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Switching to new Visual Studio after 15 years thumbnail

Switching to new Visual Studio after 15 years

In the past weeks, I have been updating the source code of RWPaint so that it can be compiled using new version of Microsoft Visual Studio. In today's stream I will be talking about what it will mean for you and me in the future.

Deleting anonymous comments

Just a quick update. Authors of cursor and icon sets should now be able to delete anonymous comments on the page with the sets. This should help people keep the pages cleaner. Only comments less than 1 month old can be deleted. Let me know if you encounter problems with this feature.

RW Paint and Cursor Editor beta - April 2nd stream thumbnail

RW Paint and Cursor Editor beta - April 2nd stream

Version 2023 of RealWorld Paint and RealWorld Cursor Editor is getting close. From now on, I will be working exclusively on fixing bugs and not on adding new functions. You can participate by downloading the latest version, testing it on your computer and contacting me if you find a bug - something that was supposed to work and did not.

Recoloring tool - March 12th stream thumbnail

Recoloring tool - March 12th stream

A simple way to recolor images, especially cursors or icons, has been one of the most requested features for years. I have created a simple script for replacing one color with another and some people have been using it, but it was working only in very specific situations, because only the exact colors were replaced. In the last weeks, I have been trying to improve the situation.

Cursor wizards with vector layers - February 19th stream thumbnail

Cursor wizards with vector layers - February 19th stream

With the major changes in RW Paint and Cursor Editor complete, I can now focus on polishing the user interface and on updating various details affected by the big changes.

Features left out (for now) - January 29th stream thumbnail

Features left out (for now) - January 29th stream

The release data of the new version of RealWorld Paint is not far away now. But, as is usual, not all functionality will make it to the final version. In tomorrow's stream, I will show you some of these unfinished functions, because they are still on the table and may be added in the future. There will of course be space for questions and I will also talk about updated image printing command.

Large cursors in Windows 11 - January 8th stream thumbnail

Large cursors in Windows 11 - January 8th stream

It only took Windows a couple of decades to allow users to customize the size of the mouse cursor. For the majority of that time, the maximum size was capped at 32x32 pixels. In Windows 7, it was possible to switch to higher resolution and if the resolution was set to 150% or higher, the cursor size increased to 48x48 pixels. In current Windows, there is an additional option to increase the size of the cursors regardless the current resolution.

Customizing canvas - Sunday 18th stream thumbnail

Customizing canvas - Sunday 18th stream

This is the last stream in 2022 and I will be showing you what changes were made to the look and functionality of the canvas in RealWorld Paint and other editors.

Redesigning application icons - stream on Sunday 27th thumbnail

Redesigning application icons - stream on Sunday 27th

RealWorld Paint and other RW applications are currently using icons designed in the Windows 7 3D-looking style. But more recent version of Windows tend to use simpler, 2D looking icons. In order to look more in line with the new Windows, I am slowly replacing the previous 3D icons with simpler 2D ones.

Configuring RWPaint - next stream Sunday 6th thumbnail

Configuring RWPaint - next stream Sunday 6th

A lot of things in RealWorld Paint is controlled by and held together by the Configuration, the capital C is earned. It is very powerful, but also very complicated. In the next stream, I will show you how to wield its power with the proper amount of responsibility. I will show you how to configure a batch operation, how to change items in the the main menu and how to move a panel in the user interface.

Blur effect changes - next stream on Sunday 16th thumbnail

Blur effect changes - next stream on Sunday 16th

In the upcoming YouTube stream, I will be talking about the changes to the Blur effect, the enhancements to the effect panel and what other changes are planned. You are welcome to ask questions related to any RealWorld software.

Speeding up RealWorld Paint thumbnail

Speeding up RealWorld Paint

With the increased focus on layer effects and non-destructive editing methods, performance of every editor becomes more and more important. Nobody wants to wait too long for an effect to be applied, especially when that effect is being repeatedly applied on every change to the image.

SVG import/export in future versions thumbnail

SVG import/export in future versions

SVG is a file format used for storing vector images (and more). It is used widely on the web and, in recent years, its use in software has grown as well. In certain situations, it replaces classic raster icons. Future versions of RealWorld Paint and RealWorld Icon Editor will be able to import SVG and the export plug-in will be more capable.

Smoother animations in future versions thumbnail

Smoother animations in future versions

RealWorld Paint and Cursor Editor are capable of creating and editing simple animations. Each frame is a separate image that is displayed for a certain amount of time. This system is fine for mouse pointers and for simple animations used on the web, but not ideal for more complex tasks. But maybe it is possible to improve it...

Furure of RealWorld software thumbnail

Furure of RealWorld software

I have had little time in the last years to work on RealWorld software, but that is changing now and there will be updates coming in the near future. You are all invited to participate, give feedback and suggest changes.

New functionality in latest builds

You may or may not have noticed that latest builds of RealWorld Paint and RealWorld Icon Editor are available from their respective home pages. If you are curious, you can download and test them at any time.

RealWorld software in 2016

The world is moving forward faster and faster and we all want new things to play with. So, let's make the latest builds of RealWorld software available to everyone. This preview versions will be available in addition to the current "stable" versions.

Live broadcast on Saturday thumbnail

Live broadcast on Saturday

There will be some significant changes in the next RealWorld Icon Editor. I will be demonstrating one of them in a live broadcast via youtube on this weekend.

Single column layout in RealWorld Paint thumbnail

Single column layout in RealWorld Paint

I occasionally get asked how to move the layers panel in RealWorld Paint to the right side of the window. It is possible, but not a simple thing. Here is how you can do it.

JPEG arithmetic coding

The first specification of the JPEG image format was published more than 20 years ago and it obviously was a great success. Even after so many years, most digital cameras still produce .jpg images and a good portion of all images on the web are .jpg images. Now imagine if all .jpgs were about 10 percent smaller with exactly the same quality. Wouldn't that be nice?

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Vista & Win 7 icons
I wish there were...
What about ICL files?