free ways to turn .png or .bmp into .ico?

[es_91]

Hi.

I guess this is something lots of people need (even for programming in PureBasic) so I'd expect both lots of knowers and lots of people who would ask for this.

So, what are some easy or interesting ways to turn a .png or a .bmp into an .ico?

(I remember Visual Studio 6 had an .ico maker integrated but I do not own this software.)

Thanks in advance.

[TI-994A]

...ways to turn a .png or a .bmp into an .ico?

Hi es_91. There are many free online services that can do this. Here are a few:

- Online-Convert
- Ico Converter
- Convert Online

Hope you'll find them useful.

[es_91]

Yep, the first did it. It even supports transparency from .png files. Thank You.

[Vera]

Hi - a nice idea es_91

1 - a PB-app by Thomas: Icon-Creator 2.0 (2007, WIN)

2 - best freeware WIN ico-tool I know: http://icofx.ro/

3 - a crossplatform code-snippet by STARGÅTE to help yourself: Wie png als ico speichern (how to save png as ico)

[Teddy Rogers]

Plenty of online methods to turn images to icons, this one supports transparency...

http://www.convertico.com/

...and there is this site too...

http://findicons.com/convert

Ted.

[es_91]

Thanks for all the help, so far.

Hi - a nice idea es_91

2 - best freeware WIN ico-tool I know: http://icofx.ro/

Thanks. Yeah, this appears to be a wonderful program even without registration.

[luis]

ToYcon is an easy to use tool to convert images into icons (.ico format) and vice versa. It supports JPG, BMP, PNG, TGA and GIF formats and can create various size icons in 4 bits to 32 bits with optional compression for Vista. There is no need to install the software, just run it and drag/drop imgages to be converted onto the desktop icon. Configuration options are available by right-clicking on the icons. Note: Since icons are square, your images should be cropped properly to achieve the best result

Development stopped some years ago but if it does what you want it's very convenient and easy to use.

http://www.crystalxp.net/galerie/en.id. ... nchers.htm

[es_91]

Luis' one even supports a customized (not user-customized) palette for the 4 bit icons. Nice.

But luis, can you tell me what the Vista panel in 'choose formats' menu means? Why does one need more icons with the same size, just for Vista?

----------------------------

I now wonder what's the best way to create an .ico files for an application i program. Lots of resolutions are available up to 256². Propably for Windows 8+ one needs such high resoluting icons, or even higher, which this application unfortunately not supports. But is it of sense to provide ALL resolutions and bit depths? What is a good way of doing compromise here?

(A test of mine put out an .ico file of 232 KB size... maybe a bit too large for an application!)

[luis]

But luis, can you tell me what the Vista panel in 'choose formats' menu means? Why does one need more icons with the same size, just for Vista?

I tell you what I know:

An icon can contains different pages, each page has its own resolution.

On Vista/Win7 was suggested to create 256x256 icons @ 32 bits at least (I don't know about Win 8+), the others can be resampled (lowered in resolution) and dithered (reducing the colors to 8 or less bits) by the OS. If you provide the other pages the OS does not auto-generate them and so the quality is usually better since you have manually chosen the colors and used the pixels to a greater effect than what the OS can automatically do.
I don't remember on XP how it worked.

[Vera]

Hey, maybe this can be handy for you too:

A tool that creates png-images (from bmp/ico/png) which contain a picture in four conditions - ready to fit as buttons, in toolbars etc.:
- 4-State-ImageGenerator (incl. example code) by ts-soft

I don't remember on XP how it worked.

It's similar. If a resolution is available within an icon it will be used instead of being auto-generated. But it only works if the different sizes are in correct order.

[PB]

> turn a .png or a .bmp into an .ico

Lots of examples in these forums. Here's one:

http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 12&t=59815

No need for a third-party tool. Are we coders or not?

[chi]

Just grab the last free version of IcoFX (1.6.4) http://www.downloadoldversion.com/icofx.html

[es_91]

PB, third party tools do have their advantages, if only the professional-like operability.

I admit, I did not check the codes further but I intuitively suppose they do not support higher resolutions? Do they support transparency?

chi, Vera already posted this program and I think it's great. Can only commend it.

[PB]

> I intuitively suppose they do not support higher resolutions?
> Do they support transparency?

The link I posted is by the legendary Rashad. As such, yes, it
supports higher resolutions and transparency. You would've
seen that for yourself if you had checked it out already*.

Here's a screenshot of it:



* Don't take offense. It's gentle ribbing, not a real insult.

[es_91]

Well, that's quite a work. And I guessed wrong.

The custom size ratio button does not work for me, neither. Why? I will take a closer look at the code after getting a potion of sleep.

(I originally tended to prefer programs that allow icon resolutions high enough to visually beautifully fill the whole screen. But then again, do even Windows 10 applications really have to support such piles of data? On the other hand, at least one of the programs I've tried yesterday was able to output high-resoluting .ico files smaller than 100 Kb, others didn't. If compressed (and I do not even know if it was) a higher resolution than 128² is desirable and up to the assumed industry standard, I'm just guessing. If no compression is available (or possible at all) even I would think that a resolution of 128² is enough.)

But I don't know. Did I fail in experiencing the author's code or does it not allow to store multiple icons in one file?

Now, I am not saying this is required for a 400 lines PB program, nor do I want to underworship RASHAD's work. All I am saying is that some third party programs are in my humble opinion more suited for the job of creating a sellable application's .ico file. Who would be surprised? That's the way the "physics of money" work.

Inspiring work, RASHAD!