Dialog icons are shown in pop-up dialog boxes that prompt the user for
interaction. They use a light gradient and inner
shadow in order to stand out against a dark background.
As described in Providing
Density-Specific Icon Sets, you should create separate icon sets for low-,
medium-, and high-density screens. This ensures that your icons will display
properly across the range of devices on which your application can be installed.
See Table 1 for a listing of the recommended finished icon sizes for each
density. Also, see Tips for Designers
for suggestions on how to work with multiple sets of icons.
Table 1. Summary of finished dialog
icon dimensions for each of the three generalized screen densities.
Low density screen (ldpi)
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Medium density screen (mdpi)
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High density screen (hdpi)
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24 x 24 px
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32 x 32 px
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48 x 48 px
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Final art must be exported as a transparent PNG file. Do not include
a background color.
Templates for creating icons in Adobe Photoshop are available in the Icon
Templates Pack.
All Android Versions
The following guidelines describe how to design dialog icons for all versions
of the Android platform.
Structure
- Dialog icons have a 1 pixel safeframe. The base shape must fit within the
safeframe, but the anti-alias of a round shape can overlap the safeframe.
- All dimensions specified on this page are based on a 32x32 pixel artboard size
in Adobe Photoshop. Keep 1 pixel of padding around the bounding box inside the
Photoshop template.
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Figure 1. Safeframe and fill gradient for dialog icons.
Icon size is 32x32.
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Light, effects, and shadows
Dialog icons are flat and pictured face-on. In order to stand out against a
dark background, they are built up using a light gradient and inner shadow.
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Figure 2. Light, effects, and shadows for dialog
icons.
1. | Front part: | gradient overlay | angle 90° bottom: r 223 | g 223 | b 223 top: r 249 | g 249 | b 249 bottom color location: 0% top color location: 75% |
2. | Inner shadow: | black | 25% opacity | angle -90° | distance 1px | size 0px |
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Step by step
- Create the basic shapes using a tool like Adobe Illustrator.
- Import the shape into a tool like Adobe Photoshop and scale to fit an image
of 32x32 px on a transparent background.
- Add the effects seen in Figure 2 for the proper filter.
- Export the icon at 32x32 as a PNG file with transparency enabled.
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