Making music note icons is like sweet music to your ears.
Whether you do a lot of work on the computer or use your system more for social aspects such as instant messaging, forums and networking, you’re probably familiar with icons. Icons are small, graphical files used to represent software programs, folders and even yourself on both the computer and online. If standard, preset icons start to feel generic, with just a couple of quick clicks through a variety of computer programs, you can make your own icons, such as music notes, which will be sweet music to your computer’s ears (or speakers).
Instructions
Using Paint
1. Open Paint, pull down the "Image" menu and click "Attributes." Set your icon size; icons are very small files, so choose dimensions such as 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches, and click "OK." Pull down the "Image" menu again and uncheck the "Draw Opaque" box. If it is already unchecked, leave it as it is.
2. Pull down the "View" menu, click "Zoom" and select "Large Size." This won’t increase your canvas; it just gives you more room to draw.
3. Click the "Brush" tool, select the small round brush head and click a paint color from the "Color Picker" at the bottom of the screen. Draw the round circle base part of the music note. With a steady hand, move your cursor up in a straight line to draw the staff for a note such as the eighth or sixteenth note.
4. (Optional) Change to a new paint color and draw additional notes.
5. Click the "File" menu and select "Save As." Name the file and select "GIF" from the "Save as type" menu; GIF is the only file type that will give you a transparent background. Click "Save."
Using Photoshop
6. Open Photoshop, click "File" and select "New." Name the file "MusicIcon" and set your preferred dimensions, such as 1 inch by 1 inch. Pull down the "Mode" menu and select "RGB Color" and click "Transparent" under the "Contents" section. Click the "OK" button and a small box appears on the screen. Pull down the "View" menu and click "Fit on Screen."
7. Double-click the top left box of the "Color Picker," which is the two overlapping colored squares on the "Tools" palette. Choose a color for the music note and click "OK."
8. Click the "Paintbrush" tool and pull down the "Brush" menu. Choose a small, round brush head such as #3. Draw a music note in the "MusicIcon" box. Change paint colors and draw additional notes.
9. (Optional) Switch to the #1 brush head and a black paint color. Draw the background grid for the music notes and a clef.
10. Click the right-pointing triangle in a circle on the top of the "Layers" palette on the right side of the screen. Select "Flatten Image." Pull down the "File" menu, choose "Save As," select "GIF" from the "Format" menu, choose a location to save the icon on your computer and click the "Save" button.
Using Publisher
11. Open Publisher and click "Blank Publications." Double-click the "Full Page" option, which opens a blank page on the screen. Change the size by pulling down the "File" menu, clicking "Page Setup," scrolling the menu to "Custom" and typing in the new dimensions, such as .75 inches by .75 inches, and clicking "OK." The Publisher workspace automatically adjusts.
12. Pull down the "Insert" menu, click "Picture," and select "Clip Art." Type a word or phrase into the "Search for" box, such as "music notes," "music," "clef" or "eighth note," and click the "Go" box.
13. Scroll through the results and double-click an image, which appears in place on the icon box. It probably opened much larger than desired, so grab a corner and shrink the image down to fit the size of the box.
14. Click the "File" menu, choose "Save As," name the icon, choose "GIF" as the "Save as type" and click "Save."
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