icon sizes

[Kanbei]

hi. i made a logo to use on a program. the logo looks perfectly fine in my desk and when i put the .ico file inside a folder, but in the control box of my forms in VB it looks bad, like this:

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/1667/dibujo2iw.jpg (look it has black all arround it)

do you know what size and what format (256colors, XP format, etc) should it be to work properly there?
thanks


PS: i use windows XP in with all default settings

EDIT: one more question: does VB.net support PNG images? is there a way to use PNG images on VB 6?

[RobDog888]

I believe .NET 2005 des support png files now.

What that black outline is is called the Alpha channel mask. It occuers when you have a icon created in 32 bits. Thats 24 bits of color and 8 bits for the alpha channel.

Are you running vb.net 2002 or 2003? or vb6?

[Kanbei]

thanks for your reply, im running vb6.
i know what the alpha channel is (i think), but isnt it supposed to be just the same size and form as the whole icon? So what format should i use there?

[RobDog888]

Heres a link for a utility that can create the 32 bit icons.

http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB/Utilities/Alpha_Icon_Creator/article.asp

[Kanbei]

i have a good program already. in fact, like i said, the logo works perfect everywhere EXCEPT in the control box.
i just wanna know which format and size should i use there.

[RobDog888]

It should be 16 x 16.

[Kanbei]

yes, i checked with photoshop and its 16x16.... but i still get it with bad quality :(
maybe its the format....
i tryed: XP format(RGB/A), 256 colors format and RGB format.
When i try the 16 colors format it looks different: like this
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/9275/untitled32jy.jpg

and this is how it looks like in a a window (just for you to see the difference)
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/2422/untitled24py.jpg

[penagate]

http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB/Tips/Setting_the_App_Icon_Correctly/article.asp