Create an icon from an image

With the help of IcoFX you can convert your favorite image to icon.

To create icon from an image follow these steps:

1. Start IcoFX

2. Open the image that you would like to convert to icon, using the "File/Open" menu item. You can use PNG, BMP, GIF, TIF, IFX, JPG or JP2 images.

3. The Import dialog will open, where you can select the part of the image that will be converted to icon. Press The OK button.

The Import dialog will only open if the "Options/Preferences/Actions/Import" option is set to "Show the Advanced Import dialog".

4. We want to make the background color (white) transparent. The only problem is that the shirt of the dog is also white. We need to mask the shirt of the dog. First we select the whole image using the "Edit/Select All" menu item. Then we change to quick mask mode by pressing the "Quick Mask" button on the Tools panel. Using the brush tool we paint on the area that we want to be masked, in this case the white shirt. The masked area will be displayed as red by default.

Exit the quick mask mode by pressing the "Quick Mask" button again. We can see that the shirt of the dog is not selected anymore.

5. Open the Make Color Transparent dialog using the "Adjustments/Make Color Transparent..." menu item.

This adjustment will be applied only to the selected area. Set the color that we want to be transparent (white), set a tolerance value and soft edge value to have nice softened edges. Press the OK button when you are done.

The white background will be transparent now, while the shirt remains white.

6. Your image contains only one image format. Use the "Icon/Create Windows Icon Form Image..." menu item to add all the needed image formats to the icon. The default settings on this dialog will do in most cases.

Use the "Icon/Create Macintosh Icon Form Image..." menu item if you would like to create a Macintosh icon.

7. Save the icon using the "File/Save As..." menu item. On the save dialog choose the desired output format in the "Save as type" combo box. Your icon is ready.

For more information about the used dialogs and the quick mask consult the help file of IcoFX.