How to Create an Icon from a Photograph

Do you have a photo that deserves to be turned into an icon? Do you like working with pixel art and have decided to store your mini masterpieces in ICO format? The good news is that you can do both without any trouble, and without spending a cent. The first step is to download a copy of the Clic program, developed by Blaiz Enterprises. It is old software, but updated to ensure its portability and compatibility on modern operating systems.

A simple way (not to say "classic") to customize an operating system is to modify the icons of programs and shortcuts. In the past we have explained how to do this under Windows 10, and if you want to inject a dose of vintage into your desktop, you can always download icon packs belonging to old editions like Windows 98.

However, there is another possibility: creating those icons ourselves. How? Using a photograph as a base. From a technical point of view, all we need is to adopt the correct dimensions and save the result in a compatible format such as .ICO. Although there are many programs that support it, Clic from Blaiz Enterprises is one of the lightest and simplest we have found.

Create Icons from a Photograph with Clic

If the program gives you the feeling that it is a bit "old", you are not wrong. The developers have decided to take their classic applications and make the necessary adjustments so that they work correctly on modern versions of Windows and preserve their portability. That means that Clic does not exceed 700 kilobytes on disk, and works without problems on all Windows from 95 onwards.

In essence, the procedure requires opening the image and copying it to the clipboard, then using the Paste or Paste to Fit function inside Clic. On the left side you will see a larger version, while on the right side of the interface the current size appears, along with some technical details. The maximum dimensions supported by Clic are 96 x 96, with 32 x 32 being the old standard. If you are satisfied with the result, choose Save As, and save the .ICO..

Clic is ideal for those who only have basic knowledge, and we can recommend it without a doubt, but the truth is that the manual route will always give better results. At the end of the day, the .ICO format is nothing more than a container for BMP. That means that you can crop any image into a perfect square with your favorite editor, reduce its size to 256 x 256, save the BMP in 8 bits, and then change its extension to ICO. Another option is to pre-process the image that we introduce into Clic with a maximum size of 96 x 96, thus avoiding many artifacts and compression errors. Don't forget to try it!

Official site and download: Click here