Ever since the Macintosh computer was introduced in 1984, icons have been the way we view files on computers. An icon on your computer screen represents an object or a program on your hard drive. For example, the folders you see on your desktop or in open windows are icons. The files that you see in those folders are also icons. The trash can on the Macintosh and the recycle bin on Windows are both icons as well.
In computer terms, icons are a visual representation of something on your computer. For example, a blue "e" on your screen most likely represents the Internet Explorer program. An icon that looks like a sheet of paper is probably a text document. By clicking and dragging icons, you can move the actual files they represent to various locations on your computer's hard drive. By double-clicking an application icon, you can open the program. Icons are one of the fundamental features of the graphical user interface (GUI). They make computing so much more user-friendly than having to enter text commands to accomplish a task.
Icons can also be used as your avatar. An avatar is a small image you choose to represent yourself in certain online environments. This helps to define your identity inside that community. Avatar size requirements vary tremendously. Listed below are the size requirements some of the most common social media sites.
Avatar Size Requirements
- Twitter profile pages display images at 73 x73 pixels.
- Myspace allows up to 158 x158 pixels for an image on each profile page.
- MSN Messenger and Skype each require 96 x 96 pixels.
- AOL Instant Messenger uses images at 48 x48 pixels.
If you need an image editing program, read my article on Testing Free Online Image Resizing Applications.
For icon clip art follow these links.
