PNG to ICO

**Chris M** · 22 September 2022, 12:00 PM

Playing with .ico files for the first time. I created a simple 128px square, added an 'A' in Xara and exported as png.
I then converted to ico using Format Factory, for no other reason than I had it installed on the machine I was using. The output settings were set to 128px to match the png.
The result is below. I then used an online converter...same result. Why the extra 'padding', and is there something fundamental that I'm missing?

The image is just a screenshot of the two files in File Explorer.

Click image for larger version.

Name: ico.jpg
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ID: 132782

**handrawn** · 22 September 2022, 12:37 PM

the ico is not anti-aliased is it, you can see the pixel steps

no expert in ico format, but do you have colour depth options when you convert?

**Chris M** · 22 September 2022, 01:11 PM

There was no finessing at all. A simple square with text is all I am aiming for. I don't even think attributes such as antialiasing are even available to icons.

The only options I have when converting is size.

**Chris M** · 22 September 2022, 01:21 PM

Looks like I should have committed to customising an actual icon before asking. They look fine when applied to an actual icon, both on the desktop and the taskbar. It looks like it's just the thumbnails that appear to have that 'padding' for some reason.