How to Create Icons in PowerPoint + Free Download

PowerPoint has always been my go-to graphic design tool (as I’ve explained in several of my other posts: here, here, and here). Even as I’ve learned how to use advanced graphic design programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, I’ve always believed that PowerPoint can be just as…well, powerful!

Last year, as a hobby project, I created a simple website (www.PowerPointIcons.com) dedicated to sharing custom icons in PowerPoint. Over the past several years, icons have become a popular graphic design asset to use in e-learning courses, presentations, and a lot more. However, one of the issues many people encounter with most icons sets is that you can’t edit them; and if you can, you have to use a program like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. Not everyone has these programs. I figured, why not create editable icons that anyone could edit directly in PowerPoint? So, that’s what I did!

Icons in PowerPoint

Click here to download these fully-editable icons (PPT & PNG)

This week, I want to share a new icon set that I created 100% in PowerPoint. These icons, like most icons, have been created using simple shapes and colors. If you have PowerPoint installed on your computer (which most of us do), you can download and edit these icons in any way you want. Change the colors, change the shapes, or make completely new icons!

Creating custom icons in PowerPoint is easy. It’s just a matter of figuring how to use simple shapes to create the icon you want. Check out my how-to video below to see how I created these icons and how you can save them out of PowerPoint to use in your own projects.

Tim Slade

20 Responses to “How to Create Icons in PowerPoint + Free Download

  • TPastoral
    8 years ago

    This is great! Thanks for the tutorial.

  • Lance Goetz
    8 years ago

    I’ve done this myself, and when I tell people I don’t need Photoshop, because I have PPoint, they look at me like I’m crazy.

    • Thanks for commenting, Lance! I agree. People tend to underestimate the power of PowerPoint! Well-designed graphics don’t require a complicated program!

  • Mohamed Yosri
    8 years ago

    Thanks alot for your great effort

  • This is great! Is there any other similar resource?

  • Nagaraj
    7 years ago

    Thanks for being a life saver for me. Your tutorial and downloadable & editable icons are very useful resources to me.

  • Beautiful and inspirational! thank you

  • Wow. So much easier than with PS! Thank you!

  • Great tutorial. Thank you for the knowledge share.

  • can i use it in my project………???

    • Diane Elkins
      6 years ago

      Yes, you can use these icons in your projects! Enjoy!

  • syarafie
    5 years ago

    Thanks Tim

  • amit lonkar
    4 years ago

    Super cool!! Thanks for this

  • Elisabeth Tina Ngasu
    3 years ago

    Thanx alot Tim

  • Great info! Do the icons need to be made in a certain size?

    • Diane Elkins
      3 years ago

      Hello, Ally, Glad you found this useful! PPT uses inches for measurement, but a lot of other software (like Storyline) uses pixels. I just did a test, and it looks like a one-inch square in PowerPoint translates to a 152 x 152 pixel image when you save it. Sometimes PowerPoint saves extra empty space around your image. The saved image is as large as the edge of the “bounding box” for every element. So perhaps you have a text box that is longer than it needs to be. The saved picture leaves room for the full size of the box. So sometimes I’ll just bring the picture into SnagIt and crop out the extra.
      As for the ideal size of an icon, it really dependson how it is used and how detailed it is. A very simple black lightbulb in a yellow circle can be just a few pixels in diameter. But something with more lines and colors would need to be bigger to be legible.

  • Anne Benoit
    2 years ago

    Hi can you tell me how you added your color legend to your workspace? You were able to select with your xxx the colors you wanted by simply picking from the bottom of your workspace where you add your theme color added. Wondering how you added them there. Thanks. Anne

    • Diane Elkins
      2 years ago

      Hello, Anne, the squares at the bottom of the slide are regular shapes Tim drew on the slide (which wasn’t shown in the video). Then he used the eyedropper to match the new shapes to those. What would make the icons more flexible would be to set up a new color theme. On the Design tab, click the very small drop-down arrow in the Variants section. Then select Colors, and Customize Colors. From there, you can set up a color theme with the palette you want. Then, when you go to any color menu (font color, fill color, etc.) those custom colors appear. Plus, if you then change the theme on the Colors menu, all the shapes update to the new colors.

  • really helpful!!! great content in a easy and sorted language.. Thanks!!

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