7 Best Free Open Source Icon Editor Software For Windows

Here is a list of best free open source icon editor software for Windows. These software are similar to standard icon editor software through which you can create and edit icon images. However, these editors are also open source, thus users can access and edit their source code without any restriction. To create icons, these editors use existing images of PNG, BMP, JPG, TIFF, PPM, etc., formats. Furthermore, you can also start creating icons from scratch in these. As icons are small in both size and resolution, thus users can edit images and then reduce their size to make an icon. All these editors support ICO image format that allows users to import, edit, and export icons.

To edit icons, these editors offer a lot of editing tools such as Paint Tools, Color Tools, Layer Tools, Transformation tools, and more. Through paint tools, users can draw custom designs, add text to icon, add shapes, and fill color. The color tools allow users to adjust brightness, hue, contrast, etc., color parameters. Using transformation tools, users can resize images, rotate images, flip images, move images, etc. Through Layer tools, you can create complex icons by creating parts of an icon over separate layers. After making all the desired changes to an icon, you can save it in ICO image format.

My Favorite Open Source Icon Editor Software For Windows:

Greenfish is my favorite software because it offers all the essential tools to edit and create icons. Plus, its multi-tab interface allows users to work on multiple icon projects at a time.

GIMP is another great software that lets you edit icons and multiple other images.

You can also check out lists of best free Open Source DWG Editor, Open Source EPS Editor, and Open Source SVG Editor software for Windows.

Greenfish

Greenfish is a free open source icon editor software for Windows. It is a dedicated icon editor software through which you can edit as well as create icons from scratch. Plus, it supports standard images of various formats that allow users to create icons using images. Some of the image formats that it supports are PNG, BMP, JPG, PBM, and more. Plus, all the important drawing tools, layer tools, and image filters are present in it. Let’s take a look at the primary features of this icon editor software.

Main Features:

• Drawing Tools: Using drawing tools, users can create custom designs, add text on icon, and adjust color icons with ease.
• Layers: Using layer tools, you can work on different parts of an icon over different layers which you can layer combine to complete an icon.
• Icon: This section contains multiple icon tools through which you can create Windows icons from images, mac icons from images, Android drawable icons from images.
• Filters: It contains many filters to enhance the look of icons and adjust their color profile such as RGB, Exposure, Hue, Sharpen, Blur, Soft, etc.
• Multi-Tab Interface: It is another good feature that allows users to work on multiple icon projects at a time.

Final Thoughts:

It is a simple and effective open source icon editor software that offers all the essential tools to quickly create and edit icons of all types.

VarIcons Icon Editor

VarIcons Icon Editor is another free open source icon editor software for Windows. It is a dedicated icon editor software through which you can create new icons and edit existing icon files. To create icons, you can both icon files and images of common formats like PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, and more. Plus, a good set of tools to create and edit icons are also present in it. Now, checkout key features of this open source icon editor software.

Main Features:

• New Icon With Standard Image Set: In this section, you can create new icons of three standard sizes namely 16*16, 32*32, and 48*48.
• Create from Images: Using this section, you can create icons from images of common formats like PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, etc.
• Open Icon From File: This section is designed to edit existing icon files by importing them to this software.
• Open Icon Library from Executable File: Using it, you can edit executable icon files of DLL and EXE formats.
• Pain Tools: In all the above sections, you get many paint tools to create custom designs and edit existing designs of icons. Some of the paint tools that you get are Pencil, Shapes, Color Palette, Text, Brush, Remember Points, etc.
• Color and Brightness: To manually adjust the color profile, contrast, brightness, etc., this software offers various color and brightness adjustment tools in all the icon editing and creation sections.
• Multitab Interface: Thi software offers a multitab interface that allows users to open up and work on multiple icon projects at a time.

Final Thoughts:

It is a capable open source icon editor software through which you create icons from scratch and also edit existing icon files with ease.

GIMP

GIMP is yet another free open source icon editor software for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Through this software, you can edit icons and images of various formats like ICO, PNG, JPG, BMP, JFIF, and more. It offers many image editing and enhancement tools through which you can make desired changes to elements of icons and images. Let’s take a look at the primary features of this icon editor.

Main Features:

• Drawing Tools: Using drawing tools, you can manually draw custom icon designs and fill colors in them. Some of the drawing tools that it offers are Paint Brush, AirBrush Tool, Bucket, Pencil, Eraser Tool, etc.
• Layers: Through this feature, you can create complex multi-layered icons and image designs.
• Transformation Tools: Using transformation tools, you can rotate, scale, move, and stretch individual elements or whole design with ease.
• Colors: It is another important section that lets you adjust the color, hue, brightness, highlights, etc., of individual icon elements according to your requirements.
• Filters: This software comes with multiple inbuilt filters that you can apply over a design to adjust blur, noise, distortion, etc., of a graphics.

Additional Features:

• Measure: Using it, you can measure the distance between any two points over an image.
• Swap Colors: With the help of this feature, you can select and replace a color present on an image with a new custom color.

Final Thoughts:

It is a feature rich open source icon editor software that can also be used to edit and enhance images of various formats.

Inkscape

Inkscape is another free open source icon editor software for Windows, Linux, and macOS. This software is mainly designed to work on vector graphic files although, you can also edit and enhance icon (ICO), JPG, BMP, TIFF, etc., files. This software offers a good set of viewing and editing tools through which you can create desired icon designs. Now, take a look at some of the primary features of this software.

Main Features:

• Drawing Tools: This software offers all the essential drawing tools such as color palette, fill bounded areas, spray, brush, etc., to make custom designs.
• Layers: It is another important feature that allows you to create portions of design over different layers to simplify the designing process of a complex icon design. After completion of all portions of a design, you can combine the layers to complete the design.
• Object: It offers many object creation and editing features through which you can create symbols, mask objects, transform objects, move objects from one layer to another.
• Filters: This section carries many image filters to quickly change or enhance the color profile, blur level, overlays, image effects, etc., of an icon.
• Edit Paths By Node: Using this feature, you can edit existing shapes present on an icon. Some of the path tools that it offers are object to path, stroke to path, union, difference, intersection, and more.

Additional Feature:

• Extensions: In this software, you can also add extensions to add more features to this software.

Final Thoughts:

It is another good open source icon editor software that offers many useful icon editing tools.

Krita

Krita is a free open source icon editor software for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Using this software, you can create as well as edit icon files. Apart from icon files, it also can also be used to edit standard images of PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, etc., formats. To edit icon designs, it offers many drawing and editing tools such as Freehand Brush, Calligraphy, Shape Tools, Multi-Brush Tool, Color Selector, Smart Patch Tool, and more. In addition to that, a color pallet, brush presets, and brush smoothing features are present in it.

Main Features:

• Image: This section offers tools to change image properties like image background color and transparency changer, image scaling, element alignment, etc.
• Layer: It allows you to create multi-layered icons by providing tools like add a new layer, merge multiple layers, delete layers, etc.
• Filters: It is used to enhance the original icon by applying various filters like Artistic, Color, Blur, Enhance, Emboss, etc.
• Preview: In it, you can preview the final look of an icon before saving it.

Additional Feature:

• Session: This feature lets you save the entire editing and retouching session that you can later recall when needed.

Final Thoughts:

It is yet another capable open source icon editor software that anyone can use to edit and enhance icons.

PhotoDemon

PhotoDemon is one more free open source icon editor software for Windows. Through this software, you can easily retouch and edit icon (ICO) files as well as images of various formats like PPM, PNM, PFM, GIF, and more. Now, check out the primary features of this software below.

Main Features:

• Image Adjustment Tools: Using these tools, you can adjust brightness, color levels, curves, shadows, highlighting, white balance, etc.
• Layer: It is another important feature that allows you to work on separate layers of an image to carry more details on images once combined.
• Effects: It basically carries various presets to apply predefined effects over images like colored pencil, comic book, poke, ripple, sharpen, fog, ignite, and more.
• Paint Tools: This software carries all the essential paint tools (brush, color palette, shapes, etc.) to make custom designs over icon images.

Additional Feature:

• Macro: Using it, you can save commonly used editing steps that you can recall at any time to perform repeated editing operations.
• Batch Process: Through this feature, you can batch retouch, and edit multiple images at a time.

Final Thoughts:

It is a nice and simple open source icon editor software through which you can easily make desired changes to icon files.

LazPaint

LazPaint is the next free open source icon editor software for Windows. As its name suggests, it is mainly a painting software through which you can create and edit custom drawing and painting graphics. Using its paint tools, you can edit Icon (ICO) images. Plus, it also allows you to edit and convert standard images (PNG, JPG, BMP, SVG, etc.) to icon images. Now, have a look at the main features of this software.

Main Features:

• Layers: It lets you work on multiple layers to create portions of an icon design over different layers that you can later combine by merging all the layers.
• Image: It offers multiple image transformation tools that you can use to resize images to icon resolution, rotate images, flip images, mirror images, etc.
• Drawing Tools: Using these tools, you can draw new designs, fill colors in designs, insert shapes to existing icon designs, and remove any part of the existing icon design.
• Colors: It is another handy section through which users can adjust color levels, transparency, contrast, and color saturation of a design or its element.

Additional Feature:

• Render: Using it, you can render various effects like snow print, wood, marble, stone, etc., over any icon.
• 3D Object: This tool allows you to import 3D objects and add them to your images and icons.

Final Thoughts:

It is a feature-rich open source icon editor software through which you can create and edit icons and images.