Always make sure to view your favicon at the proper size to make sure that it hasn’t transformed into something unrecognizable. Messing around with the proportions of an image can turn it into a strange-looking favicon.
You may need to tweak the colors to ensure that people can see your favicon when it appears. You can get around this issue by choosing the most recognizable visual element of your logo as your favicon.Īnother pitfall is ending up with a favicon that isn’t easily viewable in a navigation bar. A logo that is overly complex may end up being virtually incomprehensible as a favicon. The first potential pitfall is not simplifying your logo sufficiently for it to translate to a favicon.
How to make a favicon file how to#
Now let’s talk about how to avoid some common pitfalls that companies sometimes run into when designing a favicon.
For example, a real estate company might use a simplified version of the house that appears in their logo to serve as their favicon. Consider doing what Google did and taking a recognizable visual element and perhaps tweaking the colors to incorporate other colors from your logo.Īn alternative is to simplify an image from your site. It must be a single, striking image to be effective. What will people recognize instantly?īecause the favicon is so small, you can’t include text. Look at your logo and ask yourself what its most important elements are. This is a fairly standard format for images and makes it possible to store your favicon as a very small file – an important consideration to ensure fast loading times. The second format, which may be preferable for some uses, is the PNG format. It can support multiple sizes and bit depths, which is useful. The first is the ICO format, which is the only format supported by Internet Explorer. Since there is no single standard format, you’ll have to create two at minimum.
The file format of your favicon is the next thing to consider. If you plan on marketing an app to iPhone users, then you’ll also need to create the appropriate favicon files for those uses. What we recommend is two sizes, the standard 16 pixels and a 128 pixel size for the Google Chrome Store and other places where you need a large icon. Newer systems require 114 pixels, and 96 pixels is the standard size for Google TV.ĭo you need all of these sizes? Probably not. However, there are some alternatives.įor example, 57 pixels is the size for the iPod Touch icon and first generation iOS systems. The standard size is 16 pixels, which you can use in most browsers and in your users’ Favorite bars. The first step is knowing what size your favicon file should be, and that depends on knowing where you’ll use it. The process is fairly simple, and we’ll walk you through it step by step. Now let’s talk about how to create a favicon for your site. Unless your company has a simple and instantly recognizable logo like the Nike swoosh, you’ll probably need to get a bit creative with your favicon. YouTube’s favicon uses the play symbol that appears on all YouTube videos as its favicon:īoth of these examples illustrate ways of starting with a logo and tweaking it to create a favicon. This favicon has its roots in Google’s logo and is instantly recognizable. Note that the favicon in this case does not include the entire Google logo, only the capital G in an array of rainbow colors. Now let’s look at a couple of examples of favicons to give you an idea of how they can help you. However, favicons do increase brand recognition and help you present a consistent online image. Today, favicons load automatically so there is no way to count the number of users who bookmark your site. Originally, they appeared only if users bookmarked a site, and a side benefit was that site owners could then tell how many people bookmarked them by viewing the number of favicon requests.
How to make a favicon file windows#
It is sometimes referred to as a bookmark icon because it also appears next to your site name when a user makes your site one of their favorites.įavicons were first supported by Windows 5, released by Microsoft in 1999. It’s a small icon or symbol that shows up in the navigation bar of a web browser when someone visits your site. The word “favicon” is an amalgam of two words, favorite and icon. Let’s start by talking about what a favicon is and giving you a few examples. In this article, we’ll tell you how to use your logo to create a favicon – and to increase your brand recognition and grow your business. One opportunity that many companies miss is creating and using a favicon for their website. Having the right logo for your company is important, but are you using it in the most effective ways to brand yourself online?
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