WeB LoG'S JuUiER: Convert GIF, JPEG picture to icon for free

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Convert GIF, JPEG picture to icon for free

Earlier I wrote a post about a program called ImagIcon, a free utility that can be used to convert an image into an icon. You could take a BMP, JPEG, PNG, or GIF and instantly convert it into ICO (Windows Icon) format. Once in icon format, you can then use the custom icon on a folder or file, etc.

ToyCon is another program that lets you convert multiple image formats to ICO format and also lets you convert ICO files to PNG image files. So if this does the same thing as ImagIcon, then why even mention it right?

Well, there are a few advantages of ToyCon over ImagIcon for converting a picture into an icon. Firstly, it doesn’t require any installation! Just run the executable file and you’re good to go. This means you can easily carry it with you on a USB stick.

Secondly, it supports the new Vista ICO format, which supports 256x 256 high resolution icons in PNG format. Finally, it’s more powerful and has more features than ImagIcon.

Once you run it, you’ll see a box pop up with a green arrow pointing into it. If you right-click, you can set the options for the conversion.

Firstly, choose what type of conversion you want to perform, i.e. PNG to ICO, BMP to ICO, JPG to ICO, TGA to ICO, or GIF to ICO. Then you can go to size and choose from small (64×64), medium (128×128) and large (256×256).

You can also go to Choose Formats and pick the exact format for the icon, including 4 bits, 8 bits, 32 bits, and Vista.

Finally, click on Options and select Choose Destination so that once the program has finished converting the image to an icon, you can save it to your desired location.

Now in order to convert an image to ICO format, just drap and drop the image onto the box. That’s it!

Overall, it’s a nice program for quick conversion to Windows icons. It’s portable and doesn’t require an install. You have a huge range of sizes and formats to choose from for icon sizes and colors. Plus you can batch convert many images to icons by just dragging multiple image onto the box at once. Enjoy! Source: FreewareGenius

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