DudeBoyz

Join Date 08/2008

Icons spaced too close together by default, too far apart with Separators inserted

I'd like to adjust icon spacing without a separator

I am using Object Dock 1.90.536 and the DogmaX background. I have the dock on the right side of the screen so that icons go from top to bottom stacked on top of each other.

By default, icons are very close together and I would like to have more space between each icon. Some extra blank / buffer space above and below each icon would be good.

I have tried inserting separators, and while this does work, the icons end up spaced too far apart.

I have tried cropping and resaving the PNG's for the separators (from 30x20 to 30x10), but that does not seem to have any effect on the icon spacing. Tried rebooting but that did not seem to cause it to alter spacing, and I also tried choosing another background, then changing back to DogmaX but again, nothing seems to have changed in terms of icon spacing.

I tried doing a search for this issue here but for some reason, if it has been answered before, I could not find it via that search.

So, I thought I'd post about the problem and hold out hope that someone here would be kind enough to help me find out how to do this or if it is even possible to do this at all.

I prefer using Object Dock because I can alter settings to make it behave much like the Microsoft Office Toolbar that I have on my other machine. I can configure it so that when application windows are maximized, the dock can "Reserve Edge of Screen" and is always "Kept on top". I don't know of any other dock app that can do that other than the one in MS Office. Point being, I'd like to stick with Object Dock if I can.

I would appreciate any helpful assistance you may be able to provide regarding this question.

Thank you,

DB

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The best way is to, although a lot of work if you have many icons, in graphics software create a blank image, if your icons are 256x256 create something like 275x275, then you can paste icons on it and save them. You will have to go thru all your icons one at a time.

There is with OD no spacing between icons, many icons are created using the whole 256x256, thus they look stuck together. When I create icons for OD I always leave at least 10 pixels all around background.

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The best way is to, although a lot of work if you have many icons, in graphics software create a blank image, if your icons are 256x256 create something like 275x275, then you can paste icons on it and save them. You will have to go thru all your icons one at a time.There is with OD no spacing between icons, many icons are created using the whole 256x256, thus they look stuck together. When I create icons for OD I always leave at least 10 pixels all around background.

I see. That will be a lot of work, I suppose, but I'm only talking about maybe 20 or 30 apps.

Is there an icon extraction utility that is workable and perhaps free? I will need to extract the icons from EXE files?

So as far as you know though, there is no simple way to have this done? No INI tweak or anything?

What is baffling to me is why changing the Separator height did not do the trick. That is a major bummer. I thought it would work.

If I could just pad each icon with 10 pixels on top and bottom only, that would be fine. I was just hoping it could be a simple setting, I guess.

I do appreciate the answer. I think I'm due for some sleep. Brain is gettin' tired.

Thanks

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No INI tweak or anything?

If you are comfortable with the .ini, you can add a blank image as a tile then add the tile code to .ini and adjust the icon size by percentage.

[Tile]
Image =image name.png
ResizeIconByPercent = 70;
OffsetIconByPercentX = 50;
OffsetIconByPercentY = 50;

Add this at the bottom of all .ini.

I will need to extract the icons from EXE files?

Stardock's IconDeveloper will do this.

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Thank you for the post.

First, what should the resolution of the blank be?

Second, should I add that the every INI file in the ObjectDock install folder, or under the "Backgrounds\Non-Tabbed\DogmaX" folder? Under that DogmaX folder, there is a single INI file called BACKGROUND.INI - I assume that would be one of those I will need to edit?

I hope this does the trick.

Thanks again.

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What should the resolution of the blank be?

128x128 will be fine.

Second, should I add that the every INI file in the ObjectDock install folder, or under the "Backgrounds\Non-Tabbed\DogmaX" folder? Under that DogmaX folder, there is a single INI file called BACKGROUND.INI - I assume that would be one of those I will need to edit?

You will need to edit the .ini file of every background you wish to use, each one has their own .ini. If you have OD plus and use a tabbed dock, the resize by using a tile will not work with it.

They will not always be named background.ini. Some will be named for the dock it is for, depending on the author. Example zoomer.ini.

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Thanks - I poked around and got it working as you described. The key element seems to be the ResizeIconByPercent = 70; line, is that correct?

I'm not sure what specific effect the OffsetIconByPercentage settings have in relation to that other setting.

I'm beginning to think that it might be best if I simply add pixels to the top and bottom of each icon after I extract them.

Do icons have to be square? 32x32 or 48x48 or 64x64 for example, or can they be like 48x58 or 64x74, etc.?

Thanks again

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The key element seems to be the ResizeIconByPercent = 70; line, is that correct?

Yes, that resizes the icons.

I'm not sure what specific effect the OffsetIconByPercentage settings have in relation to that other setting.

None, it just moves the icon up, down, left, right, 50 and 50 = centered icon.

Do icons have to be square? 32x32 or 48x48 or 64x64 for example, or can they be like 48x58 or 64x74, etc.?

Square is best as that is how they are displayed, off sized icons will be displayed square so there may/will be distortion of the image.

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I'm beginning to think that it might be best if I simply add pixels to the top and bottom of each icon after I extract them.

I would suggest if you take this route to add to icon all around, that way not only will it space them apart it will also, for backgrounds with no border set for icons, space them off the edge of the dock as well.

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Thank you again for all the info. I do appreciate it.

I have to admit, it would be nice if simply by editing the separator graphic, you could easily create one that takes up less space. Even if I edit the separator graphic to be 2 pixels high and say 30 across, it does not seem to actually make a difference in terms of how much space surrounds the separator itself.

But hey, it's free and does most of what I want, so I guess I can deal.

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Even if I edit the separator graphic to be 2 pixels high and say 30 across, it does not seem to actually make a difference in terms of how much space surrounds the separator itself.

Image does not matter, separator will use same space as icon size is set at in OD config.

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Even if I edit the separator graphic to be 2 pixels high and say 30 across, it does not seem to actually make a difference in terms of how much space surrounds the separator itself.Image does not matter, separator will use same space as icon size is set at in OD config.

I guess that is the primary bummer about this. It would be so nice if the product allowed you to use a different setting for the separators than the standard icons.

I'm not sure if the product is actively developed at this point, so a feature request might not be very helpful.

Regardless, thank you for taking the time to assist me. It's good to be able to learn more about a product, even if I find it may not be quite as easy to modify it as I had hoped.

Have a good holiday weekend,

DB

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I thought I'd provide you with a screen shot of my setup. Did all this talking about the icons and I realized that I had not even shows it graphically. So, here is my desktop with Object Dock in place. It's on a 20.1" LCD that is at a 4:3 ratio and gives me 1600x1200 of native resolution.

The first shot is of the main desktop without any apps going on. You can see how the taskbar is at the bottom and the ObjectDock on the right side in a width that is sort of close to the height of the taskbar so it looks kind of proportionally correct:

The second shot has Paint Shop Pro 7.04 with an image of the Northern Lights. What is so cool about that window is that the application is maximized but still does not block or go behind the ObjectDock because the program has "Reserve Edge Of Screen" and "Always On Top" enabled.

I am not sure if any other docks out there besides the Microsoft Office Toolbar can "Reserve Edge Of Screen" in that fashion. You just maximize the window and that's it - ObjectDock takes care of the rest. I don't have to do any special window sizing or positioning in order to keep the dock visible and usable. The apps are there all the time when I need 'em. I have room for about 17 items, and that should be enough for most things.

Anyway, thanks much for the help. It is appreciated.

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