The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
Make Your Own Icons for Windows 98
Claude Wispelaere
 cwispel@melbpc.org.au

Are you getting sick and tired of clicking on those same boring icons for your desktop shortcuts? What about replacing them with a picture of your choice? Flower, animal, even your spouse?
 
It's easy! You just need a good graphics program. If you don't have one then use Paint which is included in Windows. You will need IrfanView (free!). You will also need pictures that you can scan yourself or download images from the Internet or newsgroups such as alt.binaries.pictures.whatever. Usually these images are available as .JPGs. You may also need a small program named JPEGCrop (again, free!)
 
You must remember that icons are small, usually 32 x 32 x 4 bpp, but for the desktop you can make them up to 128 x 128 x 24 bpp, although they will never appear larger than 72 x 72 pixels on the desktop. Therefore the chosen picture should be simple, eg. only a face, with a plain background, or other very simple shapes.
 
Using images containing 256 colours is sufficient, but less colours (16) is even better. 

Irfan will convert any image format into a bitmap (.BMP). It will also enhance the colours, crop (cut) and resize the picture.

Paint will enable you to erase unwanted details (eg. a wart on a nose!) and/or a complicated background. To do this it's easier if you enlarge the picture first, or use a graphics program that will enable you to see the smallest details of the image... right down to the individual pixels.

Irfan (or some graphics program) will convert the final picture into an icon.
 
Let's follow the illustrated example:

Select a picture

1. Scan it and save it as .BMP or in my case .JPG (Figure 1)


Figure 1. The original image.
2. With JPEGCrop, keep only the face (Figure 2 and 2a).

If you have software that enables image manipulation you might rotate the image where desired, before cropping, to produce better results. The image in Figure 2a has been rotated 7 degrees anticlockwise to achieve a slightly better result.


Figure 2. Use the available cropping tool to mark the area you wish to cut.


Figure 2a. This copy of the image has been rotated anticlockwise prior to cropping for the icon.
3. You now have a portion of the original image, this will become the icon. (Figure 3.)

If you are using a .JPG image, Irfan will convert the result to a bitmap (.BMP) at this stage of the activity.

4. Using Paint or similar program, erase the background and tidy up (Figure 4 & 4a.)


Figure 3. The selected part of the image.


Figure 4. Using white "paint", remove the unwanted background.


Figure 4a. Tidy up the image as much as necessary. Save your work frequently.
5. With Irfan convert and save as an Icon (.ICO) (Figure 5.) 

 
Figure 5. The finished Icon, enlarged slightly

Where To Store the Icon
 
Under C:\Windows\ there is a subfolder called "Moricons". If it is not there on your system, create it. Store your artistic creation in that folder. 

How To Change Icons on Your Desktop
 
Right click on the icon. Select Properties > Change Icon > Browse > look in Moricons > select your creation > Open > OK > Apply > Close. Now the old boring icon should have been replaced by your object d'Art.

But be cautious! For example if you have a game called "Battle Axe" with its shortcut on your desktop, don't replace the original icon with your spouse's portrait!

This method does not work with all short cuts (My Computer, Recycle Bin etc). To test if an icon can be replaced, simply right click on it, select Properties and see if there is an option to "change icon". If not, then you cannot change the icon using this method.
 
I would change icons using this method only for the shortcuts on the desktop. Icons can be changed in many executable files .EXE and .DLLs but that requires special purpose software and is beyond the scope of this article.
 
How To Maximise Icons
 
Normally icons are 32 x 32 x 4 bpp, but by choosing a larger icon size you can go up to 72 x 72 which is the maximum Windows allows.
 
Go to Control Panel > Display > Appearance > Item > Icon > and set the size as high as 72 pixels. (Figure 6). You can make your icons a bit larger, but they will not be displayed larger than 72 x 72 pixels.


Figure 6. Set your preferred Icon size in the Control Panel - Display Settings window.

Where to find Irfan and JEPGCrop? 

Irfan is available at: http://www.irfanview.com/
 
JPEGCrop can be obtained from: http://sylvana.net/jpegcrop

Reprinted from the February 2001 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia