When using Microsoft Paint to create an icon, it’s best to stick to black and white as other colors can appear distorted in the final product. One solution to the transparency issue is to save your Paint project as an image (rather than as an icon) and then use an online converter to turn the image into an icon.

Click the View tab at the top of the window. Check the “Gridlines” box in the “Show or hide” section of the toolbar. Click the Home tab to return to the main Paint screen.

If necessary, you can change your brush size by clicking the Size option in the toolbar and then clicking the correct thickness in the drop-down menu.

Click File. Select Save as, then click Other formats in the pop-out menu. Type in whatever you want to name your icon followed by . ico (e. g. , a Word icon which is named “Word alternate” would be “Word alternate. ico”). Click the “Save as type” drop-down box, then click 256 Color Bitmap in the drop-down box. Select a save location on the left side of the window. Click Save, then click OK when prompted.

Click File. Select Save as, then click Other formats in the pop-out menu. Type in whatever you want to name your icon followed by . ico (e. g. , a Word icon which is named “Word alternate” would be “Word alternate. ico”). Click the “Save as type” drop-down box, then click 256 Color Bitmap in the drop-down box. Select a save location on the left side of the window. Click Save, then click OK when prompted.

Click File. Select Save as, then click Other formats in the pop-out menu. Type in whatever you want to name your icon followed by . ico (e. g. , a Word icon which is named “Word alternate” would be “Word alternate. ico”). Click the “Save as type” drop-down box, then click 256 Color Bitmap in the drop-down box. Select a save location on the left side of the window. Click Save, then click OK when prompted.

Click File. Select Save as, then click Other formats in the pop-out menu. Type in whatever you want to name your icon followed by . ico (e. g. , a Word icon which is named “Word alternate” would be “Word alternate. ico”). Click the “Save as type” drop-down box, then click 256 Color Bitmap in the drop-down box. Select a save location on the left side of the window. Click Save, then click OK when prompted.

Go to http://icoconvert. com/ in your computer’s web browser. Click Choose file. Select your Paint JPEG, then click Open. Click Upload. Crop your image as needed, then scroll down and click Select None. Scroll all the way down and click Convert ICO. Click the Download your icon(s) link when it appears.

Fortunately, you can use ICO Convert to turn your image with a transparent background into a more satisfactory icon file.

Unlike Microsoft Paint, Paint 3D is only available on Windows 10 computers. Paint 3D was first introduced with the Windows 10 Creator’s Update in spring of 2017. If you don’t have Paint 3D, update Windows 10 before proceeding.

Unlike Microsoft Paint, Paint 3D is only available on Windows 10 computers. Paint 3D was first introduced with the Windows 10 Creator’s Update in spring of 2017. If you don’t have Paint 3D, update Windows 10 before proceeding.

If this switch is blue, your canvas is already transparent.

Click the “Percent” drop-down box, then click Pixels in the resulting menu. Replace the value in the “Width” box with 32. Replace the value in the “Height” box with 32.

Go to http://icoconvert. com/ in your computer’s web browser. Click Choose file. Select your PNG, then click Open. Click Upload. Crop your image as needed, then scroll down and click Select None. Scroll all the way down and click Convert ICO. Click the Download your icon(s) link when it appears.