Icons are those adorable, little graphic images that appear on your desktop, in software programs, and even in web pages. An icon displays varying images depending on your Windows screen resolution and size requirement. So, if you find yourself in VGA mode (I won’t ask why), you should see a 2-color icon as the artist designed it for minimum resolution.
With IconEdit32, you can make your own icon. Most paint programs do not support editing of icons. A good icon editor can be as handy as fork at a buffet dinner. IconEdit32 is easy enough to use that most anyone will be able to create simple icons without headaches. The program is authored by Neil Rubenking for PC Magazine, March 2000. It allows you to import, edit, and save 16X16, 32X32, and 48X48 icons in 2, 16, or 256 colors. Open an icon and IconEdit32 displays the respect palette and grid. Choose another palette to layer one bit/color icon over another without losing or disrupting the current palette. You may endup saving as many as 9 different icon images of varying bit/color into one .ico file. Windows will automatically display the correct size image in your icon file or stretch it to fit.
One of the best uses for IconEdit32 is in creating the so called “favicon,” which appears in the left-most area of Internet Explorer’s address bar and in the favorites after a page is added. The icon must be 16 X 16 pixels and 16 colors. Once you finish creating the icon, save it as “favicon.ico” and drop it in your root web directory. If you want the icon to appear in a subdirectory, you can also use the “link rel” meta tag between the
and tags in your HTML source code like this:IconEdit32 has come in quite handy. After using it successfully to make icons for software programs and websites, I have come to rely on it. The program proved easy to learn and adapt to. I recommend IconEdit32 for artists as well as paint-by-numbers types.
Update: IconEdit32 is now part of PC Magazine’s paid file download and subscription section, no longer available as freeware from the PCMag.com site. Visit PC Magazine for more info or to download IconEdit32 for Windows.
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