Well, since I've been asked how I make my icons a few times already, I decided to make this guide on the basics and the general stuff of the fine art (LoL) of icon making. :)

P.S. I didn't know where I should put this topic, so I made it here, in Fan Arts. I hope that's okay.

P.P.S. This guide is for still icons. I'm still learning (painfully slowly) how to make (good) animated images.

OVERVIEW

1.1 Icons

Icons are usually 100x100 (They can be smaller though) pixel images that are no more than 40KB (usually) in file-size. This board accepts icons in four different formats: .JPEG, .JPG, .PNG, and .GIF.

1.2 Software

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP [PS] is the most famous of imaging softwares, it's only letdown being its expensive price.

PAINT SHOP PRO [PSP] is as good as PS, and cheaper too. (Though it's still pretty expensive...)

GIMP is the freeware cousin of the aforementioned programs.

There are, of course, other programs (Macromedia Fireworks, Corel PhotoPaint, etc., etc., etc....)

IMPORTANT! I do NOT reccommend using MS Paint for iconing, since it can't anti-alias text, and it lacks a lot of features the above programs have, but if you don't have any of the programs above, and really want to make icons... well, I guess you're stuck with it. :P Just make sure you use pixel fonts if you want text. XP

EDIT: Also, if you're making icons with Paint, I strongly advise you save your images as .PNGs, since MS Paint, I find, compresses .JPG images pretty badly.

1.3 Aspect Ratios

The single, most important thing about screencaptures is this: They NEED to have the RIGHT PROPORTIONS! The aspect ratio is what dictates said proportions. Most movies have a 16:9 aspect ratio, television usually has a 4:3 aspect ratio. [This, however, has been changing, thanks to HDTV and widescreens. While it's still a bit early to say the 4:3 aspect ratio is dying, it might happen in the next decade... I'm just saying, is all...]

If you've gone to math class, then you'll know that proportions are mathematical relations between two quantities. They should be obeyed above all things if you want your 'caps to look human-- er, anthro... whatever.

IMAGE PREP

Screencaps and scanned images usually need to preparation and cleaning up before we can start putting in the pretties. They'll probably need the brightness/contrast fixed and some coloring fiddling and sharpening/blurring tweaking. [Another reason why MS Paint is not the reccommended tool for iconing.]

Most scanned images are too light and not well contrasted, while most screencaps tend to be too dark and the coloring can be off-- dark parts tend to be green, light colors, red. You should fix all of this before you start to make your icon.

Of course, it's always a good thing to start with the best possible image. Hig resolution is your friend, dudes and dudettes. A good scanner will go a long way, and DvD caps are much better than .AVI or .MPEG caps.

CROPPING AND RESIZING

Since icons are so damned small, resizing and cropping them can sometimes be half the work. Learning how to do it well [and while keeping the right aspect ratio] is crucial to making good icons.

COLORING

You can do so much with colors. From solid colors layers in different blend modes to gradients and stock images and filters and Photoshop's Variation adjustment... endless possibilities, maaan.

TEXT

I don't reccommend using text brushes. I find them lazy and uncreative.

That being said, you'll find a lot of my icons are textless. It's really hard for me to come up with something creative or witty or whatever, but sometimes, the text just seems to complete the icon, so I find tiny text to be a life saver. I might even elaborate on this later...

But anyway...

5.1 Anti-Aliasing

Anti-aliasing techniques are used to reduce the crispiness that might affect the borders of a graphic during image compression.

In other words, only pixel fonts are supposed to be crisp. They don't need anti-alias. Every other font does need it to look smooth and to blend well with the background.

[Note: Pixel fonts are the only fonts that can be used in MS Paint without becoming pixelated.]

Here is a very nice Pixel Font reference I found: http://crumblingwalls.livejournal.com/23115.html

DETAILING

Adding different details and effects is what makes an icon unique. Here are the main types of detailing you can find in most imaging softwares...

6.1 Filters

I love playing around with filters. ^^ Most people know of the Sharpen and Blurfilters, but there are a ton of others that are usually forgotten by icon makers. Noise filters, Distortion filters, Artisitc filters, they all come with PS and PSP and are very useful. Be sure to experiment with them all to figure out how they transform your image. Don't overdo it, though-- moderation is the best way to go, especially if you've just started using them.

6.2 Patterns and Textures

Patterns are great for backgrounds and can give texture to your graphics. Using them in PS is simple, it works exactly like the Bucket Fill tool. Textured images, when blended to your main picture, can give depth or change the overall look of your icon. Again, the important thing is to know how to use them moderately

6.3 Brushes

Brushes... well, the name is pretty self-explanatory. :P PS and PSP divide them into two main groups-- Brush and Pencil. Like in real life, brushes are soft (i.e., anti-aliased), pencils are hard (i.e., NOT anti-aliased). Both softwares come with a ton of default brushes, but you can install as many as you want (as I have, eheheh). You can also use an installed brush for your eraser tool, keep that in mind.

Useful tips to know when using brushes:
~ The Zoom Tool is your friend when using icon-sized brushes.
~ You should always apply a brush on a new layer.
~ Play with blend modes!
~ If you have several layers, try creating a new layer between the ones you have and applying the brush there instead of on-top-of-everything. Remember you can move layers around by dragging them up and down the Layer Window.
~ The eraser is also your friend. Apply a brush to a new layer and then erase all of the brush that is covering whoever you're iconing. You'll have the brush effect only in the background. Neato! ^^
~ If you have a mousepen/tablet/stylus, play with pressure when applying brushes.
~ If you change a brush's original size, it WILL lose its definition, so keep that in mind.

6.4 Lighting Effects

There are several ways of working light effects into a graphic. From the Lens Flare Filter, to light-colored Gradients set to Screen or Linear Dodge, to Stock Images, etc. The important thing about these effects is that they shouldn't take over your whole icon to the point where you can't recognize the original image anymore.

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Well, that's all for now, dudes and dudettes! I'll try to expand on a few of these topics if people are still confused. I know a lot of these things I didn't elaborate on very well. ^^; (Maybe in new topics so it doesn't get too crammed here?) And I'm still learning as well, so I'll probably be adding on to this in the future. But until then, I hope this helps! ^^