Axialis IconWorkshop – Icon Authoring Tool

Features in Depth

Create high‑quality icons for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux

Design your own icons for every OS. Generate Windows icons up to 768×768 for Windows 10 (and Windows 11), and macOS icons up to 1024×1024. For Unix/Linux, Android, and iOS, IconWorkshop creates alpha‑enabled PNGs in a few clicks—also from existing Windows or Mac icons.

Modern icons rely on alpha transparency for smooth edges and soft shadows. IconWorkshop fully supports alpha in editing, format creation, batch processing, and conversions.

Our goal is simple: icon quality. The editor builds each required size and format from your original artwork with no loss.

Work in a Fully Integrated Workspace

Unlike multi‑app toolchains, IconWorkshop keeps everything on screen. You’ll be more productive with a single, consistent interface.

All tools are instantly available, and full drag‑and‑drop support makes complex tasks—like composing icons from multiple images—simple.

The UI scales beautifully on Hi‑DPI/Retina displays (200% or more), for pixel‑perfect editing comfort.

Full support for PNG‑compressed Windows icons (Vista/7/8/10/11)

IconWorkshop loads, creates, edits, and saves icons for Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11. These versions use ICO files containing PNG‑compressed images, enabling icons up to 768×768 with alpha and smaller file sizes.

The format is supported across the product: editing, automatic size creation, batch generation/conversion, and normalization.

• Introducing Windows icons
• Create Windows icons with IconWorkshop

Design App Icons for iOS & Android (and legacy Windows Phone)

Mobile operating systems set strict icon guidelines. IconWorkshop helps you create spec‑compliant app icons in multiple sizes/densities with consistent clarity.

Use Image Objects to assemble attractive icons by drag‑and‑drop (see object packs: iPhone Applications and iPhone Tab Bar Icons).

Compatible with Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

Import layered PSD images and build a multi‑resolution icon from a logo or app artwork.

Included plug‑ins let you transfer images directly from Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (no temp files):

• Adobe Photoshop CS4, CS5, CS6 (32/64‑bit)
• Adobe Photoshop CC, CC 2014, CC 2015 (32/64‑bit)
• Adobe Illustrator CS4, CS5, CS6 (32/64‑bit)
• Adobe Illustrator CC, CC 2014, CC 2015 (32/64‑bit)

Make Pixel‑Perfect Icons Using Photoshop Templates

Use 15 ready‑to‑use Photoshop templates to create each required size precisely. Draw within the template’s zones and export to IconWorkshop—your complete icon (all sizes) is generated in seconds.

Draw your icon in Photoshop using the template; each format has its own drawing area. When transferred to IconWorkshop, the whole icon is built automatically with pixel‑perfect quality.

Work Faster with Visual Studio 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 Plug‑ins

The Visual Studio add‑in creates a direct bridge between the IDE and IconWorkshop. Open any icon from your solution, edit it in IconWorkshop, and when you save, Visual Studio refreshes the asset automatically.

• Introducing the Visual Studio plug‑in
• Modify an icon in a VS solution using the plug‑in

Create & Edit Icons in Image Strips for Toolbars

IconWorkshop is the only icon editor that lets you create and edit Image Strips for toolbars. Stop struggling with wide bitmaps—open them in IconWorkshop and edit each icon separately.

Read and write BMP and PNG image strips with alpha (32‑bpp) or a fixed background color (≤24‑bpp).

Add, copy, move, or remove icons in strips. You can also create new image strips using ready‑to‑use objects (see the Lite Toolbars pack).

• What is an Image Strip?
• Create toolbar icons using image strips

Create & Edit Bitmap Images

IconWorkshop also lets you create or modify bitmap images. Transparency is supported via alpha channels (32‑bpp) or a fixed background color (≤24‑bpp).

This is useful for application and web illustrations. Convert between formats like GIF and JPEG with web optimization. Supported formats include:

Create Attractive Icons Using Image Objects

Image Objects are an IconWorkshop exclusive. Drag pieces from the library to compose professional icons in minutes.

Objects are crafted by designers and provided as high‑quality 256×256 PNGs, letting you easily produce icons with sizes up to 256×256 for Windows XP, Windows Vista/7/8/10, and macOS.

• What are Image Objects?
• How to use Image Objects to create icons

Convert Icons Between macOS and Windows

Read macOS icons and convert them to Windows formats (and vice‑versa). IconWorkshop supports macOS icons up to OS X 10.11 El Capitan.

Target Windows (ICO, PNG) and macOS (ICNS, RSC, BIN) from the same artwork, or run batch conversions on multiple icons at once.

Automatically Create Icons from Images

Sometimes the fastest path is importing an image. Bring in PSD, PNG, BMP, SVG, JPEG, GIF, JPEG 2000, and more.

Create a complete multi‑format icon in one operation: alpha is preserved, optimized palettes are generated for 256‑color formats, and even 16‑color variants with transparency are produced automatically.

Learn with a Comprehensive Help System

IconWorkshop includes a complete, professionally written help system—richly illustrated and easy to follow:

• General information about Windows & macOS icons and how to use them in software projects (4 topics)
• Getting started lessons (14 topics)
• How‑to step‑by‑step tutorials (35 topics)
• Full feature reference (150+ topics)

Batch Procedures

Automate repetitive work: create icons from a set of PNGs, convert groups of Mac/Windows icons in seconds, normalize sizes, and more.

Librarian & Explorer with Previews

Use the integrated Librarian to manage media and icon files—store, move, copy, and extract assets as you work.

The built‑in File Explorer browses disks and discovers images and files containing icons. View thumbnails and open any file with a single click.