Unmodified copies of Folder Icon Maker may be distributed at no charge, provided that it is accompanied at least by this documentation and the files Green Gradient Folder Resources, Gray Floppy Folder Resources, and Violet Floppy Folder Resources.
Folder Icon Maker creates folders with custom icons. If you haven’t already plastered your folders with icons from another program, or even if you have, Folder Icon Maker creates attractive folders from almost any file.
To use Folder Icon Maker, just drag an application or document onto the FIM icon. A new folder will be created in same directory as the file is in.
Requirements:
() System 7 or later
() Color or greyscale monitor for best results
Features:
• Anti-aliases when creating small icons. This improves the visible detail.
• Can create transparent icons. Custom folder icons created from black-and-white icons look better if they are transparent, so the folder shows through.
• Offers full menus in addition to Finder dragging interface.
• Includes balloon help.
• New in version 1.1: Support for custom folder resource files.
Drop-launch options:
• To place the folder icon on the clipboard, hold down ‘C’ while dragging.
• To place the folder icon on the parent folder of the file, hold down ‘F’ while dragging.
• To treat the white portion of the file’s icon as transparent, hold down ‘T’ while dragging.
• To disable anti-aliasing, hold down ‘A’ while dragging.
Caveats:
» Due to limitations of the Finder, custom folder icons will be placed on the parent folder only if it has never before had a custom icon. To replace a custom folder icon, create the new icon on the clipboard and paste it over the icon in the folder’s Get Info window.
» Custom icons will not be placed on folders considered special by the System, such as the System folder and the Trash.
» FIM does not create icons for files displaying generic icons. FIM does not create icons for folders, disks, and other items which are not applications or documents. However, the tips below explain how to create folder icons for these items.
» FIM cannot be used via dragging while FIM is on a floppy. FIM may not work on icons belonging to applications residing on a floppy. Copy the application to a hard drive to use FIM.
» FIM anti-aliasing is ineffective on black-and-white Macintosh models.
Tips:
◊ To remove the icon from a folder, select the folder in the Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu. Next, select the icon in the Info window and choose Clear from the Edit menu.
◊ If you really want to create a folder icon with a small generic file icon in it, you can do it quite easily. Select the file in the Finder and choose Get Info from the File menu. Next, select the icon in the Info window and choose Copy and then Paste from the Edit menu. Finally, close the Info window and drag the file onto FIM.
◊ Similarly, you can create folders icons showing disks and small folders. Open the Get Info window for the disk or the folder, select and copy the icon in the window, and close the window. Next, open the Get Info window for any file, select its icon, choose Paste from the Edit menu, and close the window. The file should now look like the original folder or disk. Drag the file to FIM, and FIM will create the custom folder. To remove the disk or folder icon from the file, open its Get Info window, select the icon in the window, and choose Clear from the Edit menu.
Custom folder icon resource files:
° FIM 1.1 can use a custom folder icon resource file as the background source instead of the generic folder icon. For example, the Gray Floppy Folder Resources file makes floppy icons rather than folder icons (though it still places the floppy icon on a folder in the Finder.)
° There are six resource types for icons: ICN# are large black-and-white icons, ics# are small black and white icons, icl4 and ics4 are large and small 4-bit (16 color) icons, and icl8 and ics8 are large and small 8-bit (256 color) icons. Duplicate one of the supplied folder icon resource files, and use ResEdit or Resorcerer to edit the icons in the copy.
° Folder icon resource files must have a SHFT resource. The SHFT resource allows you to shift the position of the tiny icon when it is place on the folder icon. Use ResEdit or Resorcerer to change the SHFT. Setting all fields of the SHFT to zero means that the tiny icon should be placed in the standard position (where it would be placed on a normal folder.)
° When editing the SHFT, you must specify how many pixels right and down the small icon is to be shifted when placed on the folder. Negative numbers will shift the icon left or up.
° Due to the primitive implementation of this feature, black-and-white icons cannot be shifted left or right, and 4-bit icons can only be shifted left or right an even number of pixels.
° The icon resources in the custom icon file (ICN#, ics#, icl8, ics8, icl4, ics4, icl1, ics1) must have the ID number -3999 to be used.
Release history:
- December 1991 version 1.0: Initial release.
- May 1992 version 1.1: Fixed bug on 68000 machines, hopefully; added support for custom icon file.
Comments, criticisms, suggestions are welcome. Please send any feedback to me at 109 Crocker Avenue, Oakland, California 94610 USA, or to grobbins@nails.gsfc.nasa.gov. Picture postcards of your hometown are especially appreciated.
Thanks to Leonard Rosenthol for providing the shell program upon which FIM is based, to Forrest Tanaka for pointing out how bad real PixMaps can be, to Stepan Riha for providing competition, to the testers who offered useful complaints and debugging assistance (Jon, Matt, Brandyn, Blake, John, Brigham, Leon, Kieran, Larry, Donald) and to the numerous users who have given positive and negative feedback (including requests for custom folder icon support.) Gray Floppy Folder Resources created by Jon Pugh.
