folderify

Generate pixel-perfect macOS folder icons in the native style.

• Works for macOS 10.5 (Leopard) through 11.0 (Big Sur).
• Automatically includes all icon sizes from 16x16 through [email protected].
• Light or dark mode (automatically selected by default).

Using folderify? Let me know or let me know and I'd love to feature some real-world uses!

Install using Homebrew

brew install folderify

Usage

Use a mask to assign an icon to a folder:

folderify mask.png /path/to/folder

Generate mask.icns and mask.iconset files:

folderify mask.png

Generate icon files for a specific version of macOS (the default is your current version):

folderify --macOS 11.0 mask.png

By default, folderify uses your systems's current light/dark mode. Use --color-scheme to override this:

folderify --macOS 11.0 --color-scheme dark mask.png

Note:

• Dark color scheme is only supported for macOS 11.0 right now.
• There is currently no simple way to set an icon that will automatically switch between light and dark when you switch the entire OS. You can only assign one icon to a folder.

Tips

For best results:

• Use a .png mask.
• Use a solid black design over a transparent background.
• Make sure the corner pixels of the mask image are transparent. They are used for empty margins.
• Pass the --no-trim flag and use a mask:
  • with a height of 384px,
  • with a width that is a multiple of 128px (up to 768px),
  • using a 16px grid.
  • Each 64x64 tile will exactly align with 1 pixel at the smallest icon size.

Other installation options

If you don't have Homebrew but you already have ImageMagick (the convert binary) on your system, you can use the following:

Install using pip

pip install folderify

Download the source code directly

Or download the code directly:

curl -L https://github.com/lgarron/folderify/archive/main.zip -o folderify-main.zip
unzip folderify-main.zip && cd folderify-main
python -m folderify examples/src/folder_outline.png . --reveal

The repository folder should now have a custom icon.

for file in examples/src/*.png; do python -m folderify $file; done
open examples/src/

You should see a bunch of new .iconset folders and .icns files that were automatically generated from the .png masks.

Dependencies

• ImageMagick - for image processing (you should be able to run convert on the commandline).
• Included with macOS:
  • Python (version 2 or 3).
  • iconutil
• Bundled with folderify:
  • osxiconutils, a GPL-licensed project by Sveinbjorn Thordarson (based on IconFamily).

Full options

usage: folderify [-h] [--reveal] [--macOS VERSION] [--osx VERSION]
                 [--color-scheme COLOR_SCHEME] [--no-trim] [--verbose]
                 [mask] [target]
Generate a native-style macOS folder icon from a mask file.

positional arguments:
  mask                  Mask image file. For best results:
                        - Use a .png mask.
                        - Use a solid black design over a transparent background.
                        - Make sure the corner pixels of the mask image are transparent. They are used for empty margins.
                        - Make sure the non-transparent pixels span a height of 384px, using a 16px grid.
                          If the height is 384px and the width is a multiple of 128px, each 64x64 tile will exactly align with 1 pixel at the smallest folder size.
  target                Target file or folder. If a target is specified, the resulting icon will be applied to the target file/folder.
                        Else, a .iconset folder and .icns file will be created in the same folder as the mask (you can use "Get Info" in Finder to copy the icon from the .icns file).

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --reveal, -r          Reveal the target (or resulting .icns file) in Finder.
  --macOS VERSION       Version of the macOS folder icon, e.g. "10.13". Defaults to the version currently running (10.15).
  --osx VERSION, -x VERSION
                        Synonym for the --macOS argument.
  --color-scheme COLOR_SCHEME
                        Color scheme: auto (match current system), light, dark.
  --no-trim             Don't trim margins from the mask. By default, transparent margins are trimmed from all 4 sides.
  --verbose, -v         Detailed output.

Example generated from the Apple logo: