A while back I wrote an artikel about link. I've decided to follow it up with a tutorial on how to make icons! They're actually much the same- the major difference is size.

u will need an image editing program. I use Corel Paint koop Pro but I think most people use Photoshop.

There's also the following online programs but I've never used them and this tutorial isn't necessarily meant to be used with them because I have no idea what these programs are capable of doing.

link
link
link




the Size of Your icoon Matters


Now this part is extremely important and I can't tell u how many iconen I've seen that have been botched because they were incorrectly sized.

Your icoon must be SQUARE [even on all sides].
Rectangular iconen end up stretched, blurry, cut off of overly pixelated when uploaded on picks of as your profiel picture.




The following are acceptable icoon dimensions:
100x100
200x200

I prefer to work in 200x200. It gives u room to see what you're doing and increases the general image quality. When Fanpop resizes it for a pick of profiel image, it looks good.



Creating Your icoon Template

Never just crop an image and call it an icon. u should always use a template. It just makes icoon creation so much easier and allows u to be meer creative. Especially if u make a lot of iconen [which I do].

Open up your program and create a new file.
Size: 200x200
Background: black
File type: JPEG

Save it for future use as your icoon template. of just save this one.


Choosing Images

Now you'll want to select the picture you're going to make an icoon out of. Always choose large, high quality afbeeldingen to work with.



Google image zoek is not always your friend. It may take time and effort to hunt down good screencap sites but it's definitely worth it in the long run. It makes your job so much easier because there's only so much editing that u can do to a poor quality image to make it better. Also, it may seem strange to choose such large pictures to make a small icoon out of but trust me, good icoon making is all about the quality of the bron material.



Resizing Images

So now that you've chosen your nice big picture, it's time to resize it so it will fit on your icon.

Find the Resize tool in your program's options. Mine is located under a menu called 'Image'. Yours could be located somewhere else. Just look through all the menus until u find it.

Open the Resize tool. It should give u the dimensions of the picture you're trying to resize.
Example:
Width: 1280 pixels
Height: 700 pixels

Change the height to 210 pixels. Only change the height and make sure that the 'Maintain aspect ratio' box is checked. Otherwise your image will be totally warped.

The reason u don't resize it to exactly the height of your icoon is because you'll want to give yourself some leeway to verplaats it around. It's very hard to position it precisely and if it's off even just a little bit it will leave a gap at the top, boven of bottom of the icon.

Also, u don't have to resize the image to 210. u can experiment with different sizes/crops but we'll get to that in just a moment. First let's establish how to copy and paste.



Adding an Image to the Template

So u have your resized image and are ready to make it into an icon. You're going to copy and paste it to the icoon template as a layer.

The Copy tool is in the 'Edit' menu. Just click it and you're done. The image is copied and ready to be pasted. Go back to your icoon template.

The Paste tool is also in the 'Edit' menu. It may offer u several options: Paste as New Image, Paste as Selection and Paste as New Layer.

Choose Paste as New Layer.
It will drop the image directly in the center of your icon.



Cropping Your Icon

This is the part where u position the image so that it shows the section that u want to see. u can get really creative with this!

Use the Move tool to change the position of the image.
Just click and drag.
As I zei earlier, u don't have to resize it to 210. u can resize it to 450, 300, 572- whatever!
That way u can zoom in on certain sections of the image.

u can also position the image in different ways, be creative!
You'd be surprised at how easy it is to make an icoon look cool just door cropping it differently.







Editing Your Icon

So u have your image resized and cropped just the way u want it. Now it's time to net, spar it up a bit.

Sharpen
This tool is found in the 'Adjust' menu- as are all the basic tools to refine your image. I use the lowest setting. u do not want to overuse the sharpen tool, it will pixelate your icoon way too much. If you're using a high quality image then u don't need to sharpen much at all.


Brightness and Contrast
Again, this tool is in the 'Adjust' menu. For most pictures u don't need to go crazy with this tool. Usually just bump up the brightness door about 10 and the same for the contrast. If u make it too bright, the darks will look washed out. If u give it too much contrast, the darks will slikken the light.

Saturation
Saturation is how intense the colors are. Now depending on the effect you're going for u might want to increase of decrease the saturation. u can play around with this until u find something u like. The Hue & Saturation tool should be in the same menu as the Brightness & Contrast tool. I wouldn't recommend changing the hue unless u want to go for a really funky effect.

There are many different tools located in the 'Adjust' menu that u can use to tweak your images. I recommend exploring them, playing around with them and finding what works the best for you.


Ok now u have a good, basic icon. But u could make it better...



Advanced

Watermarks and how to get rid of them

One of my biggest pet peeves about iconen is when u can see a watermark on the image. It's usually from the network that aired the tv toon and it's really not that hard to get rid of.

Now we are venturing into meer advanced tools and be aware that not every program will call them the same thing.

In my program, it's called the Push tool.
What it does:
Pushes the pixels around the image.

How you're going to use it:
To cover up the ugly symbol.
u can adjust the size of the tool [you'll want it to be small] and the opacity [you'll want it to be in the midrange] u won't want the opacity at 100% because the edges will be too hard [like in the first sample image].
u just want to gently try to push the pixels around until it looks like the symbol was never there. Start in an area where the symbol isn't, then just click and drag the pixels over the symbol. Don't use the same starting point for the whole thing. Choose the pixels that look like they belong in that spot. In this image I used the black shadow to cover the bottom of the symbol. The meer gray shadow on his neck to cover the rest, being careful not to get any dark pixels on his chin. Most programs have an 'Undo' option that can erase your last stroke if u make a mistake.




Layers

Now we're going to get into layers and how u can use them to improve your icoon and make it different.

The image that u added to your template is a layer. You're going to create one of meer layers to go on top, boven of it to add different effects.

In order to see and arrange your layers: Go to the 'View' menu, scroll down to 'Palettes' and there should be an option that says 'Layers'.
[Note: some programs automatically have the Layer Palette open in your workspace so u may not need to open it.]
It's just a little window that shows the layers one on top, boven of the other. u can verplaats them up of down as u need. u can also change the opacity and blend mode of your layers.









You'll want to create a new layer the exact size of your icoon template. In my program I simply go to the bottom layer [called the Background], right click on it and choose 'Duplicate'.
If u are unable to do that the simplest other way of doing it just to create another black icoon template, then copy and paste it as a new layer.


You're going to need the Fill tool. It should look just like a paint bucket. Now u get to choose a color. u may have noticed the color palette on the right hand side of your workspace. It will offer u many choices. After you've picked one, just click on the black layer with the Fill tool and there u go.

u can also choose a gradient [a blend of 2 of meer colors]. To do this, there should be a drop down menu that lets u pick between solid of gradient. u can use one of the preset gradients of make your own. u can also change the angle of your gradient and the number of times it's repeated.

After you've filled your layer with color, make sure that it's on top, boven of your image layer. Now you'll want to change the blend mode and opacity in order to get different effects. u can get all kinds of different looks with this and u can also add meer layers to get even meer effects.




I usually use this specific gradient [one that I created] set to Overlay at varying opacity levels on every icoon I make to just give it meer punch.









Then if I want something with a bit meer panache of a different color, I'll add 1 of meer layers- playing with different blend modes and opacity levels until I'm satisfied.
















Texture

u can also add textures as another layer. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about textures because they really aren't much different than color layers. u just have to play with the blend modes and opacity until u get what u want. In this case Google is your friend. Here's some examples of textures:


The only thing I want to point out is that if your texture is obscuring something vital in your icoon [a character's face for example] u can always use the Eraser tool on it. The eraser tool looks like an eraser of course. Use a very low opacity setting on it [5%] and set the hardness level at about 50. The hardness is just how soft of hard the edge of the eraser is. Gently erase some of the texture to let vital features toon through a little better.




Text


Text isn't my strong suit. It's kind of hit and miss with me. I'd have to say that it's door far the most difficult part of icoon making. Luckily, iconen don't necessarily need it to be pretty! But in case u want to do it, I'll give u the basics.

You'll need the Text tool, which will look just like a letter of the alphabet [I've seen it as a T of an A]. When u open it, there will be a box to write in and some options to change the size, font and color. Sometimes these options won't appear in the text window but at the top, boven of your workspace of in the color palette.
When u type usually a voorbeeld of it will appear on your icon.

Now the text is going to be added as another layer. Which means that u can use blend mode effects and change the opacity for it too.

I would recommend adding each word as an individual layer rather than typing it all into the text box at once. This way u can verplaats each word independently into the position u desire. Which makes it easier to fit the text around the subject of your icoon if u need to. In order to add them as separate layers, type one word in the box and add it: then select the top, boven layer of the icoon and add another word. Repeat for every word. Otherwise it will group them all together as one layer and when u try to verplaats them, it will verplaats them all at once.



Size, color and font

Some tips to help make your text legible: Keep in mind that your icoon is going to be small. As u add the text, occasionally zoom out on the icoon to get an idea of how it's going to look.

Most times you'll want to avoid thin, delicate fonts because they won't toon up well. Use fonts that are bolder, thicker.

Try to use colors that contrast with the image. Again, it's going to make them easier to read.






Sometimes it's helpful to give the text a Drop Shadow to make it pop out more. The drop shadow tool can be found in the 'Effects' menu under '3d effects'. What it does is makes it look like there's a shadow of outline under the text. u can choose different colors but for most iconen black works the best. I recommend a strong opacity level and low blur level. u can also change the angle of the shadow both vertically and horizontally. Be aware that once u add a drop shadow to your text u can no longer pas aan it.





Please proofread your text before you're finished. There are online dictionaries that can help u with spelling if u need it. There's nothing meer sloppy-looking than an icoon with poor spelling and that kind of ruins the point of all the hard work u just put into making it.
If you're interested in downloading some cool fonts to use, I recommend this website: link





I hope this guide has provided u with some useful tips on how to make icons. If u have any vragen of need clarification on anything, just leave a commentaar and I'll try to help as best I can.