Make My Own Icon

Icons are cute graphical representation of functions or images that appear as our profile pictures in instant message applications or networking websites. The icons are also used for specific folders placed on the desktop or for options like edit, delete, save etc. in web or desktop applications. These icons can denote to files or programs for easy recognition and access. If you want to personalize an icon according to your own need and style. These icons are usually found on the net and can be picked with ease. You can download or save these icons and use them when required. In case, you want to have your own icon then you can choose to make one for yourself.

The commonly used software for making an icon are MS Power Point, MS Paint, Photoshop or Coraldraw. The first two softwares are very easy but the last two would need some practice before you do your own icon. The sizes of the icons also vary with the specific programs or applications they are used in, the ideal size is 16×16 pixel which would be the thumbnail size and the bigger version can be used with 32×32 pixels. You can use colors between 16 and 256 which is easy available in windows photo edit options.

If you choose to make your icon with MS Paint, then here are some steps to help you out.

• Open MS paint from the ‘Programs’ menu in windows. You can either open run and type ‘mspaint’ or you can choose to go to ‘Start’-‘Programs’- ‘Accessories’- ‘Paint’.
• A new paint screen would open with an empty space.
• From the ‘Image’ menu choose image ‘Attributes’ and size the image first. Enter height and width as per your desire and click on ‘Ok’.
• The empty space to draw would appear in the size specified, which would be too small to edit. So, click on ‘View’ – ‘Zoom’ and enter the size suitable for you to start editing. Usually choosing 800% makes it more suitable for the eye.
• Click on ‘View’ – ‘Zoom’ – ‘Show Grid’.
• Now, create your icon and with colors and make the design you want.
• Check how the image appears in its normal size by clicking ‘View’ – ‘Zoom’ – ‘Normal Size’.
• You can now save your icon in the bitmap (.bmp) format.
• Your icon is now ready to be used as a normal icon.

If you want to use a picture as an icon then you can follow the steps given below.

• Click on the image and select ‘Open with Paint’.
• Resize the image by choosing the height and width.
• Click on save as a bitmap (.bmp) file.
• Your picture is now ready to be used as an icon.
There are various website which provide free icon creation softwares that make it even easier to create your own icon. You can create a Favcons or Emocons in the same manner.