Creating Shortcut Icons in Mac OS X
I created a few shortcuts on the desktop for the kids account on
their new computer (running Mac OS X 10.4). The shortcuts are for
various internet web sites that include some flash games for the
kids to play... sites such as Kids CBC, PBS Kids, Thomas the Tank
Engine, Disney Playhouse, and Nick Jr. In order to differentiate
one shortcut (and thus one website) from another, I wanted to
create custom icons for each shortcut. For future reference, this
is how I accomplished the task:
- Create a 128x128 pixel image for use as the shortcut. The
image should use a transparent background. I recommend the
PNG format.
- Open "Icon Composer" (part of Apple's Development Tools) and
drag the PNG image to the Icon Composer screen and drop it on
the "Thumbnail" row. Then drag the Thumbnail icon to the
"Huge", "Large", and "Small" rows... click on "Use Scaled
Version" and "Extract Mask" when prompted. Save and exit
Icon Composer.
- Drag the .icns file and drop it onto the
icns2icon
application.
- Open up the file information (Command-i) for the new icon
file and select the icon in the upper left of the dialog.
When selected the icon will have a blue shadow. Copy the
icon (Command-c).
- Open up the file information (Command-i) for the shortcut
and select the icon in the upper left of the dialog. When
selected the icon will have a blue shadow. Paste the new
icon (Command-v).
Works like a charm. To view an example of the final product, see
here
for the set of custom icons I created for my kids desktop.
:: Posted by rus on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:54 pm
:: Filed under /tech
Olivia Standing
Our little baby girl can now stand with the assistance of a nearby
object. She is still pretty wobbly, but she is getting stronger
every day.
Little Helpers
I spent part of today installing an under-cabinet light fixture in
the kitchen desk area. I tapped into the power at a switch in the
mudroom. The cable run goes up the wall from the switch about a
foot and then through the wall in a hole I drilled just under the
kitchen desk wall cabinets. At the beginning of the project, I
had a couple of helpers:
But after a couple of hours, only Berkeley remained interested in
finishing the project. I didn't take a picture of the installed
fixture, but it is a nice clean install and illuminates the work
area with four small halogen bulbs quite well. It is a vast
improvement over our previous single-bulb desktop lamp.
Eliana At Play
Here are a series of pictures we took of Eliana today while she
was playing at the kitchen island table. She's so beautiful.
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