Do you want to spice up your desktop? Custom icons can really make your computer feel like "yours." With the help of a free image editing program, like GIMP, you can quickly turn any image into a beautiful icon that you can use anywhere. Read on to learn how.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Prepare the image
Step 1. Get or create the base image
You can use any image file to create an icon, but it must be at least 256 x 256 px. This is so you can easily resize it. It doesn't matter if the image contains things that you don't want to include in the final icon; you are going to erase everything you don't want in the icon.
- Keep in mind that the icons are square, so your image should fit well in a square. If it's too long, your icon will look squashed.
- If you are creating icons on Mac OS X, the size can be 512 x 512 px.
- You can create your own images from scratch using your favorite drawing program or using some photo, drawing or image file.
Step 2. Install an image editing program
In order to create an icon, you need a program a little more powerful than Paint. You can use Photoshop, but there are other free programs like GIMP or Pixlr that work perfectly as well.
In this guide we are going to use GIMP, since it is a free program available on all operating systems. The process is very similar to Photoshop and Pixlr
Step 3. Open the image in your editing program
Open the image that you downloaded or created using GIMP. The image will appear in the center of the window.
Step 4. Add an alpha channel
The alpha channel is the transparency layer. This will allow the icon to have a transparent background when erasing all the parts of your image that you don't want to keep. To add an alpha channel, right click on the layer in the layer windows on the right of the screen and select "add alpha channel".
Step 5. Insert a quick mask
The quick mask allows you to easily get rid of all the parts of the image that you don't want to keep. To insert a quick mask, press "Shift + Q". A red layer will appear over the image.
Step 6. Erase the mask over the part you want to keep
Select the eraser tool from the tool palette on the left of the screen. Use the tool to erase the red layer over the parts of the image that you want to keep. For example, if you have a picture of a phone on a table and you want to use the phone as an icon, delete the red layer that is above the phone only.
- Use the tool options tab on the tool palette to select the size of the eraser. You can also zoom in to make sure you erase only what you want.
- When you erase the mask, you will only erase the mask, not the image below it.
Step 7. Deactivate the mask
Once you finish erasing the mask, press Shift + Q again to deactivate the mask. The part of the image that you deleted will be selected.
Step 8. Erase the background
Press Ctrl + I or click "Select> Invert." This will select everything in the image "except" the part that you erased from the mask. Press "Delete" to delete this selection, leaving only the object of your icon.
Part 2 of 2: Create the icon
Step 1. Resize the canvas
Click on "Image> Canvas Size." In the window that appears, click the chain icon to unlink the width and height of the image. Resize the canvas to a size that also shows the object, and make sure the width and height are the same.
- Use the offset values to center the image on the canvas before hitting the "Resize" button.
- Once you resize your image, right click on the layer and select “Layer to Image Size”. This will change the layer boundary to match the size of the canvas.
Step 2. Adjust the color
If you want, you can use GIMP's color tool to change the color of the image. The easiest way to do this is to click on "Colors> Colorize" and then play around with the settings until you find the color you like best.
Step 3. Create the different sizes of the icon
The last step in creating an icon is to make sure that the image supports all the different icon sizes. This is essential if you want to be able to use the icon in different areas of the operating system and you want it to resize when resizing the icon.
- Copy the layer. Click on "Layer" in the layers window and press Ctrl + C.
- Scale the original layer. Open the "Scale" tool by pressing "Shift + T" and scale the image to 256 x 256 px. Click on "Image> Fit Canvas to Layers." (Note: if you are creating an icon set for OS X, start with a 512 x 512 px one).
- Create the first copy. Press Ctrl + V to paste the layer. Click on "Layer> To New Layer." Open the "scale" tool and change the size to 128 x 128 px.
- Create the second copy. Press Ctrl + V to paste the layer. Click on "Layer> To New Layer." Open the "scale" tool and change the size to 48 x 48 px.
- Create the second copy. Press Ctrl + V to paste the layer. Click on "Layer> To New Layer." Open the "scale" tool and change the size to 32 x 32 px.
- Create the second copy. Press Ctrl + V to paste the layer. Click on "Layer> To New Layer." Open the "scale" tool and change the size to 16 x 16 px.
Step 4. Examine your layers
You should have 5 layers, each with a smaller image than the last. If any of them look blurry, open the "Sharpen" tool by clicking "Filters> Enhance> Sharpen." Adjust the scroll bar until the image is lighter.
Step 5. Save the image as an icon
Click on "File> Export." In the image export window, change the extension in the top field to "ICO" and choose a location where to save the file. A window will appear asking if you want to compress the layers. Check the box to compress the two largest layers, unless you are using Windows XP.
Step 6. Use the icon
Once you export the image to ICO format, you can use it to replace the icon of any file or folder you want.
- Search wikiHow for an article on how to change icons on a Windows computer.
- Read this guide on how to change icons on a Mac OS X computer. You need to use an online converter to change the ICO file to ICNS (the format for Mac).