PostScript to ICO Converter

PostScript (PS) to ICO Converter

ICO is the Windows icon format, so this tool is for turning a PostScript file — usually a logo, brand mark, or simple symbol — into a favicon or app icon, not for exporting a document page at full size. The first page of your .ps file is rasterized and downscaled to a square icon at the size you choose (up to 256×256 pixels), then packaged as a .ico file. If you need a readable full-page image instead, PS to PNG is the better fit, and PS to PDF keeps the document selectable and printable.

When This Conversion Makes Sense

A .ps file describes a full, fixed-layout page — often dense text and vector graphics — while an ICO holds tiny square images. Rasterizing a whole PostScript page down to 16–48 pixels makes any text or fine detail illegible, so this conversion only pays off when the PostScript page is essentially a single logo, monogram, or flat symbol. If your .ps is a multi-page document or a text-heavy report, an icon is the wrong target; convert it to PNG or PDF and keep the icon idea for the artwork alone.

PostScript (PS) Format at a Glance

ICO Format at a Glance

How to Convert PS to ICO

1. Upload Your PostScript File: Drag and drop your .ps file onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. The first page is used as the icon source, and you can queue several files to convert with the same settings.
2. Set the Image Resolution: Pick the icon size under Image resolution. The Preset defaults to 256P (the largest, sharpest ICO entry); choose 16P, 32P, or 48P to match a specific favicon or Windows slot.
3. Choose Image Transparency: Set the background color (the default is a white Color fill) so the icon sits cleanly on browser tabs and desktops, or keep any transparency the page already has.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download the .ico file. No sign-up, no watermark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my PostScript page look blurry or unreadable as an ICO?

ICO is an icon format capped at 256×256 pixels, so a full PostScript page is downscaled to a tiny square. Text and detailed line art that read fine on the page become unrecognizable at 16–48 pixels. For a usable icon, start from a .ps file that is essentially a single logo or symbol; if you need a legible full-page raster, convert to PNG instead.

My PostScript file has several pages — what do I get back?

An icon is one small square, so multi-page documents are not stitched together. PostScript renderers like Ghostscript rasterize each page separately, so a multi-page .ps file produces one icon per page, returned numbered in order. In practice you usually want only the page that holds the logo — put that artwork on page one, or split it out first.

What size should I pick for a website favicon?

For a favicon, 16×16 is what browsers show in tabs, bookmarks, and history, 32×32 covers high-DPI tabs and the Windows taskbar, and 48×48 also fits Windows desktop shortcuts. Pick the Image resolution preset that matches; 256P is more than a tab needs but gives you one large image that downscales cleanly. Browsers request the file as favicon.ico from your site root automatically.

Can I get a transparent background instead of white?

Yes. The Image Transparency control sets the background color and defaults to white because PostScript pages render on an opaque white page rather than carrying their own alpha channel. If your artwork already has transparent areas you can keep them, so a favicon sits cleanly on differently colored browser tabs. ICO supports transparency through an 8-bit alpha channel.

Will the ICO work as a Windows application or folder icon?

Yes — .ico is the format Windows requires for app, shortcut, and Control Panel icons. Microsoft's recommended application set is 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, and 256×256, and a single ICO file can hold several of those at once so each context picks the crispest one. A single converted size still works because Windows scales it, though a purpose-built multi-size icon stays sharper across the small and large slots.

Is this different from converting an EPS file to ICO?

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) is a single-page variant of PostScript built to be embedded inside other documents, so it carries a bounding box and stricter rules, while a .ps file can describe a full multi-page document. Both are rendered by the same PostScript engine. If your file is specifically .eps, use the dedicated EPS to ICO converter; for general .ps files, this page is the right tool.

How are my uploaded files handled?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, and never shared or made public. In our testing, a single-logo .ps page rendered to a 256×256 ICO came back well under 100 KB, since an icon at that size holds far fewer pixels than a full-resolution page export.

How many colors does the ICO hold — will a gradient logo look banded?

ICO supports several color depths, up to 32-bit (24-bit true color plus an 8-bit alpha channel), so a full-color mark with a smooth gradient is stored without a forced palette reduction. Any banding you see is far more likely to come from the tiny pixel dimensions than from a color-depth limit — at 16×16 or 32×32 there simply are not enough pixels to render a gradient smoothly. For the crispest result, start from simple, high-contrast artwork that still reads once it is shrunk to icon size.