Creating the perfect icon file for Pulsebase
Throughout our beta period our beta partners have been telling us again and again how much they love being able to brand and customise the Pulsebase software. But some companies have been confused about the icon format we need - an .ico file.
An .ico file is a standard Windows icon file. Almost every icon you see on your Windows desktop is in .ico format, somewhere in the system.
Unlike normal image file, the .ico format icons contain multiple images in one file - all of which are multiple sized versions of the icon image. Windows will then choose which version of the icon to show, depending on where it's showing it. For example it will show the 16x16 size icon in the system tray near the clock, while it will use the 32x32 icon in the Windows 7 task bar.
When preparing your icon for use in Pulsebase, we recommend that you create an .ico file with as many different size variations as possible. This ensures that the icon looks great, no matter where it is shown. You can do this using icon editor software such as the excellent (and free) Greenfish Icon Editor Pro.
Let's say you've got your logo ready - maybe in PNG or JPEG, ideally a square version, at least 256x256 pixels in size. You can open this in Greenfish:
You now want to create multiple size variants of this logo. To do this click on the "New page" button, and select a new size:
Create variations in every size on the list - except the ones marked Apple. Greenfish will automatically shrink the current image for you when you create each new page, so it should be a quick process:
When you're done, select Save As, and make sure you save the icon as an .ICO file:
And that's it! You can now upload that ICO file to the Pulsebase Branding tab.
Once uploaded, any computers running the Pulsebase software will update their icon the next time the computer restarts. And you should find that no matter where your icon is shown, it's a crisp, pleasant version, exactly as you intended it.