Where can I get some decent icon creating software?

[Gokuma]

I got some crappy MS image editor that can only do 16 color icons. It must have been made for Windows 3.1. It's really sad that when I make icons of 8-bit Nintendo graphics (not exactly known for being high color), skin color becomes yellow or light gray.

[Fredrik]

I use png2ico when I have to make icons.

[Gokuma]

Cool. Thanks.

[Enjay]

I use Microangelo.

http://www.microangelo.us/

[Fredrik]

Heh, Microangelo was probably the first third party application I ever installed on a computer. Spent countless hours making animations with it.

[Infinite Ammunition]

I use IconArt and IcoEdit, both of which can be found at webattack.com.

[Fletcher`]

Iconforge.

[Sharessa]

I use IconArt, and it is great. You can import images and turn them into icons (if they actualy survive the massive compression). :P

[AndrewB]

I can't understand why image editing software can't simply export to icon format.

[Fredrik]

AndrewB said:

I can't understand why image editing software can't simply export to icon format.

I can't understand why .ico is still the only icon format that Microsoft Windows supports.

[Psyonisis]

Fredrik said:

I can't understand why .ico is still the only icon format that Microsoft Windows supports.

Wait, there's something else?

[insertwackynamehere]

I use the default one that comes with Microsoft Visual Studio. You don't have many options, but it's as easy as making a (simple) bitmap.

[mmnpsrsoskl]

Erm, an icon can be resized to 16x16 and changed from a bitmap. I used to do that all the time.

[Fredrik]

Psyonisis said:

Wait, there's something else?

Any conventional image format.

[nxn]

I can't think of another image format that can contains multiple resolutions of an image in one file.

[Enjay]

nxn said:

I can't think of another image format that can contains multiple resolutions of an image in one file.

Possibly not, but Fredrik did not imply that ico should be done away with, but rather that as well as supporting ico, other formats could be supported. A helluva lot of people must just want to make a simple image and use it as an icon without having a bunch of different resolutions and colour depths. A lot of files only have one icon format in them anyway and Windows resizes them to suit the display option at the time.

[Fredrik]

nxn said:

I can't think of another image format that can contains multiple resolutions of an image in one file.

What Enjay said. In many (if not most) cases, one resolution and one color depth suffices.

[Xaser]

I use Jasc Animation Studio, which came free with my Paint Shop Pro 7 disk, to create animated .ani cursors. Works like a charm.