Making a transparent icon background????

RR
Posted By
Randy_Repass
Jan 29, 2007
Views
1988
Replies
11
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Closed
I have been learning how to create an icon for myself and friends and can not figure out how to save it so that it does not include a background but only the round icon itself…

I followed several articles in the Knowledgebase, they had me help>export transparent image… and that didn’t do it.

I am using PS 7.0.1

Thanks for any help!
Randy
Related Tags
background icon transparency

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PC
Paul_Cutler
Jan 29, 2007
GIF and PNG support transparency.

peace
RR
Randy_Repass
Jan 30, 2007
Tried those… the only thing that is working so far is an app that inputs an export as icon as a plugin.
J
jonf
Jan 31, 2007
How are you using it? How are you saving it? A transparent gif won’t be transparent in Quark, for instance, but will be, on the Web. A file that’s transparent in Photoshop won’t be transparent unless you correctly save your gif with transparency.

Save for Web probably has the easiest interface to make sure you get your parameters right for Web images.
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Jan 31, 2007
Randy,

One solution is to use a second little freeware app called Img2icns. Create your image in Photoshop 128 X 128 (or larger even) and save it as a TIFF, or PNG. (You could save it as a GIF but then your palette is somewhat more limited.) Once your image is finished launch Img2icns, choose whether you want an icns file or folder file (the folder file is the one you use in Get Info to copy paste icons). The default location is the desktop. Drag your image on the target and bingo…instant icon. Plus, its freeware.

<http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28120>
EH
Ed_Hannigan
Jan 31, 2007
I am still not clear what he means by "icon". Is it a Desktop/Folder/Application icon?

OR…

Some websites and IMs have what they call icons and what many people would call avatars. Not the same thing at all.
TT
Toby_Thain
Jan 31, 2007
My ICO Format plugin <http://telegraphics.com.au/sw/#icoformat> supports all kinds of ICO transparency (1-bit mask, XP alpha, or Vista PNG alpha).
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Jan 31, 2007
You’re right, Ed. What type of icons requires clarification.

Just as a linguistic quibble, the little ico format used in web site URLs are called favicons. Usually the term avatars are the little images which people use as personal images when they are regular participants in online forums.

Toby’s plugin specifically accomplishes the favicon and windows ico format export direct from Photoshop. In addition to that I use Kinetic Creations’ Export Icon plugin (just because I’ve been using it since OS 9 and PS7 but it costs $.

<http://www.kineticcreations.com/exporticon/>
TT
Toby_Thain
Feb 1, 2007
There’s also Zonic’s Iconlab <http://www.zonic.co.uk/products/iconlab/> for OS X icons.
RR
Randy_Repass
Feb 1, 2007
what I am trying to create here is are several things, 1) a desktop icon, for app markation, folder images, etc. 2) a corporate image/icon. 3)a webimage…

so all of them.

But the desktop icon was the headscratcher and I am presently trying different pulgins, most of whcih cost money. But aren’t all plugins something you can do by tweaking PS (in the case of PS plugins) ?

In all of my attempts to export (w/o the plugins), including all mentioned above, the icon exports with a default white box background (the icon is round).
CS
Carl_Stawicki
Feb 1, 2007
See this thread <http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc26c2e/8> to read about making icons without purchasing extra software.
WG
Welles_Goodrich
Feb 1, 2007
Hi Randy,

If you saved your image as a PNG or a TIFF so the background remains transparent and drop that file on the target of img2icns with the Folder Icon selected, it will create a folder icon without a solid white background. I’ve done it many times. If there is one my guess would be that you flattened the image before saving it. Flattening will always add white where otherwise you had transparency. img2icns will create a folder icon out of a multi-layered file so you don’t even have to merge down or merge visible if you have several layers.

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