Irfanview as icon maker

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by craigbass76, Oct 31, 2003.

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  1. craigbass76

    craigbass76 Registered Member

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    I got a bitmap turned into an Icon using irfanview and its plugins, but now how do I make win98 use the icon? I want a folder on my desktop called New Band Stuff to look like something resembling the title; it could be a music note, a guitar, or something. I can draw up whatever I need, but just need to know how to implement it afterwards.

    I searched throught the site for "custom icons" and "making icons" but nothing relevant turned up.
     
  2. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    http://www.jhepple.com/iconmkr.htm
    FX Icon Maker 32
    You might be interested in trying this icon maker. Best part is it is free

    :)
    I have not tried this program but the price is right.
     

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  3. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    you might want the FX Image Manager to convert and change to different formats. Still free ware. There is also an Icon animater made by microsoft on the same page as the other tools. It is also freeware.



    http://www.jhepple.com/iconmkr.htm
     

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  4. Q Section

    Q Section Registered Member

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    Hello craigbass76

    After you have finished creating the icon go to File>Save as and save it as an ico file and put it anywhere you like such as C:\Images\Icons. Of course one would need to create such a folder.

    Then right-click an empty spot on the desktop and select New>Folder. Now you have an empty folder on your desktop and you can fill it with whatever you like.

    Lastly right-click on the newly-created folder and select Properties>Change Icon and select the newly-created icon from the place where you put it.

    Any other questions feel free to post here.

    Best wishes.
     
  5. Uguel707

    Uguel707 Graphic Artist

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    San Diego
    Hi Caigbass 76!

    Here's what I do to create Icons with Irfan View...and then how apply the new icon to an existing shortcut.

    How to Make Icons With Irfan View:


    There are three main steps to the operation; Resize the image; Convert to ICO; and Apply the New Icon to a Shortcut. In order for icon transparency to work well (if you choose to apply it), you need to ensure that the background of the original image you select is all one color and not shades of the same color or different colors altogether.

    Resize the Image:

    1. Open the image (JPG, BMP, GIF, etc.) you want to convert in Irfan View

    2. Then go to IMAGE -> RESIZE/RESAMPLE

    3. In the "Set new size" area note the values for "Height" and "Width" and for whichever is greatest change the value to the icon size you want to use (standard windows icons can be 16X16, 32x32 or 48x48 pixels). Whichever of the values was smallest you should leave unedited. As an example, if the the image has a width of 300 and a height of 250; you should put "48" in place of "300" and leave "250" alone

    4. Near the bottom of the RESIZE/RESAMPLE window, make sure that there is a checkmark next to "Preserve Aspect Ratio"

    5. To the right, make sure that "Resample" is selected and the "Lanczos Filter" is chosen

    6. Click "OK" and the image will be adjusted (but as yet unsaved)


    Convert to ICO:

    7. Go to FILE -> SAVE AS

    8. Set the "Save as type" field to "ICO - Windows Icon"

    9. Browse to the directory where you want the icon placed

    10. Name the icon to your preferred name

    11. [Optional - If you want a transparent background] In the "PNG/PNM/ICO save options" window (which should be to the right of the "Save Picture As..." window) place a checkmark next to "Save Transparent Color"

    12. Click on "Save"

    13. [Optional - If you selected to "Save Transparent Color"] A larger window will pop up prompting for you to select the color to set as transparent. Left Click on the background color.

    14. A confusing thing at this point is that one might normally expect the newly saved image to be viewed in the IrfanView window you returned to but, instead, the image shown is still in the original format (though shrunk in size). Go to FILE -> OPEN

    15. Browse to the directory where you placed the new ICO file

    16. Make sure that "Files of Type" is set to "ICO/ICL - Windows Icons"

    17. Select the ICO file you created and press "OPEN"

    18. If you see a slight fringe of "background color" around the main form of the image, this is because in the original drawing the color here was different than the rest of the background color (for example, to convey a sense of shadow)


    How Apply the New Icon to an Existing Shortcut:

    19. Right-click on the shortcut you want to alter and go to "Properties"

    20. On the "Shortcut" tab press on the "Change Icon" button near the bottom

    21. Click on the "Browse” button and navigate to where you placed the ICO file

    22. Highlight the ICO file and press "OPEN" and then "OK" and then "APPLY" and then "OK"



    Programs like bigc73542 tells here are great too!
    The advantage of them is that you can create your own images in it. With IrfanView you must rely on an already created image.


    Hope this helps.

    Uguel :)
     
  6. Uguel707

    Uguel707 Graphic Artist

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    A picture is worth a thousand words... ;)

    Here are the images I started from and the transparent images I ended up with. I cannot open any icon format on the forum so I send them under the ".gif format". To help to avoid the mottled edge around the main figure of the picture (here the rose) caused by shadow or highlights. With the mouse, I traced a line around the shape of the rose 1 to get a neater result. Here you can compare how they look like before and after...
    I made most of them a little bigger for a better viewRose 1 ;)
    [​IMG]

    rose 2
    [​IMG]

    Puppet 1
    [​IMG]
    Puppet 2
    [​IMG]
    and the already tranparent gif which was resized:

    transparent fish
    [​IMG]

    Once you finish working on the image, you save it, you right click on a file then you browse to select the icon you made.
    See instructions in the previous post.

    CU!

    Uguel :)
     
  7. FanJ

    FanJ Guest

    GREAT Uguel !!!

    I immediatelly saved this thread in my faves.
    Thanks !
    Karma cookie for you :)
    Cheers, Jan.
     
  8. Uguel707

    Uguel707 Graphic Artist

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    Location:
    San Diego
    That's very kind of you!
    I have pleasure doing that! ;)


    CU later!

    Uguel :)
     
  9. Uguel707

    Uguel707 Graphic Artist

    Joined:
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    Location:
    San Diego
    Oh! I should add that in Windows XP, I have found that you need to rename the file from within Explorer and not direct from the desktop; otherwise, the image applied to the shortcut will be lost on the next reboot.


    Uguel :)
     
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