Can Xara Designer Pro create .ico images?
Printable View
Can Xara Designer Pro create .ico images?
ICO isn't one of the extensions for export that I can see.
You could design the icons using a photo type document, export as bmp as most icon editors can import bmp files. There are several good free icon editors available doing a Google Search.
Thanx for your quick response. Have you had experience yourself, and if so what programs have you used?
When I was programming, I made a lot of icons. Most of the time I made them in a vector application like XDP, exported as a BMP and edited in an icon editor. Rarely did I ever design one directly in the icon editor.
Paint.Net (free, OpenSource) has a free plug-in (I think it's still free anyway) for exporting to the ico format. I don't like using a bitmap editing application directly...which is what the icon editor actually is, one can see each of the pixels and edit them one pixel at a time. Which is nice for the clean-up stage.
I cannot remember the name of the icon editor I used, but it was back in the 1990s through the mid-2000s. Everything past yesterday is hazy...
Greenfish icon editor gets good reviews. Make sure to actually download from the maker's web site. Also, though I believe it is not bundled with crapware, if there is the offer for a custom install, use it and make sure the installer isn't going to install toolbars or other crap.
It seems you are wise and experienced. Your choice and placement of the words you use shows that. Again thank you for your help.
For whatever it's worth, when I create an icon, I create it with Xara software and export is as a png then open that with irfanview and save it as an ico. Works like a charm for me. Like mwenz "I don't like using a bitmap editing application directly...which is what the icon editor actually is" either. Actually I don't like any icon creating program. Mostly because they insist on creating some sort of background, and irfanview does not, I have had great success that way.
I always create a png in Xara, alpha or otherwise, and upload it to http://www.convertico.com/ which I find 100% fantastic results.