Icons and Improvements for TOT

[civ2units]

Hello to all,

i´m playing with the icons in TOT, i will changing them into the improvements. But i have one problem with the size and the graphic.

For example:


If i will change it into an improvement icon it looks like this one:


What have i to do that this icon will look like this one:


Maybe if someone ccould help me, it would be very great.
I´m using Corel Photopaint 8.0.

[fairline]

Can't help with Photopaint I'm afraid, but PSP allows you to sharpen an image (menu-effects-sharpen-sharpen). You'd also need to clean up the image manually after doing this.

You used to be able to get a limited-time ealuation copy of PSP, and this is probably still the case, although you can pick up older releases for around 10 or 15 Euros here in the UK.

[Catfish]

Two different resampling algorithms produce the different results in those resized images. The first one looks like a bilinear and the second one a nearest neighbour (pixel resize in Paint Shop Pro). Check your resampling options (if the program has any) when you resize the image. I have no experience with Corel Photopaint.

[curtsibling]

In paintshop pro, I use the pixel resize, to a ratio of 200%, and that is how I make the improvement icons.

Not sure how photopaint does the same thing, but I assume you should look to deactivate the anti-alias function.

Another solution is to email to me, and I will resize them for you at a nice sharp resolution...

[civ2units]

Thank you all for your help,

it seems that photopaint doesn´t have the option with the pixel resize or i don´t find the option (what i think).

I will look for a test-version of PSP although photopaint is a good programm for working with the units.bmp, icons.bmp, etc...


@ Fairline:

I have done some additional neutral units from your fabulous napoleonic units. With your allowence i would like to post them here in this forum.

[Sarsstock]

Now I realize you might not have access to Photoshop, but in the event you do these are the steps I use whenever I have to enlarge or shrink down a Civ II graphic.

1) Open up the file with the small icon you wish to enlarge (or paste it into a new document sized to its dimensions, whichever works best for you).

2) Select "Image" from the menu options, and then select "Mode" and finally "Indexed Colour". It will give you some graphic options on a window, then simply click ok.

3)Select "Image" again from the menu options, and this time select "Image Size" (or hit "Alt"+"Ctrl"+"I"). First make sure that the box labeled "Constrain Proportions" IS checked and that your unit of measurements is in pixels.

4)Increase the size of the graphic by typing in your new desired image size in the one of the two dimension boxes (with the constrain proportion box checked, the other box will be automatically re-sized). In this case, the width of the graphic is 36 pixels, type in the number 72 and hit okay. The graphic has now doubled in size without the blurred edges.

Hopefully this helps in some way, I use this process in reverse to size units down posted in screenshots that I like here and there.

[fairline]

Originally posted by civ2units
@ Fairline:

I have done some additional neutral units from your fabulous napoleonic units. With your allowence i would like to post them here in this forum.

Please do mate, and no need to ask

[Catfish]

Originally posted by civ2units
I will look for a test-version of PSP although photopaint is a good programm for working with the units.bmp, icons.bmp, etc...

You could try the GIMP. It's a professional-quality graphics editor and it's free. I use Paint Shop Pro 9.01.

Originally posted by Sarsstock
2) Select "Image" from the menu options, and then select "Mode" and finally "Indexed Colour". It will give you some graphic options on a window, then simply click ok.

I figure you've included this step because by lowering the colour depth to 8-bit you force nearest neighbour resampling on the resizing process. If you want this kind of resampling, you can simply select it in the Image Size screen (Resample Image options). That way you'll still be working in 24-bit (RGB) colour. Admittedly, if the original image is really small then it'll be lucky to have more than 256 colours anyway, but it's an unnecessary step when there's a simpler option available. As a general rule, you don't want to be working in 8-bit colour when you're resizing down.

[Sarsstock]

Well, to me it wasn't an extra step, but to each his own I suppose . As for the sizing down of a graphic, I had mentioned that only to describe a similar method without getting into too much off topic detail, so no I do not typically work in 256 colour when resizing down.

But I digress, let us leave the great photoshop debate for another day . Shall I take it though that you've used Photoshop to make your units/terrains?

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Sarsstock
Well, to me it wasn't an extra step, but to each his own I suppose .

Well, that step might be superfluous in Photoshop , but it might not be in Corel Photopaint . Civ2units could try reducing the colour depth to 8-bit in Photopaint before resizing and then observe how the software handles the resampling. You could even use CivConverter to create the 72 x 36 icons for improvements.bmp. It uses a nearest neighbour-type approach to create improvements.bmp from icons.bmp.

Originally posted by Sarsstock
Shall I take it though that you've used Photoshop to make your units/terrains?

Just Paint Shop Pro. Force of habit.

[Sarsstock]

Well, I don't know what else to say other than I don't consider the colour mode conversion step superflous. I don't think there was a need for the tounge emoticon though, I wasn't trying to be insulting .

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Sarsstock
I don't think there was a need for the tounge emoticon though, I wasn't trying to be insulting .

I wasn't offended, though it seems you were. I've always considered the tongue emoticon to be a joke. Yeah, I'm having a dig, but not seriously - note also the wink at the end of the sentence.

Originally posted by Catfish
You could even use CivConverter to create the 72 x 36 icons for improvements.bmp.

[Pedantry] Make that 72 x 40. [/Pedantry]

[civ2units]

Hello to all,

thank you for your help guys.

Now i have done it with Corel Photopaint. It´s very easy. I opened the icons.bmp, used the order "create new picture" and set the pixels on 200%. Also i deactivated anti-aliasing.

@ curtsibling:

how did you recoloured the icons into a 24bit colour from your latest Bitterfrost scenario?
I would like to do it with the icons from Bebro´s "Imperium Romanum" scenario, but i don´t know how.
If you could help me, it would be great.