SPECIAL IMAGE FILES

A Metro-style application includes several image files that are used for splash screens, icons, and the like. These files are Logo.png, WideLogo.png, SmallLogo.png, and SplashScreen.png.

Logo.png is a 150 × 150 pixel image file that is displayed on the Metro interface if you pin your application to the Metro start window. Normally the system adds the name of the application at the bottom of the image in white so you should leave that area blank and fill it with a dark color so the name is visible. Figure 21-3 shows the MetroBones application in the Metro start window. (The shaded strip at the bottom of the icon is part of the Logo.png file. The system automatically added the program’s name on top of the shaded strip in white text.)

FIGURE 21-3: The file Logo.png determines how the program appears in the Metro start window.

WideLogo.png is a 310 × 150 pixel image file that Windows uses if the application is shown in two columns in the Metro interface.

SmallLogo.png is a 30 × 30 pixel image file that the operating system can use as a smaller representation of the application.

SplashScreen.png is a 620 × 300 pixel image file that is displayed while the program is loading.

The locations of these files are set in the application’s manifest. If you open Solution Explorer and double-click the file Package.appxmanifest, you can change these settings in the Manifest Designer shown in Figure 21-4.

FIGURE 21-4: Use the Manifest Designer to change the application’s logo files and other fundamental properties.

The Manifest Designer also lets you set other application properties such as a wide logo file (in which case the Metro start window displays the application double wide), whether the system automatically adds the application’s name to its icons, and the application’s initial orientation.

For more information on the Manifest Designer, see the article “Manifest Designer” at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/br230259.aspx.