Create Windows Icons (ICO Files) using SimplyIcon

Posted on December 14, 2009 at 5:03 am

Are you looking for a way to quickly create Windows icons from photos or images stored on your computer? Maybe you want to convert a picture of a friend into an icon that you can use for a hard drive!

Or maybe not. Either way, converting pictures or images into ICO format is now really easy. No need for Photoshop or an image editor and manually shrinking files to the right size, correct color mode, etc.

Previously, I wrote about a program called ImagIcon, which let you convert images into Windows icons for free. Also, I wrote about Iconfu, a website where you can create and edit icons online for free.

Recently, I just ran into another nifty Windows utility for creating icons (.ICO files). The program is super small, requires no installation (which means you can copy it to a USB stick), and generates icons from any type of picture file.

SimplyIcon is a simple program that lets you drag and drop images onto the program, which will then automatically convert them into Windows icons files.

create ico files

Just drag your image file onto the program screen and it will generate four different Windows icons for you. The sizes are 128×128, 32×32, 24×24, and 16×16. If your file is larger than 128×128 pixels, the program will generate that size also, otherwise just the smaller three sizes.

generate ico files

Pretty neat eh! The program will generate the ICO files in the same folder where the original image is stored and with the same name.

windows icon files

Above is the original image and the 16×16 version of that image. Also, you should try to use images that are as close to square as possible since the images will be down-sampled and if they are rectangular, then the icons will look stretched.

You may want to crop an image before converting it to an icon if the result looks stretched. Overall, it’s a pretty simple application which doesn’t do a lot, but if you are looking for a really easy way to create Windows icons without having to install software, SimplyIcon is perfect! Enjoy!

» Filed Under Free Software Downloads

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Comments

3 Responses to “Create Windows Icons (ICO Files) using SimplyIcon”

  1. Nortte said on : December 14th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    If you want an in-depth guide from Microsoft on how to create Windows XP icons, check out their tutorial.

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997636.aspx

    Of course, this walks you through the steps to create icons manually with Photoshop or Illustrator.


  2. Annabelle said on : December 17th, 2009 at 5:46 am

    If you only want to generate a favicon (or dont want to install software on your computer), you may also use the online service at:

    genfavicon.com

    Very nice.


  3. Dalki said on : February 8th, 2010 at 2:17 am

    Increasingly, I see more rectangular (wide) favicons. How does it work?


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