Have you ever noticed the little icons beside the URL in the address bar in your web browser? These are favicons and they also appear in your bookmarks when you save the web site there. Most web sites don’t use favicons and have just the blank, default icon there instead. Its actually very easy to create these images.
Definition of Favicon in 25 Words or Less (or a bit more)
A favicon is a 16 pixel by 16 pixel sized image at 72 dpi. The favicon should always be saved in the root folder of a web site. This is to ensure compatibility with web browsers that will not be redirected to find the image in a subfolder. Many browsers will automatically find the favicon.ico file in the root, but the following code should be added between the <head></head> tags for full compatibility:
<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”/favicon.ico” />
Microsoft’s Icon File Format
An .ico file is a raster format used for icons in Microsoft Windows. You can create it with a plugin from Telegraphics for the Windows or Mac version of Photoshop. Corel PhotoPaint can also save Windows .ico files. If you don’t know how to use an image editing program, you can create an icon with Favicon Generator. This is a free, online application which takes any 100 pixel by 100 pixel image and converts it into a favicon.
