Icon Set Maker

Expert guidance for creating complete icon sets across all major platforms.

Available Tools

macOS Native Tools

Tool Command Purpose

sips /usr/bin/sips

Resize, resample, convert between formats

iconutil /usr/bin/iconutil

Convert .iconset ↔ .icns

Homebrew Tools

Tool Install Purpose

ImageMagick brew install imagemagick

Multi-size ICO, advanced compositing

librsvg brew install librsvg

SVG → PNG conversion

optipng brew install optipng

PNG optimization

pngquant brew install pngquant

PNG size reduction

Platform Requirements

macOS (.icns)

Required sizes for App.iconset directory:

icon_16x16.png (16×16) icon_16x16@2x.png (32×32) icon_32x32.png (32×32) icon_32x32@2x.png (64×64) icon_128x128.png (128×128) icon_128x128@2x.png (256×256) icon_256x256.png (256×256) icon_256x256@2x.png (512×512) icon_512x512.png (512×512) icon_512x512@2x.png (1024×1024)

Windows (.ico)

Standard sizes to include:

16×16 - Small icon (taskbar, file lists) 24×24 - Explorer medium 32×32 - Desktop, Explorer 48×48 - Large icon view 64×64 - Extra large 128×128 - Jumbo (Vista+) 256×256 - High DPI displays (Vista+)

Linux (freedesktop.org)

Directory structure under /usr/share/icons/hicolor/ :

16x16/apps/appname.png 22x22/apps/appname.png 24x24/apps/appname.png 32x32/apps/appname.png 48x48/apps/appname.png 64x64/apps/appname.png 128x128/apps/appname.png 256x256/apps/appname.png 512x512/apps/appname.png scalable/apps/appname.svg (optional, preferred)

iOS App Icons

Required for App Store submission:

iPhone

Icon-60@2x.png (120×120) Icon-60@3x.png (180×180)

iPad

Icon-76.png (76×76) Icon-76@2x.png (152×152) Icon-83.5@2x.png (167×167)

App Store

Icon-1024.png (1024×1024) - No transparency!

Spotlight

Icon-40@2x.png (80×80) Icon-40@3x.png (120×120)

Settings

Icon-29@2x.png (58×58) Icon-29@3x.png (87×87)

Notification

Icon-20@2x.png (40×40) Icon-20@3x.png (60×60)

Android App Icons

Density buckets in res/mipmap-*/ :

mipmap-mdpi/ic_launcher.png (48×48) mipmap-hdpi/ic_launcher.png (72×72) mipmap-xhdpi/ic_launcher.png (96×96) mipmap-xxhdpi/ic_launcher.png (144×144) mipmap-xxxhdpi/ic_launcher.png (192×192)

Adaptive icons (Android 8+)

mipmap-anydpi-v26/ic_launcher.xml mipmap-/ic_launcher_foreground.png (108dp with 72dp safe zone) mipmap-/ic_launcher_background.png

Web Favicons

favicon.ico (16×16, 32×32 multi-size) favicon-16x16.png (16×16) favicon-32x32.png (32×32) apple-touch-icon.png (180×180) icon-192.png (192×192) - PWA icon-512.png (512×512) - PWA safari-pinned-tab.svg (monochrome SVG) mstile-150x150.png (150×150) - Windows tiles

Conversion Workflows

From SVG Source (Recommended)

SVG is the ideal source - infinite scalability:

#!/bin/bash

Generate all sizes from SVG source

SOURCE_SVG="icon.svg" OUTPUT_DIR="./icons" mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"

Define all needed sizes

SIZES=(16 20 24 29 32 40 48 58 60 64 72 76 80 87 96 120 128 144 152 167 180 192 256 512 1024)

for SIZE in "${SIZES[@]}"; do rsvg-convert -w "$SIZE" -h "$SIZE" "$SOURCE_SVG" -o "$OUTPUT_DIR/icon-${SIZE}.png" echo "Generated: icon-${SIZE}.png" done

Using sips (macOS)

Resize a PNG

sips -z 512 512 source.png --out icon_512x512.png

Resize maintaining aspect ratio (fit within box)

sips --resampleHeightWidth 256 256 source.png --out icon_256.png

Convert format

sips -s format png source.jpg --out output.png sips -s format icns source.png --out output.icns

Batch resize

for SIZE in 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024; do sips -z $SIZE $SIZE source.png --out "icon_${SIZE}.png" done

Query image properties

sips -g pixelWidth -g pixelHeight -g format image.png

Create macOS .icns

#!/bin/bash

Create .icns from a 1024×1024 source PNG

SOURCE_PNG="icon-1024.png" ICONSET_DIR="AppIcon.iconset" OUTPUT_ICNS="AppIcon.icns"

Create iconset directory

mkdir -p "$ICONSET_DIR"

Generate all required sizes

sips -z 16 16 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_16x16.png" sips -z 32 32 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_16x16@2x.png" sips -z 32 32 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_32x32.png" sips -z 64 64 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_32x32@2x.png" sips -z 128 128 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_128x128.png" sips -z 256 256 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_128x128@2x.png" sips -z 256 256 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_256x256.png" sips -z 512 512 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_256x256@2x.png" sips -z 512 512 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_512x512.png" sips -z 1024 1024 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "${ICONSET_DIR}/icon_512x512@2x.png"

Convert to icns

iconutil -c icns "$ICONSET_DIR" -o "$OUTPUT_ICNS"

echo "Created: $OUTPUT_ICNS"

Cleanup (optional)

rm -rf "$ICONSET_DIR"

Create Windows .ico

Using ImageMagick (recommended for multi-size ICO):

#!/bin/bash

Create .ico with multiple sizes

SOURCE_PNG="icon-1024.png" OUTPUT_ICO="app.ico"

Generate individual sizes

magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 16x16 icon-16.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 24x24 icon-24.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 32x32 icon-32.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 48x48 icon-48.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 64x64 icon-64.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 128x128 icon-128.png magick "$SOURCE_PNG" -resize 256x256 icon-256.png

Combine into multi-size ICO

magick icon-16.png icon-24.png icon-32.png icon-48.png
icon-64.png icon-128.png icon-256.png "$OUTPUT_ICO"

echo "Created: $OUTPUT_ICO"

Cleanup

rm icon-{16,24,32,48,64,128,256}.png

Alternative using sips + ImageMagick:

sips for resize, ImageMagick for ICO assembly

for SIZE in 16 24 32 48 64 128 256; do sips -z $SIZE $SIZE source.png --out "tmp_${SIZE}.png" done

magick tmp_.png app.ico rm tmp_.png

Create Web Favicon Package

#!/bin/bash

Complete web favicon package

SOURCE_PNG="icon-1024.png" OUTPUT_DIR="./favicons" mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"

Standard favicons

sips -z 16 16 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/favicon-16x16.png" sips -z 32 32 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/favicon-32x32.png"

Multi-size favicon.ico

magick "$OUTPUT_DIR/favicon-16x16.png" "$OUTPUT_DIR/favicon-32x32.png" "$OUTPUT_DIR/favicon.ico"

Apple Touch Icon (no transparency, add background if needed)

sips -z 180 180 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/apple-touch-icon.png"

PWA icons

sips -z 192 192 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/icon-192.png" sips -z 512 512 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/icon-512.png"

Microsoft tile

sips -z 150 150 "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/mstile-150x150.png"

echo "Generated web favicon package in $OUTPUT_DIR/"

Create iOS App Icon Set

#!/bin/bash

iOS App Icon generation

SOURCE_PNG="icon-1024.png" OUTPUT_DIR="./AppIcon.appiconset" mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"

Generate all iOS sizes

declare -A IOS_SIZES=( ["Icon-20@2x.png"]=40 ["Icon-20@3x.png"]=60 ["Icon-29@2x.png"]=58 ["Icon-29@3x.png"]=87 ["Icon-40@2x.png"]=80 ["Icon-40@3x.png"]=120 ["Icon-60@2x.png"]=120 ["Icon-60@3x.png"]=180 ["Icon-76.png"]=76 ["Icon-76@2x.png"]=152 ["Icon-83.5@2x.png"]=167 ["Icon-1024.png"]=1024 )

for FILENAME in "${!IOS_SIZES[@]}"; do SIZE="${IOS_SIZES[$FILENAME]}" sips -z "$SIZE" "$SIZE" "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/$FILENAME" echo "Generated: $FILENAME (${SIZE}×${SIZE})" done

Generate Contents.json for Xcode

cat > "$OUTPUT_DIR/Contents.json" << 'EOF' { "images" : [ {"filename":"Icon-20@2x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"2x","size":"20x20"}, {"filename":"Icon-20@3x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"3x","size":"20x20"}, {"filename":"Icon-29@2x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"2x","size":"29x29"}, {"filename":"Icon-29@3x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"3x","size":"29x29"}, {"filename":"Icon-40@2x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"2x","size":"40x40"}, {"filename":"Icon-40@3x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"3x","size":"40x40"}, {"filename":"Icon-60@2x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"2x","size":"60x60"}, {"filename":"Icon-60@3x.png","idiom":"iphone","scale":"3x","size":"60x60"}, {"filename":"Icon-76.png","idiom":"ipad","scale":"1x","size":"76x76"}, {"filename":"Icon-76@2x.png","idiom":"ipad","scale":"2x","size":"76x76"}, {"filename":"Icon-83.5@2x.png","idiom":"ipad","scale":"2x","size":"83.5x83.5"}, {"filename":"Icon-1024.png","idiom":"ios-marketing","scale":"1x","size":"1024x1024"} ], "info" : {"author":"xcode","version":1} } EOF

echo "Created iOS App Icon set in $OUTPUT_DIR/"

Create Android Adaptive Icons

#!/bin/bash

Android adaptive icon generation

SOURCE_PNG="icon-1024.png" OUTPUT_DIR="./android"

Standard launcher icons

declare -A ANDROID_SIZES=( ["mipmap-mdpi"]=48 ["mipmap-hdpi"]=72 ["mipmap-xhdpi"]=96 ["mipmap-xxhdpi"]=144 ["mipmap-xxxhdpi"]=192 )

for DENSITY in "${!ANDROID_SIZES[@]}"; do SIZE="${ANDROID_SIZES[$DENSITY]}" mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR/$DENSITY" sips -z "$SIZE" "$SIZE" "$SOURCE_PNG" --out "$OUTPUT_DIR/$DENSITY/ic_launcher.png" echo "Generated: $DENSITY/ic_launcher.png (${SIZE}×${SIZE})" done

For adaptive icons, also generate foreground/background

Foreground should be 108dp with content in center 72dp

ADAPTIVE_SIZES=( ["mipmap-mdpi"]=108 ["mipmap-hdpi"]=162 ["mipmap-xhdpi"]=216 ["mipmap-xxhdpi"]=324 ["mipmap-xxxhdpi"]=432 )

echo "" echo "For adaptive icons (Android 8+), create:" echo " - ic_launcher_foreground.png (108dp, content in center 72dp)" echo " - ic_launcher_background.png (solid color or pattern)" echo " - ic_launcher.xml referencing both"

Complete Multi-Platform Script

#!/bin/bash

Generate icons for ALL platforms from a single source

set -e

SOURCE="${1:-icon.svg}" OUTPUT_BASE="${2:-./icons}"

if [[ ! -f "$SOURCE" ]]; then echo "Usage: $0 <source-image> [output-directory]" echo "Source should be SVG (preferred) or 1024×1024+ PNG" exit 1 fi

echo "=== Multi-Platform Icon Generator ===" echo "Source: $SOURCE" echo "Output: $OUTPUT_BASE" echo ""

Detect source type

if [[ "$SOURCE" == *.svg ]]; then CONVERT_CMD="rsvg-convert" echo "Source type: SVG (using rsvg-convert)" else CONVERT_CMD="sips" echo "Source type: Raster (using sips)" fi

Function to generate PNG at size

generate_png() { local SIZE=$1 local OUTPUT=$2

if [[ "$CONVERT_CMD" == "rsvg-convert" ]]; then
    rsvg-convert -w "$SIZE" -h "$SIZE" "$SOURCE" -o "$OUTPUT"
else
    sips -z "$SIZE" "$SIZE" "$SOURCE" --out "$OUTPUT" >/dev/null
fi

}

=== macOS ===

echo "Generating macOS icons..." MACOS_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/macos/AppIcon.iconset" mkdir -p "$MACOS_DIR"

generate_png 16 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_16x16.png" generate_png 32 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_16x16@2x.png" generate_png 32 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_32x32.png" generate_png 64 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_32x32@2x.png" generate_png 128 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_128x128.png" generate_png 256 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_128x128@2x.png" generate_png 256 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_256x256.png" generate_png 512 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_256x256@2x.png" generate_png 512 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_512x512.png" generate_png 1024 "$MACOS_DIR/icon_512x512@2x.png"

iconutil -c icns "$MACOS_DIR" -o "$OUTPUT_BASE/macos/AppIcon.icns" echo " ✓ AppIcon.icns"

=== Windows ===

echo "Generating Windows icons..." WIN_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/windows" mkdir -p "$WIN_DIR"

for SIZE in 16 24 32 48 64 128 256; do generate_png "$SIZE" "$WIN_DIR/icon-${SIZE}.png" done

magick "$WIN_DIR/icon-16.png" "$WIN_DIR/icon-24.png" "$WIN_DIR/icon-32.png"
"$WIN_DIR/icon-48.png" "$WIN_DIR/icon-64.png" "$WIN_DIR/icon-128.png"
"$WIN_DIR/icon-256.png" "$WIN_DIR/app.ico" echo " ✓ app.ico"

=== Web ===

echo "Generating web favicons..." WEB_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/web" mkdir -p "$WEB_DIR"

generate_png 16 "$WEB_DIR/favicon-16x16.png" generate_png 32 "$WEB_DIR/favicon-32x32.png" generate_png 180 "$WEB_DIR/apple-touch-icon.png" generate_png 192 "$WEB_DIR/icon-192.png" generate_png 512 "$WEB_DIR/icon-512.png" generate_png 150 "$WEB_DIR/mstile-150x150.png"

magick "$WEB_DIR/favicon-16x16.png" "$WEB_DIR/favicon-32x32.png" "$WEB_DIR/favicon.ico" echo " ✓ favicon package"

=== iOS ===

echo "Generating iOS icons..." IOS_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/ios/AppIcon.appiconset" mkdir -p "$IOS_DIR"

generate_png 40 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-20@2x.png" generate_png 60 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-20@3x.png" generate_png 58 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-29@2x.png" generate_png 87 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-29@3x.png" generate_png 80 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-40@2x.png" generate_png 120 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-40@3x.png" generate_png 120 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-60@2x.png" generate_png 180 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-60@3x.png" generate_png 76 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-76.png" generate_png 152 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-76@2x.png" generate_png 167 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-83.5@2x.png" generate_png 1024 "$IOS_DIR/Icon-1024.png" echo " ✓ iOS App Icon set"

=== Android ===

echo "Generating Android icons..." ANDROID_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/android"

for DENSITY_SIZE in "mdpi:48" "hdpi:72" "xhdpi:96" "xxhdpi:144" "xxxhdpi:192"; do DENSITY="${DENSITY_SIZE%%:}" SIZE="${DENSITY_SIZE##:}" mkdir -p "$ANDROID_DIR/mipmap-$DENSITY" generate_png "$SIZE" "$ANDROID_DIR/mipmap-$DENSITY/ic_launcher.png" done echo " ✓ Android mipmap icons"

=== Linux ===

echo "Generating Linux icons..." LINUX_DIR="$OUTPUT_BASE/linux/hicolor"

for SIZE in 16 22 24 32 48 64 128 256 512; do mkdir -p "$LINUX_DIR/${SIZE}x${SIZE}/apps" generate_png "$SIZE" "$LINUX_DIR/${SIZE}x${SIZE}/apps/app.png" done echo " ✓ Linux hicolor icons"

echo "" echo "=== Complete ===" echo "Icons generated in: $OUTPUT_BASE/" find "$OUTPUT_BASE" -name ".icns" -o -name ".ico" | sort

Quality Tips

Source Image Requirements

Minimum size: 1024×1024 pixels for raster, any size for SVG
Format: SVG preferred, PNG with transparency for raster
Color space: sRGB
Transparency: Supported except iOS App Store icon

Optimization

Optimize PNGs (lossless)

optipng -o7 *.png

Reduce PNG file size (lossy but visually identical)

pngquant --quality=80-100 --ext .png --force *.png

Verification

Check generated icon properties

sips -g pixelWidth -g pixelHeight -g format icon.png

Verify .icns contents

iconutil -c iconset AppIcon.icns -o verify.iconset ls -la verify.iconset/

Verify .ico contents

magick identify app.ico

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution

sips: unrecognized format Ensure source is valid PNG/JPEG

iconutil: invalid iconset Check all required sizes present with exact naming

ICO appears blurry Include 256×256 size for high-DPI displays

iOS icon rejected Ensure 1024×1024 has no transparency

Colors look wrong Convert to sRGB color space first

Checklist

Before distribution:

Source is 1024×1024+ or SVG
All platform-required sizes generated
No transparency in iOS App Store icon
Windows ICO includes 256×256 for high-DPI
PNGs optimized for file size
Verified icons render correctly at all sizes

iconset-maker

Safety Notice

Copy this and send it to your AI assistant to learn

iPhone

iPad

App Store

Spotlight

Settings

Notification

Adaptive icons (Android 8+)

Generate all sizes from SVG source

Define all needed sizes

Resize a PNG

Resize maintaining aspect ratio (fit within box)

Convert format

Batch resize

Query image properties

Create .icns from a 1024×1024 source PNG

Create iconset directory

Generate all required sizes

Convert to icns

Cleanup (optional)

rm -rf "$ICONSET_DIR"

Create .ico with multiple sizes

Generate individual sizes

Combine into multi-size ICO

Cleanup

sips for resize, ImageMagick for ICO assembly

Complete web favicon package

Standard favicons

Multi-size favicon.ico

Apple Touch Icon (no transparency, add background if needed)

PWA icons

Microsoft tile

iOS App Icon generation

Generate all iOS sizes

Generate Contents.json for Xcode

Android adaptive icon generation

Standard launcher icons

For adaptive icons, also generate foreground/background

Foreground should be 108dp with content in center 72dp

Generate icons for ALL platforms from a single source

Detect source type

Function to generate PNG at size

=== macOS ===

=== Windows ===

=== Web ===

=== iOS ===

=== Android ===

=== Linux ===

Optimize PNGs (lossless)

Reduce PNG file size (lossy but visually identical)

Check generated icon properties

Verify .icns contents

Verify .ico contents

Source Transparency

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