The .ICO filename extension refers to the ICON image file format originally developed by Microsoft. The extension is used to represent computer icon images of varying sizes designed for the operating system Microsoft Windows. Its use today has extended to developing icons for programs designed using the Microsoft developer's suite Visual Studio and other applications. Similar to other device independent bitmap file formats, the ICON file format is also in the raster graphics class of image formats where each individual pixel is part of an orthogonal dot matrix data structure with support for a limited palette of color information. As a resource file, the .ico file format has its strength in contextual use. This allows for multiple icon images of different color depth or size to be stored within the resource file and used when appropriate.
PNG stands for portable network graphics. It is the raster graphics format associated with the .png filename extension. Unlike GIF format, the limitation of 256 colors does not hold with the PNG format. In fact this among other reasons was the motivation behind development of the PNG format to improve upon the GIF format. The PNG format however uses a single image format and thus does not support animations. Because the format was engineered to ease the distribution of graphic files across computer networks it is also not well suited for professional graphics.
FreeFileConvert uses tuned encoding for ICO to PNG conversions, preserving clarity while trimming file size. Finished audio streams instantly across phones, tablets, desktops, and modern browsers without extra tweaks.
Upload ICO files from desktop, tablet, or cloud storage, queue multiple jobs, and let the converter finish autonomously. Return whenever convenient to download synchronized PNG results on any device you rely on.
Process up to 5 files sized 1000 MB per batch without splitting queues manually. Mixed-format uploads convert together, producing consistent PNG audio with dependable progress tracking.
Each .ico file begins with an icon directory specifying the number of images, color depth, and size. Through its history, ICON file formats have come from containing images at a resolution from 32x32 in monochrome, to containing images up to 256x256 in resolution with up to 16.7 million colors.
The PNG formation become a published ISO standard in 2004 as ISO/IEC 15948, although it was formally accepted for use by the internet engineering steering group in 1996. The PNG format has broad support for various color palettes including 24 bit RGB, 32 RGBA, and grayscale with optional support for transparency. The lossless data compression method used by PNG is DEFLATE.
Upload your image file in the ICO format from your device, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
Select PNG as the output format and click Convert. Adjust optional settings if needed.
Download the converted image file. Each file stays available for up to 5 downloads.