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List:       kde-artists
Subject:    Re: K-ARTIST: Rule based enhancement of small icons
From:       Kenneth Wimer <wimer () suse ! de>
Date:       2004-01-22 22:52:28
Message-ID: 20040122225228.GD29199 () suse ! de
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Hi,

You have a good point with including a black outline around
the icons, although at small sizes it only reduces quality. GNOME has an
icon style-guide that inlcudes a black outline (and a shadow, if I
remember correctly) and if you look at the "outline" icons (attached)
you will see the result. It does look quite GNOME-ish

Using a black outline requires one to Keep It Very Simple Stupid
because of the effect it creates. I definitely suggest removing the
outline when rendering at small sizes, it only makes things worse.

bye,
ken
* James Richard Tyrer <tyrerj@acm.org> [Jan 22. 2004 23:00]:
> Allan Sandfeld Jensen wrote:
> >On Thursday 22 January 2004 21:37, James Richard Tyrer wrote:
> >
> >>This is a basic example that deals only with Black outlines.
> >>
> >>I do think that this is relevant because for high information content 
> >>icons
> >>should have Black outlines.
> >>
> >>I am using the Krita 48x48 icon.  First problem is that this icons doesn't
> >>have Black. So, I slightly manipulated it in The GIMP so that it does have
> >>Black outlines [krita.48.png].
> >>
> >>Then I made a cubic reduction with The GIMP [krita.16-0.png] which is a
> >>fuzzy colored blob.
> >>
> >>To this I added a rule based Black layer [krita.16-1.png] which is much
> >>better.
> >>
> >>For comparison, I also include the hand tweaked one [krita.16-2.png] which
> >>is slightly better than the rule based one.
> >>
> >>Specifically note that some of the difference between the rule based and
> >>hand tweaked is caused by problems in the original 48x48 image -- the rule
> >>didn't produce Black pixels because there weren't Black pixels in the 
> >>48x48
> >>image.
> >>
> >
> >Maybe it is just me, but I only think you notice the first version is 
> >fuzzy if you zoom on it. Om my screen I think 16-0 looks the best, and the 
> >two others just smired with spots of black.
> 
> You may have a point.  It is quite possible that icons that are more easily 
> recognizable
> in smaller sizes might not look as good from an artistic perspective.  But, 
> I was just
> applying a concept that seems to be generally accepted that when under 
> sampling removes
> the boarders in smaller icons that they should be restored.  This is the 
> main problem with
> small rendering of SVG icons: the boarders are less than one pixel wide so 
> they are either
> merged with what is next to them or become partially transparent.  Either 
> way the edge
> information is reduced or lost and it is the edge information that makes 
> them easily
> recognizable.
> 
> --
> JRT
> 
> 
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> kde-artists@mail.kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-artists

-- 


["outline-apps.jpg" (image/jpeg)]

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