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How to change those default
"audiocassette" icons on toolbar buttons after assigning
macros to them
NOTE: To assign
macros to toolbar buttons, see here
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Note:
These procedures do not directly work in WordPerfect 10.0.0.663
(the version is shown in
Help, About...), also known as WP10/SP2. (See below about updating
this version of WP10.)
As one C_tech on the
Corel WP10 newsgroup said: "This is a known problem with
the WP10/SP2 version. You can copy the toolbars back to a WPWin9
template file, then edit them in WPWin9. Finally copy back to
WPWin10. Only known solution at present."
From Charles Rossiter,
a Corel C_Tech:
"Copy your WPWin10
template file to the same location as the WPWin9 template file.
Launch WPWin9. Do Tools, Settings, Customize. With the Toolbar
tab showing, click Copy. In the top little window, select your
WPWin10 template. In the bottom little window, select the WPWin9
template. In the middle window, select the toolbar to be edited.
Click Copy. Now activate the toolbar, edit the buttons. Then
reverse the copy procedure."
 For
an alternative method involving the use of desktop shortcuts,
see the bottom of this page.
To update
WP10.0.0.663 to the latest version (WP10/sp4):
Download
and install Service
Pack 3
and Service
Pack 4
in the listed order. You will have a much improved program in
several areas.
These
are very large files and it would be better if you have a broadband
connection. If you prefer, you may call Corel in North America
at 1-800-77COREL and they will send you replacement disks that
include SP3 for a small shipping charge. The disks are worth
having even if you download the patches.
Corel
has stated that SP4 is not available on disk. It must be downloaded.
After
installing SP3 you will have build 10.0.0.719. After installing
SP4 you will have build 10.0.0.990.
(Thanks
to "Chris D" on the Corel WP10 newsgroup for this
tip.) |
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There are several methods you
can use to customize the button's image (i.e., the icon).
The basic
(simple) method:
- Right-click on the toolbar with
the button you want to change;
- choose Edit from the context
menu; this brings up the Toolbar Editor dialog;
- while the Toolbar Editor is
on screen,
- either right-click the button you want to edit and choose
Customize,
- or simply double-click the button;
- the Customize Button dialog
appears; click Edit and the Image Editor appears.
- To use the Image Editor in its
basic, default way to edit button graphics -
- Click the Single pixel radio
button (or the brush icon in later versions of WordPerfect) in
the Drawing mode area of the Image Editor dialog to change the
graphic image one square (pixel) at a time, or click the Fill
whole area button (or paint bucket image) to change larger areas
of one color to another color.
- Click the color you want in
the color palette, then click on a square in the zoomed image
area to change the color to your chosen color.
- You can click Undo to reverse
your last change or Clear to erase the entire graphic.
- Click Copy if you want to copy
the current image to the Clipboard. Click Paste to insert the
current Clipboard contents into the Image Editor.
- Click OK until you get back
to the main document screen.
You can use these rudimentary
tools to create your own icon image from scratch or edit an existing
icon to add something (or some color) to make it different from
other button images.
Advanced methods:
Method 1. "Borrow" an existing
icon image from another WordPerfect feature or from another (existing)
toolbar button, and then customize it for your new button.
Since WordPerfect is full of
features that you can add to a toolbar with the Toolbar
Editor's Features tab ("Activate a Feature"
button in WP6x), these already have predrawn icons associated
with them. You can copy any of these images to your macro's toolbar
button and modify them if desired. This is done by temporarily
adding one of these WP features to the toolbar so that you can
get at its icon. (You can delete the temporary button/feature
later.)
Or, if you already have a toolbar
button that will serve as a basis for a new icon, you can copy
the image to a new button. The toolbar button can even be on
a different version of WordPerfect installed on your computer.
- Step 1. Right click the toolbar
or property bar you want to edit, then select Edit from the list.
This brings up the Toolbar Editor. (The Editor will work only
on the toolbar or property bar that you choose by right-clicking
it.)
- Step 2.
- Alternative 1: To copy an image
from a WP feature: Scroll through the Feature Categories
in the Toolbar Editor, and use your mouse to click on various
features in the drop down list below each category. You'll see
the associated icon displayed below the Features list. When you
see one that looks useful, click the Add Button to add that button/feature
to the toolbar. It should immediately appear at the end of the
last row of your toolbar's buttons.
- Alternative 2:.To copy an image
from another toolbar button, skip this step and go to
Step 3.
- Step 3. With the Toolbar Editor
still open, right click the desired "source" button
and select Customize to bring up the Customize Button dialog
box.
- Click Edit to bring up the Image
Editor.
- Click Copy to copy the icon
to the Windows clipboard.
- Exit the Image Editor for that
icon (click Cancel twice until you get back to the Toolbar Editor).
- Step 4.
- If you have used Step 2/Alternative
1: Delete the new, temporary button from the toolbar by right
clicking it and choosing Delete. (The icon image is still on
the clipboard.)
- If you have used Step 2/Alternative
2: Skip this step and go to Step 5. (The icon image is still
on the clipboard.)
- Step 5. Now you can customize
your new icon.
- Right click the "target"
button, select Customize, and click the Edit button. This brings
up the Image Editor dialog.
- Click the Clear button to delete
the default audiocassette image, and immediately click Paste
to insert the newly copied icon. You can then fill the image's
sections with different colors and/or add something to it to
make it stand out on your toolbar.
- When done, click OK twice to
exit back to the Toolbar Editor.
- While the Toolbar Editor is
still on screen, you can drag and drop the new button to another
location on your toolbar by left-clicking it and holding the
left mouse button down.
- Close the Toolbar Editor with
the OK button to save your work and return to the main document
window.
Note: To delete a toolbar
icon from the main doucument window, you can simply hold
down the Alt key while you drag the icon from the toolbar.
Method 2. Use images that already exist
as 16x16-pixel GIF images. GIF images are very common,
and many free ones are found on some Internet sites. (See, for
example, Method 5.)
Method 3a. Use any 16x16-pixel bitmap
icons (i.e., files that end in .BMP).
- Step 1. Open Microsoft Paint
(which comes free with Windows), with Start>Programs>Accessories>Paint.
- Step 2. In MS Paint, click Image>Attributes.
Set the image width and height to 16 (set Units=pixels, Colors=Colors).
Click OK.
- Step 3. On the Paint menu, click
Edit>Paste From. Select the image file, and click Open. The
image should appear in Paint as a tiny image in the work area.
You can use View>Zoom>Custom>800 to enlarge it.
- Step 4. Click Edit>Select
All to select the entire icon image. Then click Edit>Copy
(or use Ctrl+C) to copy the icon image to the Windows clipboard.
If you are going to use more than one image in WP, click Edit>Clear
Selection to clear the current image from MS Paint.
- Step 5. Minimize the MS Paint
program, and go into WordPerfect.
- Step 6. Right click the appropriate
WordPerfect toolbar, then choose Edit from the context menu that
appears. Next, right click on the icon you want to change, then
choose Customize, then click the Edit button. The Image Editor
should now be on screen.
- Step 7. Click the Clear button
in the Image Editor to remove the exusting icon image, then click
Paste to insert the new image. (Some images at this point will
be very blurry and "pixelated"; the Image Editor shows
a Preview of what the icon will look like on the toolbar button.)
Make any changes to any pixels, the click OK until you are back
to the main WordPerfect screen.
- Repeat steps #3 through #7 for
other icon images you want to use.
Method 3b. 
Use larger images
of various types that are first reduced to 16x16-pixels.
With a free, online conversion
tool (on an unrelated web site here)
you can use almost any existing image on your computer -- a bitmap
(BMP), a GIF image, and even a JPEG image (e.g., a digital picture
or photo) if its file size on disk is not too large -- to create
a 16x16-pixel icon image.
Be aware that not all such large,
original images will be suitable to turn into a toolbar icon.
For example, complex landscape images probably will not be particularly
useful because they have too many details, but you can use such
things as a close-up photo of your face or a simple high-contrast
picture. 32x32-pixel BMP and GIF icon images are often very useful
since you already have an idea what they will look like when
reduced in size. Many corporate logos will work well if they
are relatively simple and square-shaped. Experimentation is
the key here.
If you want to use .JPG (JPEG)
files -- a photo or other JPEG image -- you might want to crop
a copy of the image into a roughly square shape first, since
toolbar icons are square. There is no need to resize them at
this point, since this can be done easily and automatically on
the Internet with the following tool. Almost every image editing
program has a cropping tool.
As noted, a free interactive
tool is available on the Internet to reduce the image to toolbar-icon
size, maintaining a rough semblance of the original. It was originally
created to convert such images into "favicons" -- those
small icons you sometimes see next to some web site addresses
(i.e., URLs) in your browser's address field -- but it can also
be used to create toolbar-size GIF images, which, in turn, can
be quickly turned into a toolbar icon.
Here's how:
- Go to "FavIcon from Pics"
- http://www.html-kit.com/favicon/.
- Next to the "Source Image"
field, use the Browse button to locate the folder on your computer
that contains the image to use, and choose it. Its name should
appear in that field. (Only a copy is made; no changes are made
to the original image on your computer.)
- Be sure to click the box, "Animate Favicon." In addition
to a couple of favicon.ico images, this will create an animated
GIF image. For our purposes we need just the first "frame"
of the animated image, which is very easy to retrieve using the
next steps.
- Click "Generate FavIcon.ico."
After the Preview area shows the new favicon -- which might take
several seconds, depending on the size of the image -- click
"Download FavIcon." A ZIP file will appear on your
system in the location you specify.
- Extract the files from the downloaded
ZIP file to a convenient folder. Tip:
Download to a subfolder such as one under the My Documents folder.
Reason: The extracted ZIP will create another subfolder ("\extra")
under the first folder; this is where the animated GIF file is
located. This file, "animated_favicon1.gif" is the
only file you need in the next steps (below). As an animated
GIF it is comprised of several GIF images layered together. The
procedure below will automatically select only the top layer,
which is the original image and the one you want for your toolbar
icon.
- Open this "animated_favicon1.gif"
file with Microsoft Paint (which comes free with Windows) and
simply follow Steps 1 - 7 in Method 3a above. (Tip: You can simply
right-click the GIF file and choose Open With>Paint. Then
start with Step 4 in Method 3a above.)
Method 4. You can use an image editing program
such as Paint Shop Pro or Corel Presentations to convert an image
in another format (e.g., BMP) to a 16x16 GIF image.
TIPS:
From Roy Lewis, Corel C_Tech
(11/23/04):
"The basic idea is to create
toolbar icons from program (and other large) icons, which are
32x32 pixels. Presentations can resize them by a roundabout route,
and when it then Resamples the now smaller icon it seems to do
some anti-aliasing as well. I found the results attractive. Tested
in 9 and 12."
Download
a small ZIP file (IconNew.zip)
with instructions and an example graphic (.WPG) image.
Here's another tip from Roy Lewis,
posted on the Corel WP9 newsgroup, about using Corel Presentations
to edit the icon's bitmap image. In reply to the question, "Is
there any way of accessing more colors from a color pallet than
the ones supplied?" Roy answered:
- Right-click the WP Tool-/Property
Bar. Choose Edit. Then -
- Right-click an icon: Customize|Edit|Copy
to copy the icon's image to the clipboard. Cancel out of all
dialogs
- Open Presentations (you can
get there from within WP, but this is the way I go):
- Load Presentations. Click File|New
from Project|Presentations Drawing|Create
- Click on Edit|Paste. Right-click
the icon and choose Edit, then View|Zoom
- Now you have a bitmap of the
correct size which you can edit as you wish
- Format|Object Properties|Fill
sets the default colour
- (Try experimenting with the
Fill Pattern button on the left of the screen, and "paint"
the "background" of the icon with it.)
- When happy, File|Close bitmap
editor
- Select the icon|Copy [and then
exit from Presentations]
- Back in WP, repeat the first
two steps above, but, instead of Copy, choose Paste. [OK] out
from the dialogs.
- To get a good start for a new
icon, click your way into Edit as above, then fuddle through
the various predrawn button icons (by clicking on the various
items under File, Edit, and so on) until you find one that a)
has a suitable icon and b) is not one you are about to use. Click
Add Button. Right-click the new Button. Click Image-Edit. Click
Copy. Now Paste it either in Presentations for modification,
or directly to a button, as above.
- For your starting icon, you
can collect an icon from any application with similar size icons
[16x16 pixels], Corel or not.
- If you find that what should
be transparent is not, then do the usual Edit Toolbar|Customize
[button]|Edit and use the grey colour just above the word color
- not the green which is on the same text line as the word color:
Method 5. You can use some of the author's
custom (GIF) icons by simply copying and pasting them into
WordPerfect according to the instructions given on the WPicons
page.
Method 6. WORDPERFECT 10/SP2 USERS (but it works for earlier
versions, too): Corel introduced
a problem in Service Pack 2 (i.e., WP version 10.0.0.663) that
caused an inability to edit the default icon on toolbar buttons.
Here's a tip for a workaround from a user ("Re Silient")
on the Corel WP10 newsgroup:
Note that you can drag-and-drop
a shortcut from your Windows desktop to the toolbar or
a property bar. (To remove it later, just hold down the <Alt>
key and drag the icon from the toolbar or property bar.) You
can use this little-known fact to create a custom icon
for a shortcut that plays a macro, then drag it to your WP toolbar
or property bar.
- Create a new custom icon (or
modify an old one to customize it) in MS Paint, IconEdit, or
similar program, or use an icon image library to obtain one;
- create a new shortcut on your
desktop to the WP macro on your disk that you want to add to
your WP toolbar or property bar;
- use the Change Icon button in
the shortcut's Properties (right-click the shortcut and select
Properties) to change the icon to the new custom icon;
- drag-and-drop the modified shortcut
to your toolbar or property bar. You can reposition it by holding
down the <Alt> key and drag it with your mouse to a new
location (or, as mentioned, you can drag if from the toolbar
to delete it).
- Note: The problem
with editing icons has been fixed in WP10/SP3 (version 10.0.0.719),
released on 09/18/02.
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Barry MacDonnell's