I was fiddling with my desktop, today, and I decided I did not care for the default Firefox icon as my shortcut to the SG webpage. Feeling inspired, I thought I would change it for the SG logo. I therefore saved the logo image to an ico file, and presto! Instant SG icon for my shortcut!

Except that the white background turned out to be transparent. Bummer.

Not one to give up easily, I spent the next few hours attempting to make the same icon with an opaque, white background (as seen in various parts of this website). After many web searches and YouTube videos, I am giving up. It could be the limitations of MSPaint, or perhaps it is simply my ignorance, but I have not yet managed to accomplish the task. Any white background simply insists that it is transparent.

Anyone with the requisite knowledge and/or tools wish to enlighten me? What am I missing here? And yes, I tried searching the forum for any post that might already contain the various SG icons. No success there, either.

4 years ago

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Do you mean something like in the attached pic?

View attached image.
4 years ago
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Yes, although with a larger, thicker square on that white background.

4 years ago
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I remember making icons for use in Windows 98 games. Standard white did go transparent.

Maybe you can use a slightly offshade white?

4 years ago
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That is one way to work around it. The true goal, however, is to manipulate the transparency of the icon.

"I want you to be opaque, not transparent."

4 years ago
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Unfortunately don't know other ways around it, but then I only made a small image in MSPaint and changed the extension, and around 20 years ago to boot. Proper software probably offers options I didn't have. :P

4 years ago
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This works reasonably well, https://redketchup.io/icon-editor
Just use the bucket to fill in the white border and interior
Oh, original file is here https://cdn.steamgifts.com/img/favicon.ico

Uploaded a copy here http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=04050921664463098230

4 years ago*
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Redketchup seems to be a useful tool. Bookmarked, and thanks. )

And yes, the end result you posted is what I desired.

4 years ago*
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https://cdn.steamgifts.com/img/favicon.ico

(。-Θ-。)ooO(favicon)
Do you hold an event to recruit new SG icons?

X-Icon Editor
FavIcon from Pics -- free, instant favicon for your site

4 years ago
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Do you hold an event to recruit new SG icons?

Not at all. I was just looking for the technique (or tool) to determine what is transparent or opaque in an icon.

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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Close. There is actually a white outline around the outside of the SG icon.

More importantly, however, you have managed to make the white center opaque instead of transparent. That is the end result we are seeking, but how it is accomplished is the real question.

4 years ago*
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Photoshop :)

Just tell me what you exactly want and i can probably create it.

(btw i didn't use a whitest white, just google "color picker" and if you can give me hex code (eg. #d1d1d1) i will use it.)

4 years ago
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Take a look at DarkMercy's ico file, above, or Lengray's ico file, below. Those two examples are similar to what you (probably) see in your browser for SteamGifts tabs.

4 years ago
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Nope, mine is just a black square, no white.

I guess you found what you are looking then?

4 years ago
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Found, cribbed, created, ... We managed to achieve the end-result, but the actual know-how to do it ourselves using MSPaint remains elusive.

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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Ah. Here we are getting to the heart of the matter. This is the crux of the matter and the important bit of knowledge.

As I use MSPaint, I am wondering how you set which color is transparent in Paint. Do you know that off the top of your head? When I have some time, I will see if I can figure out how to do it.

4 years ago
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Not sure if I understand your question and issue properly but as far as I know you cant set the Opacity of the Background of MSPaint. File -> properties. What you are looking for is most like the term "Opacity" commonly used in Adobe products. MSPaint is very basic, it does not have that option except when you're making shapes, you can select "No Fill".
Cheers~

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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Thing is - MSPaint does not support transparency AT ALL. And the fact that it can read .ico file at all - is an undocumented feature (if you create a new file - there is no way to save it as .ico). You just selected completely wrong tool for your task.

4 years ago
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It appears that is exactly what the SG favicon is, a black square on a transparent background. To get a white background, simply save the image with the transparent background as a jpeg. It will flatten transparency without going through hoops. ;) You can always then open the jpeg and save it in a required format. (if needed).

That's not the most ideal solution, but it is the simplest one. =)

4 years ago*
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To get a white background, simply save the image with the transparent background as a jpeg. It will flatten transparency without going through hoops.

That's a nice trick to know. Thank you for that. )

4 years ago
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You're welcome! =)

4 years ago
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Or save as bmp, last time I checked it didn't keep transparency either, and unlike JPEG it's lossless. Although I'm surprised MS Paint saves PNG transparency, last time I checked that it used to remove transparency (and even warned about it)

4 years ago
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That is what I originally tried. I saved the favicon.ico file, then edited it in MSPaint, saving it as a bitmap image with an .ico file extension. Paint warned me about loss of transparency (which is what I wanted), but it ended up displaying as a solid, black square. Go figure.

4 years ago
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Ah that's weird... I just gave it a try saving with Paint and various settings of GIMP, and I got wild results indeed... I guess WIndow's support for ico file types is limited, and your easiest bet might be to create the picture you want in bmp or png and use an online converter to turn it into an icon, like this https://convertico.com/
I just tried it with some of my previously converted pictures and it worked, although I get huge files (almost 100KB vs the original 2KB...)

4 years ago
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How's that? I modified the icon from the Android SG app.
You can easily resize and convert it to .ico

View attached image.
4 years ago*
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That works. You've rounded the corners, but I don't think that's noticeable in a small icon, and it may even be preferable in larger sizes.

MSPaint seems unable to convert it to an icon file without it turning into a fully black square, however.

4 years ago*
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Like I said, the original work is not my own so all I did was to play with the colors.
To resize the icon, I suggest you use XnView, which is free.

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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+1

4 years ago
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The easiest way I would suggest doing this is to make a color like red the transparent color. Paint the upper left corner red(or some other color not used in the image), select the red section to make it transparent, then paint the corner back white. Should fix the issue. I'm not sure MS Paint can remove a transparency, though saving as a different file type might work.

4 years ago
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