ARW to ICO Converter

Convert ARW to ICO Online

Turn a Sony Alpha RAW photo (.arw) into a Windows icon (.ico) — the format used for app icons, desktop shortcuts, and website favicons. Because ICO tops out at 256×256 pixels, this converter decodes the full-resolution RAW and downscales it hard to icon size, then bakes the RAW's wide latitude down to standard 8-bit color. It is the right tool for turning a photo into an icon or favicon — not for keeping a viewable copy of the shot. If you just want to see or edit the picture, use ARW to JPG, ARW to PNG, or ARW to TIFF instead.

How to Convert ARW to ICO

1. Upload Your ARW File: Drag and drop your .arw file onto the page or click "Add Files" to browse. You can queue several RAW files and convert them in one batch.
2. Pick the Icon Size (Image Resolution): Open Advanced Options and choose a size from the Image resolution preset — 256P, 128P, 64P, 48P, 32P, 24P, or 16P. 256P is the default and the largest ICO can hold; 16P and 32P are the classic favicon sizes.
3. Set Colors and Bit Depth (Optional): Use the Colors and Bit Depth controls to reduce the palette for a smaller, flatter icon, or leave them at the defaults for full 32-bit color with transparency.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your .ico file. No sign-up, no watermark.

ARW vs ICO: What Survives the Conversion

For favicons, 16×16, 32×32, and 48×48 are the common sizes; Windows app icons often add 256×256 for high-DPI displays.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my icon look blurry or low-detail?

ICO maxes out at 256×256 pixels, so a multi-megapixel ARW gets shrunk by a huge factor. Fine detail in a photographic image rarely reads well at 16–48 pixels, and downscaling adds anti-aliasing softness. Icons look sharpest when the source art is a simple, high-contrast shape rather than a detailed photo. If you need a crisp small graphic, start from a clean logo or symbol rather than a full scene.

What icon size should I choose?

For a website favicon, 16P (16×16) and 32P (32×32) cover most browsers and tabs. For a Windows desktop or application icon, 256P (256×256) gives the best result on high-DPI screens and scales down cleanly. When in doubt, pick 256P — it is the largest size ICO supports and looks acceptable at smaller display sizes.

Does the ICO keep transparency?

ICO supports a full 8-bit alpha channel (32-bit color since Windows XP), so transparency is preserved in the output. An ARW photo, however, is an opaque sensor capture with no transparent areas, so the icon will be fully filled unless you edit a transparent region into the image first.

Will this give me a usable copy of my photo?

No. The conversion is built to make an icon, not to archive the shot. The image is reduced to at most 256×256 pixels and 8-bit color, so almost all of the RAW's resolution and tonal latitude is discarded. To keep a viewable, editable photo, convert your ARW to JPG, PNG, or TIFF instead.

Is the conversion private?

Yes. Your ARW file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and your files are never shared or made public.

How big a file does the icon end up being?

In our testing, a 24-megapixel ARW converted to a single 256×256 32-bit ICO produces a file in the low tens of kilobytes; choosing a smaller size like 32P or reducing the Colors palette brings it down to a few kilobytes. Icons are tiny by design because they only ever store icon-sized images.