Windows 10 all icon resolutions on all DPI settings? Format? Pixel art as icon? Large size icon in start menu medium tile?
The answers:
Are PNGs are acceptable under 256px inside ICO file?
Microsoft states that the sizes under 256px should be a BMP without the first 14 bytes.
But at least in the case of windows 10, the answer is YES.
Can you add larger than 1024px image into the ICO?
YES. As long as it is a PNG it can be as big as you want.
Note the "one icon over 255px" limitation:
You can only add one image larger than 255px ( you can add more but windows will only read the first image block in the ICO head where the resolution is 0,0). The format specifies 1 byte for each dimension. See table #2.
What sizes to include for all DPI setting?
Windows 10 uses the following icon sizes (see table below):
16, 20, 24, 28, 30, 31, 32, 40, 42, 47, 48, 56, 60, 63, 84 and one larger than 255px.
Note that Windows RT apps do not use ICO files, they use PNGs or Fonts, this is from Firefox's source:
<Application xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'> <VisualElements ShowNameOnSquare150x150Logo='on' Square150x150Logo='browser\VisualElements\VisualElements_150.png' Square70x70Logo='browser\VisualElements\VisualElements_70.png' ForegroundText='light' BackgroundColor='#0996f8'/></Application>So how Firefox has a large icon on start menu in the medium tile?
Well its include this above file in the exe directory before the shortcut added to start menu, this article explains it how. My app has an example.
If you make icons for Windows 10 you are better off with my tool and photoshop (or something like that) than anything else, I tried editors and they suck.
You can create ICO files (as MS recommendation or not) or create icons with resolution printed on them, the latter is what I used to make the table.
Supports multiple resize modes including nearest neighbor.If you want to you can use it on other windows versions, it works with .net2, test another windows, send me the results and I extend the table for the good of mankind.
As for pixel art in icons it is not possible to be perfect :(, unless we can change the scaling algorithm in windows 10. So a wide range 84-256 gets the scaled to "0" (see above), so there is no real point adding something bigger that 256 as I see it now you should create a 256px image for "0".(See table why)
If Windows gets all icons 16 to 255 + the 1 larger than 255 (0 in the table) chooses these sizes:(so no markdown tables here?, its kind of wide, the tables are in the app readme also)
| | Windows 10 | | | 96DPI | 120DPI | 144DPI | 168DPI | | icon |disp.|load|disp.|load|disp.|load|disp.|load| |-------------------------------------------|-----|----|-----|----|-----|----|-----|----| | alt-tab | 24 | 32 | 30 | 32 | 36 | 32 | 42 | 32 | | desktop large | 96 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 144 | 0 | 168 | 0 | | desktop medium | 48 | 48 | 60 | 60 | 72 | 72 | 84 | 84 | | desktop small | 32 | 32 | 40 | 40 | 48 | 48 | 56 | 56 | | explorer content, inc0 | 32 | 32 | 40 | 40 | 48 | 48 | 56 | 56 | | explorer extra large | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | explorer large | 96 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 144 | 0 | 168 | 0 | | explorer medium | 48 | 48 | 60 | 60 | 72 | 72 | 84 | 84 | | explorer small:inc4,list:inc3,details:inc2| 16 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 28 | | explorer tiles, inc1 | 48 | 48 | 60 | 60 | 72 | 72 | 84 | 84 | | startmenu medium | 32 | 32 | 40 | 40 | 48 | 48 | 56 | 63 | | startmenu programs | 24 | 24 | 30 | 30 | 36 | 36 | 42 | 42 | | startmenu search | 32 | 60 | 40 | 60 | 48 | 60 | 56 | 0 | | startmenu tile small | 24 | 24 | 30 | 31 | 36 | 39 | 42 | 47 | | taskbar normal | 24 | 32 | 30 | 40 | 36 | 48 | 42 | 56 | | taskbar small | 16 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 28 | | window icon | 16 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 24 | 16 | 28 | 16 | | desktop inc0 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 28 | | desktop inc1 | 18 | 32 | 23 | 40 | 27 | 48 | 32 | 56 | | desktop inc2 | 20 | 30 | 25 | 40 | 30 | 48 | 35 | 56 | | desktop inc3 | 22 | 32 | 28 | 40 | 33 | 48 | 39 | 56 | | desktop inc4 | 24 | 32 | 30 | 40 | 36 | 48 | 42 | 56 | | desktop inc5 | 27 | 32 | 34 | 40 | 41 | 48 | 47 | 56 | | desktop inc6 | 30 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 45 | 48 | 53 | 56 | | desktop inc7 | 33 | 48 | 41 | 60 | 50 | 72 | 58 | 84 | | desktop inc8 | 37 | 48 | 46 | 60 | 56 | 72 | 65 | 84 | | desktop inc9 | 41 | 48 | 51 | 60 | 62 | 72 | 72 | 84 | | desktop inc10 | 46 | 48 | 58 | 60 | 69 | 72 | 82 | 84 | | desktop inc11 | 51 | 0 | 64 | 0 | 77 | 0 | 89 | 0 | | desktop inc12 | 57 | 0 | 71 | 0 | 86 | 0 | 100 | 0 | | desktop inc13 | 63 | 0 | 79 | 0 | 95 | 0 | 110 | 0 | | desktop inc14 | 70 | 0 | 88 | 0 | 105 | 0 | 123 | 0 | | desktop inc15 | 78 | 0 | 98 | 0 | 117 | 0 | 137 | 0 | | desktop inc16 | 87 | 0 | 109 | 0 | 131 | 0 | 152 | 0 | | desktop inc17 | 97 | 0 | 121 | 0 | 146 | 0 | 170 | 0 | | desktop inc18 | 108 | 0 | 135 | 0 | 162 | 0 | 189 | 0 | | desktop inc19 | 120 | 0 | 150 | 0 | 180 | 0 | 210 | 0 | | desktop inc20 | 133 | 0 | 166 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 233 | 0 | | desktop inc21 | 148 | 0 | 185 | 0 | 222 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | desktop inc22 | 164 | 0 | 205 | 0 | 246 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | desktop inc23 | 182 | 0 | 228 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | desktop inc24 | 202 | 0 | 253 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | desktop inc25 | 224 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | desktop inc26 | 249 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | explorer inc5 | 18 | 32 | 23 | | | | | | | explorer inc6 | 20 | 32 | 25 | | | | | | | explorer inc7 | 22 | 32 | 28 | | | | | | | explorer inc8 | 23 | 32 | 29 | | | | | | | explorer inc9 | 25 | 32 | 31 | | | | | | | explorer inc10 | 27 | 32 | 34 | | | | | | | explorer inc11 | 29 | 32 | 36 | | | | | | | explorer inc12 | 31 | 32 | 39 | | | | | | | explorer inc13 | 33 | 48 | 41 | | | | | | | explorer inc14 | 35 | 48 | 44 | | | | | | | explorer inc15 | 38 | 48 | 48 | | | | | | | explorer inc16 | 41 | 48 | 51 | | | | | | | explorer inc17 | 44 | 48 | 55 | | | | | | | explorer inc18 | 47 | 48 | 59 | | | | | | | explorer inc19 | 50 | 0 | 63 | | | | | | | explorer inc20 | 54 | 0 | 68 | | | | | | | explorer inc44 | 239 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | | | | | explorer inc45 | 256 | 0 | 256 | 0 | | | | | There are 27 zoom increments on desktop
and 45 zoom increments on explorer (including the defaults from the menu on the "bottom level")
Icon format specification:
|**block** |**offset** |**offset** |**length** |**description** ||-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------------------||main header| 0 | | 2 |Reserved=0 || | 2 | | 2 |Image type: 1(.ICO) 2(.CUR) || | 4 | | 2 |Number of images in container ||image head1| 6 | 0 | 1 |Pixel width || | 7 | 1 | 1 |Pixel height || | 8 | 2 | 1 |Color palette size or 0 || | 9 | 3 | 1 |Reserved=0 || | A | 4 | 2 |Color planes=0 or 1 || | C | 6 | 2 |Bits per Pixel || | E | 8 | 4 |Image raw size || | 12 | C | 4 |Offset of imageblock from BOF ||image head2| 16 | 0 | 1 |Pixel width || ... | ... | ... | ... |... ||imageblock1| ... | ... | ... |all image data goes here: || | ... | ... | ... | pngs included in whole || | ... | ... | ... | bmps missing first 14 bytes |
The icons you see in Windows 10 are packed into a icon font named Segoe MDL2 Assets & all built-in UWP apps like Groove Music are using this font for icons. Also some apps in the Windows store using it.