A while back I wrote an 記事 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.

あなた will need an image editing program. I use Corel Paint ショップ 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 アイコン Matters


Now this part is extremely important and I can't tell あなた how many アイコン I've seen that have been botched because they were incorrectly sized.

Your アイコン must be SQUARE [even on all sides].
Rectangular アイコン end up stretched, blurry, cut off または overly pixelated when uploaded on picks または as your プロフィール picture.




The following are acceptable アイコン dimensions:
100x100
200x200

I prefer to work in 200x200. It gives あなた room to see what you're doing and increases the general image quality. When ファンポップ resizes it for a pick または プロフィール image, it looks good.



Creating Your アイコン Template

Never just crop an image and call it an icon. あなた should always use a template. It just makes アイコン creation so much easier and allows あなた to be もっと見る creative. Especially if あなた make a lot of アイコン [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 アイコン template. または just save this one.


Choosing Images

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



Google image 検索 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 あなた 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 アイコン out of but trust me, good アイコン making is all about the quality of the 情報源 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 あなた find it.

Open the Resize tool. It should give あなた 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 あなた don't resize it to exactly the height of your アイコン is because you'll want to give yourself some leeway to 移動する 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 上, ページのトップへ または bottom of the icon.

Also, あなた don't have to resize the image to 210. あなた 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 あなた have your resized image and are ready to make it into an icon. You're going to copy and paste it to the アイコン 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 アイコン template.

The Paste tool is also in the 'Edit' menu. It may offer あなた 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 あなた position the image so that it shows the section that あなた want to see. あなた can get really creative with this!

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

あなた can also position the image in different ways, be creative!
You'd be surprised at how easy it is to make an アイコン look cool just によって cropping it differently.







Editing Your Icon

So あなた have your image resized and cropped just the way あなた want it. Now it's time to トウヒ, スプルース 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. あなた do not want to overuse the sharpen tool, it will pixelate your アイコン way too much. If you're using a high quality image then あなた don't need to sharpen much at all.


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

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

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


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



Advanced

Watermarks and how to get rid of them

One of my biggest pet peeves about アイコン is when あなた can see a watermark on the image. It's usually from the network that aired the tv 表示する and it's really not that hard to get rid of.

Now we are venturing into もっと見る 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.
あなた 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] あなた won't want the opacity at 100% because the edges will be too hard [like in the first sample image].
あなた 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 もっと見る 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 あなた make a mistake.




Layers

Now we're going to get into layers and how あなた can use them to improve your アイコン and make it different.

The image that あなた added to your template is a layer. You're going to create one または もっと見る layers to go on 上, ページのトップへ 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 あなた may not need to open it.]
It's just a little window that shows the layers one on 上, ページのトップへ of the other. あなた can 移動する them up または down as あなた need. あなた can also change the opacity and blend mode of your layers.









You'll want to create a new layer the exact size of your アイコン template. In my program I simply go to the bottom layer [called the Background], right click on it and choose 'Duplicate'.
If あなた are unable to do that the simplest other way of doing it just to create another black アイコン 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 あなた get to choose a color. あなた may have noticed the color palette on the right hand side of your workspace. It will offer あなた many choices. After you've picked one, just click on the black layer with the Fill tool and there あなた go.

あなた can also choose a gradient [a blend of 2 または もっと見る colors]. To do this, there should be a drop down menu that lets あなた pick between solid または gradient. あなた can use one of the preset gradients または make your own. あなた 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 上, ページのトップへ of your image layer. Now you'll want to change the blend mode and opacity in order to get different effects. あなた can get all kinds of different looks with this and あなた can also add もっと見る layers to get even もっと見る effects.




I usually use this specific gradient [one that I created] set to Overlay at varying opacity levels on every アイコン I make to just give it もっと見る punch.









Then if I want something with a bit もっと見る panache または a different color, I'll add 1 または もっと見る layers- playing with different blend modes and opacity levels until I'm satisfied.
















Texture

あなた 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. あなた just have to play with the blend modes and opacity until あなた get what あなた 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 アイコン [a character's face for example] あなた 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 または hard the edge of the eraser is. Gently erase some of the texture to let vital features 表示する 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 によって far the most difficult part of アイコン making. Luckily, アイコン don't necessarily need it to be pretty! But in case あなた want to do it, I'll give あなた 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 または an A]. When あなた 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 上, ページのトップへ of your workspace または in the color palette.
When あなた type usually a プレビュー of it will appear on your icon.

Now the text is going to be added as another layer. Which means that あなた 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 あなた can 移動する each word independently into the position あなた desire. Which makes it easier to fit the text around the subject of your アイコン if あなた need to. In order to add them as separate layers, type one word in the box and add it: then select the 上, ページのトップへ layer of the アイコン and add another word. Repeat for every word. Otherwise it will group them all together as one layer and when あなた try to 移動する them, it will 移動する them all at once.



Size, color and font

Some tips to help make your text legible: Keep in mind that your アイコン is going to be small. As あなた add the text, occasionally zoom out on the アイコン 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 表示する up well. Use fonts that are bolder, thicker.

Try to use Colors（色） 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 または outline under the text. あなた can choose different Colors（色） but for most アイコン black works the best. I recommend a strong opacity level and low blur level. あなた can also change the angle of the shadow both vertically and horizontally. Be aware that once あなた add a drop shadow to your text あなた can no longer 編集 it.





Please proofread your text before you're finished. There are online dictionaries that can help あなた with spelling if あなた need it. There's nothing もっと見る sloppy-looking than an アイコン with poor spelling and that kind of ruins the point of all the hard work あなた 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 あなた with some useful tips on how to make icons. If あなた have any 質問 または need clarification on anything, just leave a コメント and I'll try to help as best I can.