.ico & .png are the same?
Friday, April 8, 2005 by atlantis8 | Discussion: New Users
I read in the Stardock Documentation Section where an icon can use either .ico or .png. True??? 
atlantis8
Reply #2 Saturday, April 9, 2005 4:44 PM
Reply #2 Saturday, April 9, 2005 4:44 PM
Thanks so much. This info help me alot. Some of the very basic knowledge can make ro break one's progress. Appreciate the help !!!
PixelPirate
Reply #3 Saturday, April 9, 2005 4:59 PM
Reply #3 Saturday, April 9, 2005 4:59 PM
Note that ObjectDock and DesktopX can use PNG images for icons, but Windows and IconPackager can only use ICO files. It's a specific format for it's purpose.
atlantis8
Reply #4 Saturday, April 9, 2005 5:40 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, April 9, 2005 5:40 PM
Thanks to both of you, alot of my problems d/l .ico & .png are making sense now. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. Now it's all too clear and I'm on my way to getboth types of files in the right place.............Thanks Again for You Help 
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Reply #1 Saturday, April 9, 2005 8:07 AM
ico files actually can contain several images in one image. You can include different images for different sizes (usually 16x16, 32x32, 48x48, and so on) and different colour depth. Window will display a different image depending how you are viewing the files. If you are viewing them as a list you will see 16x16 pixels icons, normal ones in 32x32, tiles in 48x48.
If you run your monitor in 256 colours Windows will use the 256 colour icons, and 16.7million if you run in 16.7 million colours mode.
That is if the icon file contains all these variants. If the prefered variant Windows will take what it think is closest and use that instead. (After resizing and adjusting the colour depth.)