Okay, so I wanted to make a custom icon for the HBO Max app on my desktop. You know, something a little more… me. I figured it couldn’t be that hard, and spoiler alert: it wasn’t! But it wasn’t totally straightforward either, so I figured I’d share my little adventure.
Finding the Right Image
First things first, I needed an image. I spent a good chunk of time browsing around, looking for something that felt right. I wanted something clean, maybe a little minimalist, but still recognizable as HBO. I finally stumbled upon a simple, stylized “HBO” logo on a dark background. Perfect!
Converting to ICO
Now, you can’t just use any old image file for an icon. Windows likes its icons in the .ico format. No problem, I thought, there are tons of online converters. I just Googled “convert image to ico” and picked one of the first results. I uploaded my chosen image, clicked a button, and boom – instant .ico file. Or so I thought.
First Attempt – Epic Fail!
I changed the icon to my newly converted one and it showed up all pixelated and terrible. So, back to the drawing board.
Getting the Right Size
My First try, the converted icon looked awful. Blurry, pixelated… just bad. Turns out, I needed to make sure the image I started with was the right size. I think I originally used something too big, and the converter just squished it down, making it look awful.
- I resized my image to 256×256 pixels. I used some free online image editor, did a simple crop, and scale.
- Used the online converter again to create my Ico File.
Second Try – Success!
I tried it again with a bigger, 256×256 pixel starting image. I found a simple online tool to resize it, then ran it through the online converter again. This time, the .ico file looked way better when I actually changed the icon.
Changing the Icon
This part was easy. I just:
- Right-clicked on the HBO Max shortcut.
- Clicked “Properties”.
- Went to the “Shortcut” tab.
- Clicked “Change Icon…”.
- Browsed to where I saved my new .ico file.
- Selected it, clicked “OK”, “Apply”, and “OK” again.
And there it was! My nice, new, custom HBO Max icon. It’s a small thing, but it makes my desktop feel a little more personalized. It only took a few minutes (once I figured out the size thing) and it was totally worth it. It’s the little customizations that make your digital world your own, right?