Change File Icons for All Files of a Certain Extension on Mac

[Monique]

Does anyone know whether there is a way to change the icons on a mac, in such a way that the changed icon works for all the files of a certain extension?

Like, that all the .ppt files have a new icon associated to them.

For those who don't know, you can change a single icon by right-clicking on one, select 'Get Info', click on the icon on the upper left and simply paste a new image.

 

[Monique]

WHOOHOO! I got it to work Go to the application that is supplying the icon, go to package contents and find the particular icon file and replace the file by a new icon

Can anyone give me a pointer to where the folder icons are located on a mac? For nice artwork go to deviantart.com

 

[rho]

I did a locate .icns in terminal and found the folder icon. It's in: System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/GenericFolderIcon.icns

if you navigate to it in finder when you get to CoreTypes.bundle right click it and go to "show package contents" and it's in the resources file.

 

[Monique]

Hey, thanks! I had already given up on finding it.. I already searched on icns but didn't find it. Now I browsed to the file and it is there, a search in spotlight still does not bring the file up.. using the terminal is a good suggestion for future reference

 

[Moonbear]

Cool! This is a new trick I didn't know how to do before. I knew how to change individual icons, but never even thought of using something different than the default icons to associate all the files created with a particular software. Do you have a practical reason to change the icons like that, or is it just for aesthetics?

 

[Monique]

I thought the PDF icons of the opener Preview were really ugly, and since PDFs usually dominate my desktop I wanted to change them

I found a really interesting source for icons: www.pixelgirlpresents.com[/URL] Maybe I'll have to add a label to know what the icons stand for, but it is not a big deal to add 'PDF' in Graphic Converter.

 

[Moonbear]

I found a really interesting source for icons: www.pixelgirlpresents.com[/URL] Maybe I'll have to add a label to know what the icons stand for, but it is not a big deal to add 'PDF' in Graphic Converter.[/QUOTE]
Ooh, those are interesting. :bugeye: Some are outright weird, but some I really like. I haven't done much to dress up my mac, but one thing I've missed having since the upgrade to OS X is that I could no longer just color-code my folders like I used to with 9.2. I liked having that so I could quickly spot the "red" folder with a particular experiment's data in it. I just like using colors to keep things organized; it works better for me than labels. I may have to add some of them to help spot the important stuff faster. :biggrin:

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Hey, I messed up (this is my first mac ), and now my genericfoldericon.icns is gone. Is there anyway to restore defaults without reinstalling anything?

 

[Moonbear]

Hey, I messed up (this is my first mac ), and now my genericfoldericon.icns is gone. Is there anyway to restore defaults without reinstalling anything?

I'm not sure, but maybe you can just copy that folder from LYN's computer? I had accidentally deleted the OS 9 system folder from another Mac that I still needed to run some OS 9 software on, and discovered I could just copy the folder from another Mac and it worked just fine. So if it works for something like a system folder, it should work for an icon folder...I hope.

Oh, though, first try using spotlight to search for it and check the trash...maybe you haven't lost it, just accidentally moved it somewhere else?

 

[0TheSwerve0]

k, I think that worked. Thank you! So, I now know I can replace pics by dragging the picture I want into the Get Info picture of a folder...but it just shows the extension icon, eg the word jpg. How do I use the actual picture?

 

[0TheSwerve0]

what icon editing programs should I download to turn a picture I like into an icon?

 

[Moonbear]

what icon editing programs should I download to turn a picture I like into an icon?

You just need to have a jpg image. Copy the image, select whatever file you want to use it as an icon for, choose "Get Info", single click on the small icon (the one at the top) to highlight it, then paste using Apple-V (apple being the key with the picture of an apple on it...technically it's the Cmd key, but how would anyone know that without it written on it?) Your jpg image should now be your icon. They don't need to be in your icons folder. (Dragging icons didn't work for me, so I'm not sure how you're doing it.)

 

[0TheSwerve0]

nm, i found a program. Saving a jpg as a photoshop file works. If you want to use an image as more than just a square pic, you have to use a bunch of programs. I'll just use photoshop for now.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

haha, k, I did end up using the more complex one (with LYN's help, too)
From http://www.scene24.net/openweb/index.php?CreatingIcons"
I made http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b326/PaidVacation/Untitled-1.jpg"
It's just the positive space, the black is the inverted image that tells the file what to hide. Pandora's box btw, I think it's from an online rpg thing.