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I have a set of icons that are basically transparency maps generated from an SVG source, so you have little things like save icons and such.
Bear with me:
The transparency maps are such that each pixel is actually just an alpha value (at 8 bits it's 0 to 255 with 255 being fully opaque) - and then you apply a color to actually draw it on the screen. The transparency map works such that the icons wind up nicely crisp and anti-aliased against whatever background they are drawn against.
Here's my question: Can you think of reasonable use cases to adjust the transparency while drawing such that you can make the thing partially transparent while you draw it? Say you have a "new file" icon. Are there good reasons you can think of that it might need to be drawn partially see-through against a background?
Or is this just gold plating?
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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In my experience, disabling a button with an icon, doesn't "disable" the icon; it still looks "active". In that case, I make the Icon faint enough (Opacity) to imply it's disabled.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Agreed. This is my quick-and-dirty means of displaying a WPF UserControl in a disabled state when the controls within it don't have the appearance I want. It's especially useful when the primary feature in the control is a bitmap.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Will the user be able turn off such a "feature"?
With eyesight like mine, any dynamic activity on the screen is an irritant.
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That's kind of beyond the scope of this. This is just the library for the graphics.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Remember that Microsoft, in their seemingly infinite stupidity, now has some windows that become transparent when they gain focus. Unlike (2000-era?) when they became transparent when they were in the background, and lost transparency upon focus. That was the only logical method, but some fool thought transparency is so cool that it should be in our faces. In other words, it is up to you. But I'm against transparency in the top-level window.
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There are no windows on this. Just a little LCD display
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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honey the codewitch wrote: Are there good reasons you can think of that it might need to be drawn partially see-through against a background?
One of those things that really depends on the use case. Generally speaking, contrast is good from a usability standpoint. Not everyone has perfect version. It doesn't have to be a stark contrast, but using transparency to show a state change for instance is usually not a good thing as it's either too subtle or too much and you can't see the icon anyway. So, if it's something like a menu icon then it's a bad idea to use transparency effects.
That being said, if the purpose of the icon is to not have state or be interacted with like a menu the rules change. If it's larger than 32x32 then things change, etc. Say for instance you're making an On-Screen Display (OSD) application that would take up 25% of the screen and your icon is showing a logo, status effect, etc. In that case, transparency effects would be a necessity since so much of the screen real estate is now covered.
There's rarely one size that fits all in development.
Jeremy Falcon
modified 31-Jan-23 18:38pm.
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Quote: Can you think of reasonable use cases to adjust the transparency
Maybee adjusting for themes?
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Gold plating.
But I'm an old coot that still uses win7 defiantly.
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He even argues that the moon is flat as well!
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Mosdef useful. We often seen disabled text e.g. save as semitransparent (when there are no changes to save). So that is useful for icons as well.
"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"
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Since I asked the question I realized something.
You can already accomplish semi-transparent icons by drawing them with a forecolor pixel that has an alpha channel.
However, that didn't work as it should have due to an implementation issue in my code.
So I fixed that, and answered the question at the same time.
A separate parameter for an alpha factor is not necessary after all. 
Too bad I didn't think of that until later that night.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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If this is to show the icon disabled, whats the difference between grayed out and say, 50% transparency? I'm thinking work/code wise. Feels like they would be similar, but if you are going for disabled then grayed out is the standard and easier to see for old eyes.
Are there other uses for it other than showing disabled?
Jack of all trades, master of none, though often times better than master of one.
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I was sent this: A flat earther explains ...[^]
What can I say? Please, don facepalm protection before watching. 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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So nice of you to become a parent to these orphaned threads. 
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Slacker007 wrote: So nice of you to become a parent to these orphaned threads
Let me see if i can also be given the guardian medal.
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It does seem to be becoming a habit, doesn't it?
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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"the sun goes from the east to west..." - Good thing all cameras automatically orient themselves to 'north = up'.
Even with your warning, I think I hurt something. But thanks for trying to keep us unharmed.
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"This should be dark, cuz it's in the shadow of the sun ..."
I think he broke something as well.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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He further broke my faith in humanity. These last years have crushed that belief. 
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Yeah... good luck having a flat earther explain how time zones work. They can't. Somehow they can't wrap their head around the fact a flat Earth would make half the world day and half the world night at the same time.
Jeremy Falcon
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Yeah. Or that if you go north long enough, you will be going south. Or that if you were a foot away from the North or South Poles you don't have to travel for thousands of miles to circle that pole... Our education system has failed us badly.
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Thanks, I needed that laugh.
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
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Bear in mind how unintelligent the median human is. Be warned that 50% of humans are more unintelligent than that!
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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