Awesome folders and how to make 'em

I’d love to say that people frequently ask me the question “V, how do you make your MacBook so cool and customized? Can you teach me?” But I won’t say that, because that would be a lie. I never get asked that. But I should, because I’ve spent quite a bit of time working on this. Over time, we’re going to post more hints on how to make your Mac even more awesome than it already is, but for now I’m just going to show you how to customize your folder icons.

Some time ago, I began feeling the need to “pimp” my MacBook laptop. I started downloading freeware applications, and found myself frequently looking at lists of must-have applications, info on things you can do with your mac, et cetera. And I came across the problem of folder icons, and how one might identify their icons as quick as possible, out of a list. It appeared that there wasn’t any way to change their colour, for example. There’s only the annoying “label” option, which allows you to change the colour behind the name of the folder. This was not enough for me. I craved more. I craved specialized folders that I could find in a group of folders within the instant. I soon came to realize the truth “search and you shall find”. I don’t know why I’m making it so easy for you people. I spoil you guys, I really do. But here’s how you do it.

First of all, you know those folders that already come with the computer? Like “Pictures” and “Movies”? Those have a logo imprinted in otherwise regular folders! After a bit of googling (yes, googling. Google is your friend.) I found a completely idiotproof application called Iconic. This app allows you to take simple logos and put them on any folder! And it’s so simple you won’t believe it.

First, download Iconic.

Then open it. It looks like this.



Now what you do is select a picture to use. But here’s the tricky part: it’s gotta be a comletely black surface, with a completely white background. Nothing in between. I selected this lovely picture of a horse.



Next, you simply drag+drop your selected picture inside the red dotted frame. You know, the one that has the words “Drag and drop your image here” written inside it? Yeah, that one. Now Iconic should generate the likeness of a folder that has your silhouette on it! The rest is easy: just take the folder that you want to change (or create a new one if you’re only doing this because you’re bored) and drag+drop it into the blue dotted frame. The folder should now have your picture printed on it!



How cool is that? Looks so professional. Oooh, I wanna do it again...
But I think it’s only fair to warn you that not all pictures look good on a folder, even though they are totally black and white. It’s also a question of length-to-width ratio, and that’s something I’m just gonna let you guys figure out yourselves.

Next on the menu is how to make folder icons that look like this.



Awesome, isn’t it? Yes it is. Which is why I’m going to use awesome-smiley to show you how this is done.
First, find a .png file of whatever it is you want to use as your folder icon. For the n00bs, I’m talking about a picture that doesn’t have a background. (No, not white background. NO background.) Or, if you’re fluid in Photoshop, make your own .png file! Got it? Good. Now open it with preview.



Use the selection tool to select the picture. Try to get as close as possible to your picture without touching the borders: the more blank space there is in the selection the smaller your picture will look as an icon.

Now simply hit cmd+c. With me so far? Good. I want to let you know that it took me redicculously long to figure out this last part, because it’s so simple that it didn’t even cross my mind ONCE. What you do is that you right-click on your folder, and click Get Info. You should now see a window that looks like this:



See the little folder icon? The one I circled with red? Click that. When you do, there should be a blue line around it, like this:



Now hit cmd+v.



Yes. They actually made it this simple. They also apparently decided to keep it a secret, because nobody I know had any idea about this until I told them. I had to google redicculously much until I found this. And by the way, you can also do this with anything that has an icon. Apps, documents, anything. It’s kinda neat, actually. And fyi, if you want it to go away, just go to Get Info, click the icon and hit backspace. (God, Macs are idiotproof.)

There. That’s one redicculously long blog over and done with. If you liked this, please comment. If there’s anything you didn’t understand, comment! If you like any of the icons that you saw here and would like me to send them to you, scroll down to the bottom of this page and hit “Contact us”.

You stay classy, planet earth.

-42% V