New to Mac...changing icons question

Hi all. About 4 days into using my new macbook pro. Loving it so far.

I'd like to figure out how to change icons for certain folders and what not to make them easier to identify. For example, I'm a guitar player and I want an icon of a guitar (different that the garage band one) for my 'guitar stuff' folder.

I've figured out how to change icons by copying/pasting, but that requires another app with an icon I want to use, right?

Is there somewhere I can download icons (without doing a full set) and just change some of them individually?

Thanks for the help guys and this is a great site! So much to learn...

welcome aboard.

there are icon packs all over the place, i like iconpaper.org & deviantart.com....

for easier icon changing you could get/try Panic - CandyBar 3 - Change and Organize Your Mac OS X Icons and Dock..

ps. the search function would have given you the answer(s) as well.

Search through the sites mentioned above, then use LiteIcon to swap out your system icons. To change the icon of an application, right click on an application and choose "Show Package Contents". In the Resources folder there will be the application's icon with the file extension .icns and it will be called either apple.icns or itunes.icns (or whatever application you right clicked on). Rename your new icon to match the name of the one in the Resources folder, then drop it into the Resources folder, replacing the original one.

But yeah, a search of the site would have brought up some answers for you.

So far so good. However, when trying to change the icon for an app (Safari for example)...

I downloaded a few alternate choices (different colors) of the Safari logo. But I didn't get .icns files...just files that look like the icons themselves...if that makes any sense.

When I get info, it says they're 'Unix Executable File' under the Kind description. I can copy/paste the icon from the top left corner of the get info window, but obviously since it's an app I want it changed for all locations.

Solution??

Thanks!

For a App like Safari to change system wide, it needs a reboot to achieve this ......

TattooedMac said:

For a App like Safari to change system wide, it needs a reboot to achieve this ......

Click to expand...

So just change the icon for Safari in the finder and then restart the computer???

The post above says to change for an app I have to rename the .icns file after 'showing package contents', etc. This isn't necessary?

I haven't tried anything with the Safari icon yet btw...just trying to figure out how to do it first.

darga19 said:

So far so good. However, when trying to change the icon for an app (Safari for example)...

I downloaded a few alternate choices (different colors) of the Safari logo. But I didn't get .icns files...just files that look like the icons themselves...if that makes any sense.

When I get info, it says they're 'Unix Executable File' under the Kind description. I can copy/paste the icon from the top left corner of the get info window, but obviously since it's an app I want it changed for all locations.

Solution??

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I'm not sure why an icon/image would be a unix executable, but oh well.

You can use Icon Composer to create .icns files. It's a utility that comes with the system, type it into Spotlight (cmd+space). It's very easy to use, just copy paste images.

I have changed some of my Icons, e.g. Safari .... did it by copying over the Safari/Resources/compass.icns file. You definitely need to restart the browser for the icon to take effect, maybe even try logging out? But application icons can be changed in this way quite easily. Keep in mind that updating the application will revert the icon back to the original. I think this might go for icons changed with LiteIcon as well, but I haven't played around with changing all the system icons.

scathe said:

Keep in mind that updating the application will revert the icon back to the original...

Click to expand...

That's sort of a pain in the butt!

Do you know if that's still the case if you change it manually everywhere the icon appears (doc, finder, apps grid, etc) by copying/pasting in the get info area?

It'll be more work that way but if the .icon file remains the same will it not revert back when it's updated?

If you have an alias (shorcut) of an application, the icon will stay what you had it even when you update the original app. Only the original app icon will change.
I noticed this with iTunes whenever I update it.

darga19 said:

That's sort of a pain in the butt!

Do you know if that's still the case if you change it manually everywhere the icon appears (doc, finder, apps grid, etc) by copying/pasting in the get info area?

It'll be more work that way but if the .icon file remains the same will it not revert back when it's updated?

Click to expand...

I did overwrite the icon manually inside the Resources folder and yes, it does revert back after an application update.

I don't use any sort of aliases/shortcuts though.

OK...so I've been able to change Safari without a problem...but iTunes is giving me trouble.

I downloaded a cool set of icons (all .icns files) and I'd like to use one for iTunes. I tried to change the name/copy to resources/overwrite like someone posted above, but it says 'file cannot be moved because the Resources folder can't be modified' and prompts me to 'authenticate'.

What is 'authenticate' and should I go ahead and do that?? I'm nervous to do it b/c I'm not sure what it does...

Thanks!

http://www.img2icnsapp.com/ I've been using Img2icns. You can drag and drop any image files and it will convert into icons. Then add and install with Candybar. Works great with a couple of apps that came with stupid looking default icons.

OK thx for the info. I already have a .icns file I'd like to use, so I probably wouldn't need to go thru the steps of converting the image, right?

Is there any way to do it without candybar? I've done it already for Safari...so why doesn't the same process work with itunes?

darga19 said:

OK thx for the info. I already have a .icns file I'd like to use, so I probably wouldn't need to go thru the steps of converting the image, right?

Is there any way to do it without candybar? I've done it already for Safari...so why doesn't the same process work with itunes?

Click to expand...

Have you tried restarting the computer...I remember a few of mine needed a restart before you can see the changes. I would go ahead and authenticate. It probably needs the access to make the changes

Fair enough...I did 'Authenticate' and entered my password and all is good with the new icon!

I just wasn't sure what that did so I didn't do it before...but it's all good now it seems.