So you’re trying to make an icon file for that new game you’reworking on, huh? Might as well get familiar with the ICO file format first. Itmight be useful for you down the line.
An ICO file is an image format Microsoft developed to storeWindows programs icons. An ICO file is flexible.It can contain multiple images at various sizes and color-depth. The standardsizes are 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, and 256×256.
Which image size to show is up to the Operating System todecide. For instance, if you select “Extra Large Icons” on the View dropdown onthe Windows Explorer, Windows will display the largest icons it can get.
Most icons these days are stored in 32-bit color. That means you can have icons with transparentbackgrounds, shadows, glass-like effects, and anti-aliasing. Those are majorimprovements over the icons of early days. On Windows 1.0 monochrome icons areall you can have.
How do I export to an ICO file?
If your favorite image editor doesn’t have any option to exportto ICO, use the onlineICO image converter. That simple tool can convert whatever image you haveinto ICO. Just set the desired image size and other options
Are the icons for Macs the same as the ones for Windows?
No, while the concept is similar, macOS uses a differentformat called the Apple Icon Image. The format uses the .icns filename extension while Windows system uses .ico. Those two aren’t compatible so youcannot use Windows icon files as is under Macs.
Are favicons icons too?
Yes, they are. The difference is a favicon is just one imagefile instead of a pack of images.
The story of favicons began when Internet Explorer 5 cameout in 1999. Whenever a website was bookmarked, IE would request thefavicon.ico file so it could show that in the bookmark menu.
Back then, IE and other browsers only supported .ico files.Modern browsers, however, support other formats too such as PNG or GIF. Notethat this doesn’t mean you can set an animated GIF as the favicon for yourwebsite. There will be no animation whatsoever.
“But, I’ve seen animated favicons with my own eyes!”
Those animation effects are achieved using Javascript. Thescript changes the current favicon image at short intervals, hence theanimation effect.
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