When you create an application shortcut in Google Chrome, the browser usually creates a very ugly jagged icon for the shortcut. Google Chrome simply enlarges the favicon for the website from 8 by 8 pixels as much as four times. As the screenshot here illustrates, every single pixel is blown out of proportion.

The screenshot also shows the clean icons I created for two of my favorite webapps: the graphic package SUMO Paint and the task manager Toodledo. In each case, the left icon represents the one automatically created by Google Chrome, and the icon on the right is the improved version that I have made using a combination of free or open source tools.

I describe how I do it here, assuming that many of the readers will be able to emulate my actions without detailed explanations:

1. I capture a screenshot (Windows: ALT-Print Screen) of the WebApp suitable for conversion to an icon. For the SUMO Paint package. I used the logo of the SUMO wrestler on the top left corner of the page. For Toodledo, I used the last two letters of the namestyle on their home page.
2. I paste the screenshot into The GIMP, crop down to the area I want to turn into an icon, clean up any debris and make the background transparent. I save the result to a suitable store on my hard disk (I have a folder where I store all ico files for convenience).
3. I import the resulting picture into IcoFX — a freeware icon editor that has superb features and most importantly superb defaults. In fact, all I do is drag the source picture into the working area of IcoFX, select Icon > Create Windows Icon from Image… accepting all defaults and saving to my ico folder.
4. Then I use the new icon on my shortcut. (Right click the shortcut. Select Properties. Click Change Icon… Brose to the ico folder. Select the new icon. Click OK)