Free Icon Editor

What are Windows XP icons

Microsoft recommends that your icon contains these three general sizes:

48 x 48 pixels

32 x 32 pixels

16 x 16 pixels

Icons on the left side of the Start menu are displayed at the 24 x 24 pixels size. This is not a size that you need to provide usually.

If you are creating icons for a toolbar, the Windows standard sizes are 24 x 24 and 16 x 16 pixels.

Windows XP supports 32-bit icons, which are 24-bit images with an 8-bit alpha channel. This allows icons to display with smooth edges that appear to blend into any background.

Each Windows XP icon should contain these three color depths to support different monitor display settings:

24-bit with 8-bit alpha (32-bit)

8-bit (256 colors) with 1-bit transparency

4-bit (16 colors) with 1-bit transparency

You should have a total of nine image formats — three sizes per color depth:

48 x 48 at 32-bit

32 x 32 at 32-bit

16 x 16 at 32-bit

48 x 48 at 8-bit

32 x 32 at 8-bit

16 x 16 at 8-bit

48 x 48 at 4-bit

32 x 32 at 4-bit

16 x 16 at 4-bit

Drop Shadow

Windows XP icons use a drop shadow to provide definition and added dimension. This effect is supported by IconEmpire. To add the drop shadow to your images, select the Effects / Drop Shadow item from the main menu.

Common Icons for Windows XP:

Common Icons for Windows XP

Common toolbar icons for Windows XP:

toolbar icons for Windows XP

To load this palette into Icon Empire editor, select the Effects/ Palette/ Predefined/ Windows XP item from the main menu.

Microsoft Windows User Experience Team has written an overview of Windows XP icon creation: Creating Windows XP Icons.

Home | Products | Downloads | Order | Icons | Support

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Refund Policy

Copyright © 2005-2022 Icon Empire. All rights reserved.

Icon Craft is our pick. This icon maker allows you to design and edit all kinds of graphics required in the software development cycle, including icons, static and animated cursors and interface elements - all these kinds of graphics can now be designed in a single application.

Icon Processor is an icon converter. It creates icons from your images. It is possible to convert 256-color icons into True Color icons and XP icons.

ICL-Icon Extractor will scan your files, archives, folders and all local disks for icons. It can download icons from the Internet and customize Windows icons.

Perfect Icon creates icons from any graphic file (PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, WMF and more) in just seconds. Create stylish icons for Windows XP. Easily replace, colorize and save icons that Windows uses to display standard objects, folders and files.

Pixel Editor is a program to create and edit images for websites or mobile devices. An array of tools to work with pictures and simplicity of use make this product ideal for newbies and graphic design professionals alike.