==================================================== Converting Weapon Icon WITH a Transparent Background ==================================================== This assumes you have found a weapon icon you like in .BMP format WHICH ALREADY HAS A TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND and wish to convert it to .PIC format, while still maintaining a transparent background. These .BMP pictures show the weapon with what appears to be a white background. The majority of weapon .BMP icons found from the Zephyr collection and the USNRaptor collection fall into this category. 1. Open the Fighters Anthology Toolkit. 2. Go to Graphics --> Import and open your new weapon icon. 3. Choose Object Icon under Select Art Type. Destination name should be a dollar sign plus your new weapon name (i.e. $MK83). No more than eight digits for the name (i.e. $SEAEAGL). 4. Click Convert (Red Toolbox), then OK or Accept. 5. Copy new icom .pic (i.e. $SEAEAGL.PIC) into your Fighters Anthology folder, start game, and check icon. * In order for the icon to show, there must exist a weapon with the same name (i.e. SEAEAGL.JT). ======================================================= Converting Weapon Icon TO have A Transparent Background ======================================================= This assumes you have found a weapon icon you like in .BMP format WHICH DOES NOT HAVE A TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND and wish to convert it to .PIC format, while still maintaining a transparent background. 1. Open the .BMP weapon icon you wish to convert with MS Paint. 2. Open the file Blank.BMP with MS Paint. This file is found in the usnraptor ftp file under Fighters Anthology --> Weapons --> My Icons. 3. Click View --> Zoom --> Large Size for both pictures. 4. With Blank.BMP, go to Attributes and make the width at least twice as big as the current size (maybe make it 220). 5. Go to the original .BMP weapon icon, and using the Pencil tool, put a red dot near the center (if red is already there, chose an opposite color (like blue or yellow). Note the coordinates (found at bottom right) of the red dot location. Select All and copy. {Leave the file open for reference}. 6. Go back to Blank.BMP, and paste the selection over to the far right as much as possible. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION: What you are going to do now is transfer the weapon icon from its current location into the original 105 x 19 area of Blank.BMP. 7. Using the selection tool, highlight the majority bulk of the weapon, * while NOT selecting any of the blackened (background) area *, and move it to the left putting the Red Dot at the same coordinates noted earlier. Return red dot to original color. 8. Use the Select tool to move the rest of the large pieces. Again, do NOT select any of the blackened area. 9. Use the Select Color and the Pencil tools to "transfer" the small pieces. Remember to reference the original .bmp file when redrawing the weapon. 10. Once finished with the drawing, go to Attributes and resize the area to 105 width x 19 height. 11. Save as new weapon name (i.e. MK83.BMP) and close. 12. Close your other pictures as well. Do NOT delete them (yet). 13. Follow the steps under Converting Weapon Icon WITH a Transparent Background ============================================ Making Weapon Icon w/ Transparent Background ============================================ METHOD ONE: 1. Open MS Paint. Click View --> Zoom --> Large Size 2. Choose a background color other than what you'll use in the weapon icon (i.e. bright yellow, cyan, magenta, etc..). 3. Using the Rectangle tool, mark in the upper left corner an area that is 105 width x 19 height. 4. Use the Fill tool to fill in the area you made in step 3 using the same color chosen in step 2. The box and the area inside should be the same color. 5. Copy/Paste several more .BMP files of other Fighters Anthology weapon icons with a variety of colors onto your open page, but avoiding the area highlighted in step 3. 6. Using only the colors used in the other weapon icons, create your weapon icon in the highlighted area you created in steps 2, 3, and 4. 7. Once finished with the drawing, go to Attributes and resize the area to 105 width x 19 height. 8. Save as "NewIcon" or similar. 9. Take your new icon and follow the steps given in Converting Weapon Icon TO have A Transparent Background. METHOD TWO (Advanced Users only): 1. Open the file Blank.BMP with MS Paint. This file is found in the usnraptor ftp file under Fighters Anthology --> Weapons --> My Icons. 2. Click View --> Zoom --> Large Size 3. Make the work area larger by either dragging the lower right corner outward or using Attributes to enlarge area (i.e. 300 x 60). 4. Using the Line Tool, draw a horizontal line across at Height = 20. Draw a vertical line at Width = 106. The rectangle in the upper left of the page in your work area. 5. Copy/Paste several more .BMP files of other Fighters Anthology weapon icons with a variety of colors onto your open page, but avoiding the area highlighted in step 4. NOTICE: The work area you created is NOT white; it is transparent. If you color a pixel and later decide to erase that color, it will NOT go back to transparent. Instead it will become white! Also, if you use color select on the transparent area hoping to erase/color over something, that will NOT work either. It too will be white. The only thing that may work is to use the Select tool to highlight a known area of transparency inside the work area, and copy/paste that area and move to area needing erased. All area outside the work area box is not transparent; it too is white. 6. Using only the colors used in the other weapon icons, create your weapon icon in the work area. Keep in mind any pixel touching the lines drawn in step 4 may not show up in the final icon picture. 7. Once finished with the drawing, go to Attributes and resize the area to 105 width x 19 height. 8. Save as new weapon name (i.e. MK83.BMP) and close. 9. Take your new icon and follow the steps under Converting Weapon Icon WITH a Transparent Background. ====================================== Making Weapon Icon w/ Color Background ====================================== 1. Open MS Paint. Click View --> Zoom --> Large Size 2. Choose the background color you want to use in the weapon icon. 3. Using the Rectangle tool, mark in the upper left corner an area that is 105 width x 19 height. 4. Use the Fill tool to fill in the area you made in step 3 using the same color chosen in step 2. The box and the area inside should be the same color. 5. Copy/Paste several more .BMP files of other Fighters Anthology weapon icons with a variety of colors onto your open page, but avoiding the area highlighted in step 3. 6. Using only the colors used in the other weapon icons, create your weapon icon in the highlighted area you created in steps 2, 3, and 4. 7. Once finished with the drawing, go to Attributes and resize the area to 105 width x 19 height. 8. Save as new weapon name (i.e. MK83.BMP) and close. 9. Take your new icon and follow the steps under Converting Weapon Icon WITH a Transparent Background. ==== FAQ ==== Q: Can I leave an extra Blank.BMP file open and copy/paste transparencies from it to my new picture? A: No. It will paste as White instead of Transparent. Q: Why can't I use MS Paint's colors? Why must I use the default weapon icon's colors? A: The colors used in MS Paint may not translate properly once in Fighters Anthology. You can try and experiment if you wish. This guide was written by usnraptor on May 10, 2020. It is based on MS Paint found on Windows ME. Version 1.0