You can even create your own template using an easy to use XML description file.
Support for 512x512 Macintosh icons for OSX 10.5 Leopard - Create extra large 512x512 icons for the new MacOS 10.5. Axialis IconWorkshop now fully support this size.
New Object Pack #2 for Icons (Realistic Buttons) - This pack is composed of 500 hi-res image objects which have been designed to create icons in the style of Windows Vista™. Using this pack you can easily create beautiful sets of buttons to be used in your projects (websites, application GUI, toolbars, dialog boxes...). With 156 symbols included and many shape effects (circle, rounded square, octagon, triangle) you can create a large variety of icons. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site to registered customers only.
New Object Pack #3 for Icons (Quick Toolbars) - A collection of 256 image objects which permits to quickly create program toolbars. Using drag & drop, you can create in seconds icons and buttons for your toolbars by associating basic objects and overlays symbols. The objects do not contain details and have thick borders to allow the creation of small icons suitable for toolbars (32x32, 24x24, 16x16). The objects, which are provided in 256x256 format with alpha channel, permit to easily create icons containing various sizes for Windows XP®, Windows Vista™ & MacOS®. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site to registered customers only.
New Object Pack #4 for Icons (Web 2.0 Icons) - This pack is composed of 601 image objects which permits to quickly create icons in the style of Web 2.0. Using drag & drop, you can create in seconds icons and buttons for your websites and applications by associating background shapes, glossy effects, shadows and various ready-to-use texts and symbols. The icons can also be saved as optimized GIF, JPEG or PNG images for inclusion in your websites. To permit you to work faster, more than 500 ready-to-use derived symbols and texts have been added to the pack, including effects like outer light glow, soft shadow, emboss and 15° rotation. The full set of objects is available for download on our web site to registered customers only.
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 6.0
Full Windows Vista™ icon support with PNG compression - Axialis IconWorkshop™ now loads, creates, edits, saves Windows Vista™ icons. Windows Vista™ the next version of Windows® to arrive, includes a new PNG compressed icon format. It permits to create icons up to 256x256 with alpha channel with smaller file size. Axialis IconWorkshop™ now fully supports this new format in all features: edition, automatic format creation, batch creation, batch conversion, format normalization... Don't wait and create today your icons for Windows Vista™.
Object Pack for Icons (Glossy Buttons) - The first Axialis Object Pack for icons has been included in Axialis IconWorkshopä. It is a library of 150 image objects which will permit you to create an unlimited number of icons with various glossy effects and shapes simply using drag & drop. The images come in 256x256 high-quality PNG format. It permits to create icons containing various sizes up to 256x256 for Windows® XP, Windows Vista™ and Macintosh® OS.
Illustrator® to Axialis IconWorkshop™ transfer plug-in - Now you can import vector images with transparency directly from Illustrator into Axialis IconWorkshop™ through memory. You don't need to create a temporary file anymore. Read More...
Full tutorial on how to use Image Objects - Creating icons from image objects is easy and produce hi-quality results. This tutorial will learn you how to create attractive icons in minutes using Image Objects.
Background floating selection - Using this command you can easily place a floating object in background of your icon. This is useful to add a shadow or a colored halo around an icon.
Copy/Paste Alpha Channels as Masks - Now you can use a grayscale mask image to apply it as Alpha Channel to an icon. Also, you can extract an alpha channel from an icon to create a grayscale mask image.
256x256 and floating Preview Window - The preview window is now adjustable (256x256 or 128x128). It can also be set as a floating window (easier to move in 256x256 mode).
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 5.10
New interface - New look, more dynamic.
Full Macintosh® icon support - Now you can create icons for the Macintosh®. You're able to make, read, convert icons and save them as ICNS, RSC and BIN (MacBinary). All icon formats are supported up to OSX 10.4 Tiger. The new 256x256 image format is also supported. This is not an export-to-mac feature but a full implementation of the Macintosh® icon format specification in all features of the product.
Batch conversion of icons from Windows® to Macintosh® - A very handy feature which will permit you to convert hundreds of Windows® icons to Macintosh®in minutes.
Batch creation of Macintosh® icons from images - Select several images and create associated Macintosh®icons, with all formats embedded, in a few seconds.
Icon normalization - This feature permits you to create a set of icons with identical image formats embedded. This is very useful especially if you want to publish icons.
Macintosh® Icontainer® libraries support - This version permits to extract icons from Macintosh®Icontainer® icon libraries. Multi-state Macintosh® icons are also supported.
Composition of icons using drag & drop - You'll create original icons from a library of symbols in minutes: Select the objects (disk, folder, screen...) in the librarian and drag them using the mouse in the icon editor window. Resize and move it using the mouse then repeat the operation to add other overlay symbols in your icon. You've done your own icon in seconds!
Real time preview in Brightness, Hue, Saturation dialogs - A very handy feature which permits you to adjust icons with precision.
Full support of JPEG 2000 - This is the future format for raster icons. It has a better compression ration than PNG (can be set with lossy compression like JPEG) and support alpha channels. It has been completely included in all features of the product (load/save/export/convert).
Full support of GIF - CompuServe GIF image format is widely used in Web pages because the majority of Web browsers recognize it. It has been completely included in all features of the product (load/save/export/convert) with Web-optimization options.
Better image quality in image resizing and blending - Now crystal clear results in all scale/blending operations!
New sample icons - Some icon artists gave us permissions to include their icons in the product as samples. You can enjoy these icons for your personal desktop use. DO NOT USE THEM IN PRODUCTS, THEY'RE COPYRIGHTED - see Sample Icons Terms of Use topic.
Free object library - In librarian, select the Objects folder and you'll find many images and symbols that you can use freely to make your icons. What a pleasure to compose your icons using drag & drop.
Other enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 5.02
New Interface - A brand new interface skin and illustrations have been implemented. See Acknowledgments topic for more info about icon artists who contributed to this new interface by providing great icons and images.
Batch Creation of PNG, PSD and BMP from Icons - Now you can select various icons (Windows® or Macintosh® format) in the built-in explorer and automatically create PNG, PSD or BMP images with transparency (32BPP Alpha Channel) in one operation. Read More...
Photoshop® to Axialis IconWorkshop™ transfer plug-in - Now you can import images with transparency directly from Photoshop into Axialis IconWorkshop™ through memory. You don't need to create a temporary PSD file anymore. Read More...
Version 5.01
New Extra Icon Size Added in Dialogs - Now you can create 128x128, 96x96, 72x72, 64x64 icon formats just by checking an option (in all creation features).
Now Supports All Macintosh® Icons - All the Macintosh® icons can be read using this new version (even those without extension).
Macintosh® to Windows® Batch Conversion - Now convert several Macintosh® icons to Windows® format (ICO) in one operation. Read More...
Batch Icon Creation from Images or Macintosh® Icons - Now you can create several Windows® icons in one operation from Images, Macintosh® Icons, cursors... Read More...
Advanced Icon Snapshot Feature - A Snapshot is an image created automatically by Axialis IconWorkshop™ to show one or several icons (with embedded formats) on a decorated background. Very useful for icon authors! Read More...
Import/Export enhanced - New import/export menus with keyboard shortcuts have been added to increase your productivity.
Automatic Filter applied when resizing icons - This advanced filter permits you to create smooth or sharp icons in one click.
Version 5.0
This is a major release. Before version 5.0, the program name was Axialis AX-Icons. More than 50 new features and enhancements have been added to this version.
Enhanced Editor
The Icon Editor has been greatly enhanced. It supports 32 bits XP icons with alpha channel, smooth drawing, many image adjustments (brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, flip, scale, rotation at any angle, drop shadow, filters), import/export (Photoshop® PSD with layers, transparent BMP and PNG), Smart new image format creation, new color management (RGB/HSL models, compatible with Adobe® and Jasc® palette files).
Support for Windows® XP icons
Now Axialis IconWorkshop™ supports the new Windows® XP 32 bits image format with alpha channel (a.k.a. smooth transparency).
Support for Macintosh® icons
Now you can read Apple Macintosh® icons. All formats up to OS X 128x128 alpha channel icons are supported! You can easily convert/import them to Windows® in seconds.
Professional Integrated Environment
The whole environment has been redesigned. Now it includes a built-in explorer with thumbnail preview which permits you to browse/search and display/import icon files from your disk drives. An Internet multi-source search engine lets you find icons and images on the Web. A built-in image viewer permits to open various image formats (Photoshop® PSD with layers, 32 Bpp transparent BMP, transparent PNG, GIF, WMF, JPEG and more) and create a new multi-formats icon based on a portion of this image in just one click!
New User Interface
This new version has a brand new user interface: New look and feel, New customization features, Windows® XP compatible.
A New Compiler
Using this compiler, you'll be able to create redistributable packages of your icon libraries. It generates a compressed user-friendly install procedure. The final package is 3 times smaller than the original ICL file. At least, with the Professional Edition, you can force the end-user to enter a Serial Code to unlock the installation. A serial code generator is provided.