A lightweight GUI based .ico file creator that supports mixed icon sizes, and provides fine-grained control over source images and automatic image resizing.
The standard sizes Windows expects (and recommends) for inclusion in a desktop icon are already selected by default. If you intend to use the icon with Godot, you should also select x64 and x128 under Extended sizes.
For a breakdown of what each image-size is intended for, see this relevant Microsoft design document
Source-images can be loaded by clicking the load (up-arrow) button for an image-size. A source-image of any size can be used on any output image-size, although it's best to choose the closest in size or a size that's a multiple of the source, to reduce quality-loss due to resizing.
If a source-image is no longer required, it can be removed by clicking the remove (X) button for an output image-size.
Source-images do not need to be resized variants of each-other. In fact, it's often recommended that different designs be used for various icon sizes, to improve readability. Some programs have been known to hide easter-eggs by hiding different images in uncommon icon sizes.
For image-sizes that don't have a source-image, ICOGen will attempt to find a best-match and use that. This can be overridden by manually selecting a source-image from the SOURCES drop-down for that image-size. Image-sizes that have a source-image loaded cannot have their source-image overridden, instead it will display the source-image used.
The interpolation-mode drop-down changes how the corresponding image-size will resize the source-image it uses. Play around with this setting to see which mode works best for your current situation. Different styles work better with different interpolation-modes.
As an example, the ICOGen icon is in a pixel-art style and resizes the clearest when using NEAREST, whereas CUBIC as shown in the image above, introduces noticeable blurriness.
Once you have an icon you're happy with, you can generate the corresponding .ico by pressing the [GENERATE ICO FILE] button. If you'd like to save your icon in an editable format you can load and edit again later, click the [EXPORT ICOGEN] button to generate a .icogen file that can be imported later to make additional changes. Load an existing .icogen file by clicking the [IMPORT ICOGEN] button.
When you export a .icogen file, it doesn't embed any source-images. When loaded, ICOGen will look for the source-images at their original location and in the same directory as the .icogen file if the image isn't found.
If you'd like any additional info or licensing/copyright information, click the info (i) button.
ICOGen was developed for use in our own projects. The .ico for ICOGen was generated by ICOGen.
- Better error-handling. Currently errors are printed to the output log, but issues like missing images should show a warning in-program and potentially give the user an attempt to fix on-the-spot.
- Check for changes in source-images and auto-refresh them. Currently an image must be cleared and loaded again to show any changes made on disk.
- Support auto-updates, or at minimum the ability to check for updates and allow the user to visit the download page and manually update.
- Add theme support. Preferably support for native Godot themes due to the large pre-existing catalog of available themes.