10.5: Change the 3D dock's colors with Automator

Nov 16, '07 07:30:07AM

Contributed by: mark hunte

I posted this on the forums, but wanted to share it with those of you who may not read there.

Many people seem to want to change the colour of the dock in Leopard, and doing it manually is a pain. So I created an Automator workflow [original host] that can be saved as an app that will do all the work for you.

Before using the workflow:

I would suggest you back up the PNG files (see below), but do not keep the copies in the Resources Folder, or the script will pick them up also. Alternatively, make a complete zipped up copy of Dock.app, just in case. I have had no ill effects so far, but it has to be said that using this workflow is at you own risk.

Because the scurve-l.png, scurve-xl.png, scurve-sm.png, and scurve-m.png files that need changing are inside the Dock's bundle (at /System » Library » CoreServices » Dock.app » Contents » Resources), we do not have permissions to change them while they are there. So instead, the workflow will copy the files out to the Desktop (or a location of your own choosing), and change them there. (Do not change the variable corePath in the workflow!)

A Quartz Composition Filter window will pop up. Leave the sliders alone, and leave the filter on Monochrome, although I have used gamma to lighten the dock. Click the color bar to get to the color palette, and select the new colour you want for your dock. Close the color palette. Click Continue.

The workflow will then change the colour of the copies. It will now need to copy the files into the restricted Resources folder, so you will be prompted to enter your admin username and password. Once you do this, your Dock will quit, then relaunch with the new colour.

I have zipped the workflow and you can download it. Because it is a workflow, you can open and view it in Automator before you save it as an app, and then use it via a double-click.

[robg adds: I tested this, and it works. Note that there are two download links; the first grabs the file from macosxhints.com; the second points back to the original host. To save their bandwidth, though, please use the macosxhints mirror. If for some reason you have troubles with the script, then you could check the original host to see if any changes have been made. But as noted, this version worked fine for me.]

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