Open Photoshop, and prepare your icon base. (see "How to make a basic icon" if you don't know how to prepare a base.) This will be the base that I will use for this tutorial.

Notice, I cropped it in a way that left room for the text. Keep in mind text and other effects when you are cropping your image. For animated text, the first thing I do is type the text on a separate layer using colors picked from the image. I usually enlarge the base by double clicking on the hand icon near the bottom of the tool palette. I place the text where I want it, but now the text needs a stroke around it. To stroke it, double click in the space behind the text on the layer palette to open the blend modes option box. Let me show you.

See where it says "double click"? Double clicking anywhere in that area will bring up this pop up box:

(click for larger image)

When it opens, double click on THE WORD stroke, and the stroke options will show with their default settings, like above. I added the white boxes to show the two settings I almost always change. I change the color from the default red to something that matches the icon, and I change the stroke size from the default 3 to 1 or 2, usually. Sometimes the other things need changed too, but you can play with that on your own, to see what all the other selections do.

If you are careful, you can place this pop-up box on your screen so that you can see both this box, and the icon at the same time. That way, you can see any changes you might make before you click ok ... to make sure you are getting the look you want. After you make your changes, click "OK". So, now my icon looks like this:

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