Pichon
Description
Icons8 runs an online library of icons, illustrations, photos and design assets used by designers and developers in applications, websites and presentations. Pichon is the desktop application that brings that library to the local computer — a searchable, browsable catalog of Icons8’s icon and illustration collections that works offline after initial sync, allows the setting of a custom color for any icon, and provides drag-and-drop export directly into design tools including Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch and standard image editors.
The workflow advantage over browsing the website is speed: finding an icon, recoloring, and dragging it into a mockup takes seconds from a local application instead of having to navigate to a browser, search, download, re-open, and import. Pichon keeps the asset library resident on the desktop and eliminates the number of steps between locating an asset and using it.
Icon Library
Pichon gives access to the icon collections of Icons8, which include several style families: Fluent (Microsoft-style), iOS-style, Material Design, Windows 10 and 11 style, Color, Doodle, Flat, Outline, etc. Each style family has a consistent visual language across all of the icons in the family so that icons used together in a single design look like they belong to the same set. The library includes tens of thousands of icons in categories such as interface elements, technology, business, communication, arrows, people, food, nature, and hundreds of other topics.
Search and Browse
The search function locates icons from all collections based on keyword, and will return results from all style families at once. Browsing by category narrows results to a subject area — all medical icons, all transportation icons, all finance icons — all styles. Switching between style families takes effect immediately on the current search or category view, and allows direct comparison of how the same concept appears in different visual styles.
Color Customization
Any icon in the library recolors with a custom hex value or a color picker right in the Pichon interface. The recolored version exports in the color chosen instead of needing to be recolored in an image editor after export. This one-step customization allows designers to match icons to brand color systems or interface color schemes without further editing steps.
Export Formats and Sizes
Icons export as PNG at standard sizes — 16px, 24px, 32px, 48px, 64px, 128px, 256px and 512px — and as SVG vector format. SVG export scales to any size without quality loss, making it the preferred format for use on the Web, as well as for design tools that maintain vector objects. PNG export at specific pixel dimensions is appropriate for direct use in applications and documents where rasterized output is required.
Drag and Drop Integration
Icons drag straight from the Pichon window into Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Illustrator, Photoshop and other open applications. The drag-and-drop transfer puts the icon at the defined size and format without the need for an intermediate save and import step. Copying to the clipboard is an alternative transfer method for applications that do not support direct drag operations.
Illustration Collections
Pichon comes with access to Icons8’s vector illustration sets in addition to icon collections. Illustrations are multi-element compositions — full scene illustrations, sets of characters, and abstract graphics — available in consistent visual styles. The illustration library is appropriate for landing page designs, onboarding screens, and marketing materials where standalone icons lack sufficient visual content.
Offline Access
Downloaded collections are synchronized to the local storage and are available when no internet connection is available. The library updates when the connection is restored in terms of newly added icons and updated collections. Designers in environments with limited internet connectivity or unreliable connectivity use Pichon’s offline functionality to ensure access to the asset library when active design work is being done.
