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Apply volume icons the Unix way
Authored by: lar3ry on Sep 22, '06 05:58:04AM

For what it's worth, that was the step I used originally. I found a volume that already had a customized icon and looked for the .icns file and got the file name. This turned out to be problematical, and I don't know exactly why, but sometimes, OS X "forgets" the icon (like when I transfer the volume between one of my iBooks and my Mac Mini) and the icon gets reset to the default volume icon.

The main reason that I customize a volume icon is to make the volume and its use visually stand out. To do this, I use a photographic image of the actual volume. For the system drives, that would be an image of my Mac Mini or my iBook (find images at the Apple Store web site!). For my removable drives, I use the image of the drive itself, whether it be my LaCie external drive, various SecureDigital cards, even the various iPods that my family uses. A Google Image Search usually finds a suitable picture at one of the many web sites offering the drive for sale, but LaCie actually puts the icons on the CD-ROM they include with the drive (great idea, LaCie!).

One problem: the images on the web sites are usually JPEG and are not optimized for the size of icons that OS X is using. I used to create the .icns file by hand, but I've since found a great utility called "img2icns" that will easily convert such an image to a .icns file or to a directory (folder) with the image as its icon. Using that utility, I create the directory folder, and then first copy that folder to the volume (as a backup), and then use Get Info to copy/paste the folder icon to the volume icon.

I've had to use the backup icon a couple of times, usually when reading it on a new Mac system for the first time. It's quick and it's easy, and I feel safe having the backup folder icon on the media itself.



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