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Convert your ICO file to OBJ

Use our free and fast online tool to convert your ICO (Icon) image or logo into 3D OBJ (Wavefront) mesh/model files suitable for printing with a 3D printer or for loading into your favorite 3D editing package.

How to Convert your ICO to OBJ Online?

Here are three simple steps to create an OBJ file from a ICO file.

Upload a ICO

Click the "Upload a File" button and select ICO to upload. The maximum file size is 100MB.

Select your Options

Set the dimensions and other options, and click the "Convert to OBJ" button to convert your ICO to OBJ.

Download your OBJ

Click the download link once completed to receive your OBJ file.

ICO to OBJ Conversion Options

Tool

This setting allows you to specify how your ICO image is converted to an OBJ model. The Extrude options will extrude your image into 3D space, while the Standard options will apply a heightmap process to your image.

Detail

The setting can be used to alter the detail of the final OBJ model that is created. The default setting of Medium works well for most Extrude and Heightmap conversions, with the High setting recommended for highly detailed image files.

Add Base

This setting, when given a height of more than zero, will instruct the tool to add a solid 3D base to the final OBJ model. The selected unit of measurement specifies the height of the base.

Remove Background

When this option is enabled, the tool will automatically attempt to make the background of your image transparent.

Specify Color

Manually specify your image background color rather than our tool trying to automatically work it out.

Color

If the tool is unable to identify the background and you know the background color, you can specify it here.

Tolerance

This value can be adjusted to control the background removal tolerance. The higher the value, the more background is removed.

A higher value is useful for creating smoother results if your image is anti-aliased.

Invert Output

When the Invert Output option is checked, the pixel brightness is reversed, i.e., black becomes white and white becomes black, resulting in a 3D model that is reversed.

Units

This setting tells the tool how to size the final 3D model when using the settings below for Width, Height, and Depth settings.

Upload Color Overlay

When using either the Color Extrude or Heightmap options within the Tool menu, you can optionally upload a separate image that can be used to colorize your 3D model.

Color Conversion

This setting instructs the tool on how to interpret the color information of pixels in your image, thereby influencing the creation of the 3D OBJ model. The grayscale option is most commonly used when working with heightmaps, unless you are dealing with specific requirements that necessitate the use of color.

Merge Similar Colors

Use this value to merge similar colors; this is useful if the image is of low quality. A higher number can help reduce the effects of anti-aliasing in the ICO image.

Hole Reduction

With this setting, it is possible to reduce the inclusion of small holes within the 3D model caused by small, darker areas of the source ICO file, which can be useful in situations where the source image has not been optimized for use with the tool.

Transparency Conversion

When your ICO file has a transparent background, this option can instruct the tool on how to treat the transparency, with the transparency converted to either black or white.

Enable Smoothing

When this setting is enabled, the conversion tool will attempt to smooth out any "spikes" within the 3D model that are caused by contrasting pixels in the image being in close proximity to one another.

Z-Axis Mirror

With this option enabled, the tool will mirror the 3D geometry of the generated OBJ model along the Z-axis.

Generate Preview

If you would like the tool to create a 3D preview of your model, then please select this option. It is on by default.

Generate Normals

Use this option to generate Face or Vertex (Smooth) normals in the final 3D model. Vertex normals give the mesh a smooth appearance. You can choose to not create Normals using the None option to reduce the file size.

File Format Information for ICO to OBJ

ExtensionICO
Full NameIcon
TypeImage
Mime Typeimage/x-icon
FormatBinary
ToolsICO Converters, Create Cookie Cutter, ICO Viewer

Description

The ICO file is an image format that started life on Microsoft Windows 1.0 and was used exclusively for storing image icons used by the operating system. Back then, ICO files were limited in size to 32x32 pixels with only two colors. With subsequent versions of Windows, the format has been amended and upgraded to support larger images with more colors.

Although the initial ICO format was not compressed due to their already small sizes (and limited computing power to decompress them in real-time), as the size of image icons has increased over the years, Microsoft recommends that for larger icon files, PNG compression be used for storing the raster data.

Description

The OBJ file format, originally created by Wavefront Technologies and later adopted by many other 3D software vendors, is a simple text-based file format for describing 3D models/geometry. This data can include vertices, faces, normals, texture coordinates, and references to external texture files.

As the format is text-based, it is relatively straightforward to parse in 3D modeling applications. A downside of the text-based format is that the files can be rather large compared to similar binary formats such as STL and compressed files such as 3MF.

OBJ Notes

Our tool will save any material and texture files separately; these additional files will be included with your final OBJ file at the time of download.

Supported Features

  • Mesh geometry
  • Materials (Via an MTL file)
  • Textures (PNG, JPG, TGA formats)

Comparing ICO and OBJ Features

 

ICO Features

  • Supports Lossy Compression
  • Supports Non Lossy Compression
  • Supports Transparency
  • Supports Color Palettes
  • Supports Monochrome (1-Bit)
  • Supports 16 Colors (4-Bit)
  • Supports 256 Colors (8-Bit)
  • Supports 16 Million Colors (24-Bit)

OBJ Features

  • Mesh Geometry (Vertices and Faces)
  • Vertex Normals
  • Face Normals
  • Vertex Colors
  • Face Materials (Excluding textures)
  • Textures
  • Point Cloud
  • Multiple Objects Per File
  • Object Transforms (Translation, Rotation, and Scale)
  • Bones/Joints
  • Animations
  • Suitable for 3D Printing

Image to OBJ Frequently Asked Questions

What does this tool do?

Our tool converts image (bitmap) data into 3D geometry, which is then saved to the common OBJ file format.

What files does it support?

The ICO to OBJ tool can convert the most common image file formats, such as PNG, JPG or any one of our supported image formats. The output is provided in OBJ format, which can be used in most 3D graphics applications.

How does the tool interpret the image pixel data?

3D geometry is created based on the luminosity of each pixel in the source image. For example, using the default tool settings, a black pixel represents a 3D pixel height of 0mm, and a white pixel represents a 3D pixel height of 10mm. Colors in between these will be converted to a 3D pixel in this range.

What does the "Invert Output" option do?

This option reverses the black-to-white range conversion, so with this option set, a black pixel will be rendered as a 3D pixel of 10mm in height, and a white pixel will be rendered as 0mm.

How do I control the Model detail?

The "Detail" option allows you to control the resolution of the created OBJ file. Low detail will generate the model quickly and result in a smaller file. The High option will take longer to generate and can result in very large download files.

What does the "Enable Smoothing" option do?

With this option, the ICO to OBJ converter will attempt to remove or smooth out any spikes in the resulting OBJ 3D model. Spikes are usually caused by highly contrasting adjacent pixels in the source ICO file.

What is the maximum ICO resolution I can upload?

The ICO you upload can be any size; however, our tool will resize your image to a maximum of 1200x1200 pixels for all uploaded images that are larger than this.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Will the OBJ file retain the textures from my ICO file?

Yes! If your ICO file contains textured geometry, the texture image files along with the texture coordinates (UV data) will be exported with the final OBJ file.

How long does it take to convert my ICO to OBJ?

We aim to process all ICO to OBJ conversions as quickly as possible, this usually takes around 5 seconds but can be more for larger more complex files so please be patient.

How accurate is the ICO to OBJ conversion?

We aim to create the most accurate conversions with our tools. Our tools are under constant development with new features and improvements being added every week.

Is it safe to convert my ICO to OBJ on ImageToStl.com?

Yes, of course! We do not store the ICO file you submit to us. The resulting OBJ file, once created is deleted 15 minutes after upload and the download link will expire after this time.

Do I need a high-spec. computer to use the ICO to OBJ converter?

No. All our conversion tools process your ICO file on our dedicated conversion servers, meaning you can use our tools on low-spec computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices and receive your converted OBJ file quickly.

Can I convert my ICO to OBJ on Windows, Linux, Android, iOS or Mac OS?

Yes! Our ICO to OBJ tool will run on any system with a modern web browser. No specialist software is needed to run any of our conversion tools.

What if I am using an Ad Blocker, will that affect things?

Yes. Although you can use an Ad Blocker, if you like our ICO conversion tool please consider white-listing our site. When an Ad Blocker is enabled there are some conversion limits on some of our tools and processing/conversion times will be longer.

Can I get support with converting my ICO to OBJ?

Yes. When you have converted your ICO to OBJ, there is a "Feedback" option that you can use to let us know of any issues you encountered when converting your file.

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