14 DAY TRIAL // Image processing is a task most of us are faced with more and more often these days. Naturally, this happens because digital cameras are increasing in popularity and, right now, because we are just in the middle of the vacation season, when everybody goes on holiday and, naturally, takes as many pictures as possible. Once the hundreds of photos snapped in various destinations are downloaded, it's time we showed them to our friends and thus exchange holiday experiences.
However, sharing digital photos, especially if they come in large numbers, can be a bit difficult because of the large amount of space they require. To avoid the clutter, it's best we reduce the dimensions of the photos in order to save space. As there are dozens of applications that can do the job, choosing just one can become a bit confusing.
Here comes Imagicon, a freebie that can process multiple files at once and convert them into the desired format. This program can also turn images into icons that you can later use to customize the looks of your picture folders with personalized logos. It's small, works very fast, so let's take a closer look at what Imagicon can do for you.
Once you install and run the software, you'll discover a tiny app that offers a very simple interface with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality. A nice small window will allow you to load the photos you want to convert into different image formats or make icons out of them. The switch to a new format is instantaneous so, as soon as you drop the pictures, they will be turned in a matter of seconds, depending on the number of input files.
Imagicon can make icons from the most common image formats: BMP, JPG and PNG. The size of the selected picture does not matter, as this application will resize it to 16x16, 32x32 and 48x48 pixels - the recommended Windows sizes. There are also two custom dimensions supported, dedicated to high quality icons, of 64x64 and 128x128 pixels, respectively.
You can easily choose the size you want from the Options menu in the Icon Settings tab. Also here, you will find other useful settings that will help you create nice-looking logos. With Imagicon, you can add transparency to the icons by selecting the alpha mask color. Once activated, this feature automatically applies transparency to the image areas containing the color you choose.
The application will also enable you to transform digital images by resizing and/or filtering them to obtain smaller pictures, yet of just as good a quality as the original. This specific function of Imagicon can be used to change the size of a photo by means of proportion (a specific percentage of the source file) or by using pixel dimensions, that is, you can indicate the exact size of the output picture. This program has a nice feature that helps you when you don't know exactly how the image will look after changing its dimensions. This characteristic is the Constrain Proportion, which lets you specify only the desired height or width, while the software will automatically calculate and match the ratio of the source photo.
There is also a Bi-Linear Filtering option available in Imagicon that is designed to help you obtain high quality converted images. This function, if enabled, will smoothen the appearance of the picture you want to resize, resulting in a smaller, but just as nice-looking photo. If you do not use this feature, then you may get unreadable text in the output picture. In addition, the software enables you to mirror an image both vertically and horizontally using the Flip function.
When you want to save the new files, you can choose one from the three available image formats - BMP, JPG and PNG, with an ICO file format offered for creating Windows icons from photos. The JPG format has a supplementary setting that allows you to save a file with Low, Medium, High or Superb quality. This means that the ratios are 25 to 1, 50 to 1, 75 to 1, and 100 to 1 (keep the original).
The customization settings offered by Imagicon extend to the interface of the application, which means that it too can be changed according to your preferences. Consequently, you can select from 5 preset color schemes, or you can add an image of your liking to be used as background. The size of the picture needs to be 150x150 pixels so, if the original is larger than that, you can easily use this software to resize it to the needed dimension.
Overall, Imagicon will prove quite useful and a cinch to work with. It uses a very small amount of system memory and, should any aspects come off as a bit tricky to understand or to apply, the built-in help file is bound to clear any confusion.
The Good
The main strong points for this free app are its ability to turn any image into nice-looking icons and to convert batch images in virtually no time. It is very easy to handle, as there are no complicated controls or confusing sets of options.
Imagicon is also small in size and very gentle on the system RAM, so it doesn't become a burden when used together with other applications.
The Bad
The simplicity of this software can easily become a weakness, as it offers little customization options for both icon creation and image conversion.
Also, the fact that Imagicon instantly converts the loaded files can be at times annoying, if you change your mind about the selected pictures and you want to remove or add files - which becomes impossible.
The Truth
All things considered, if you want to hastily make a logo or an icon from an image file, this utility will certainly fit the bill. Also, Imagicon batch converts photos with no fuss, but also with no advanced options, which shouldn't be an impediment for those who simply want to resize pictures and preserve the original quality.
If only Imagicon offered a few more settings for editing the icons and the images it works with, we would have had a very good piece of software on your hands.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
