There are two ways of recoloring raster icons:
So, you downloaded a free icon pack for Windows or iOS, fine. Let’s make them shine in new splendor.
You’ll need Photoshop (why bother with Photoshop? See bottom of the message). If you don’t have one, a normal license is $20 a month, but you could also:
That’s right, dear readers. There are software developers among you, some PhDs and MBAs, but still, I’m going to teach you how to open a file 🙂
So, choose an icon and either drag’n’drop it on Photoshop icon or use Cmd+O (Ctrl+O on Windows) for Open dialog. Hint: don’t bother about a thing that Adobe is pushing to you called Adobe Bridge. Choose the desired size, for example 128×128 px:
If it’s grayscale, the icon would be in the shades of gray no matter what color you choose. In Menu, click Image->Mode-> Color RGB.
It looks like this:
Usually, it’s in the bottom right part of the screen. If it’s not, use Window->Layers to open it.
The dialog like this will open:
Enjoy the result. If satisfied, save PNG file with File->Save for Web. You’ll see the dialog like this:
Done. Now you could recolor any icon. Great!
You may ask yourself why to bother doing it in Photoshop if there are easier tools. There is a number of reasons, here are just two:
Sooner or later recolored icon is a sold icon. But what if people try to steal from you? Check out What to Do If Someone Steals From You 7 Times a Day
Get to know about one of the most spectacular Icons8 fails in How We Lost 47% of Our Users After a Redesign.
Also, learn how to make a consistent icon set, how to make a pixel-perfect icon, how to make a seamless background, how to make a watermark in Photoshop and how to rasterize/undo rasterize a layer in Photoshop.
Also, get the lists of free vector software and free photo editing software.
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