How to Make Icons With Adobe Photoshop

Social networking websites and message boards allow users to upload icons to their profiles. Icons are small images that reflect a user's interests or personality. These graphics are typically 100 pixels by 100 pixels. Learn how to make an icon that is 100 by 100 pixels, using Adobe Photoshop, suitable for Livejournal, MySpace, Facebook, and more. This particular tutorial will be using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop
• Any graphic you would like to turn into an icon

Instructions

Making an Icon with Photoshop

1. 

   Ffind a graphic you want to use. This graphic can be any size.

2. 

   Open Adobe Photoshop. Go to File and then choose "new." This will prompt a window that allows you to choose the size of your new file. Set width at 100 pixels and height at 100 pixels. Make sure the mode is set at RGB color and the contents is set at transparency.

3. Load up your graphic. Go to the" File" and then "Open," and select your graphic from your image folder. Once you have loaded your graphic, choose control-A and control-C. Go to your 100 by 100 sized file that you just created and choose control-V. Obviously, your chosen graphic is going to be much larger than 100 by 100 pixels! Don't worry about it! You're going to make it smaller.

4. 

   Select control-T. This turns on the "Free Transform" option. It will create a drag box that outlines your larger graphic. Hold down the "shift" key and select one of the corners. Drag the box and make it smaller until your image becomes centered in your 100 by 100 square. If you hold down the "shift" key, the aspect ratio will hold, and your image won't look stretched or disproportionate. When you have the image the way you like it, double-click inside the box.

5. 

   Now you should have the image you want in the appropriate 100 by 100 pixels. Congratulations! You've just made an icon with Adobe Photoshop! All that is left to do is save your icon. Go up to file, and then go to "Save For Web." Save your icon as a .gif or as a .jpg in your graphics folder. Be sure to give it a memorable name!

Tips & Warnings

• Photoshop may look a little daunting at first, but with some instruction, patience and curiosity, you can make your own personalized, gorgeous icons in no time.