Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Improve the appearance of the dock shelf

AlexisV

AlexisV

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 12, 2007
1,714
261
Manchester, UK
I thought this was worth posting here. There are 4 image files in system>library>core services>dock>contents>resources called 'scurve'.

By altering these images you can improve the appearance of the dock, in my opinion at least!

By darkening the existing images, you can really bring out the reflections and see the active application light more easily:

dock.png


You can also go mad and brighten things up, as seen in this thread: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=516253&posted=1#post516253
 
S

seanneko

macrumors member
Sep 2, 2007
86
0
That looks so much better than the default one. Would you be able to post the modified files somewhere please? I don't have Photoshop or anything.
 
iTim314

iTim314

macrumors 6502
Jun 5, 2005
337
6
U.S.
Opening a new door in OS X?

Very nice!

There's just one thing I don't get though... In an earlier topic on this forum, one users discovered where all the UI elements were stored and how simple it would be to edit them.

This new discovery only strengthens my suspicions...

Is Apple opening up their UI to, dare I say, 'Themes'?
 
P

p0intblank

macrumors 68030
Sep 20, 2005
2,548
2
New Jersey
Nice discovery! However mine appears to be working only half way... The curves are black for me, but the base of the dock is still a bright white.
 
zepharus

zepharus

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
684
2
p0intblank said:
Nice discovery! However mine appears to be working only half way... The curves are black for me, but the base of the dock is still a bright white.
Click to expand...

Ditto. My dock is the same half slightly darker the top wave half is the same help bro
 
Coolnat2004

Coolnat2004

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2005
479
4
zepharus said:
Ditto. My dock is the same half slightly darker the top wave half is the same help bro
Click to expand...

This is because whatever file is currently being used by the dock won't be overwritten with Finder. It will work if you copy it using the sudo command in Terminal:

Code: 
sudo cp /Users/nathan/Downloads/scurve-m.png /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/scurve-m.png
 
Wayfarer

Wayfarer

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,225
601
That's amazing! A darker glass dock provides some nice contrast against almost any background and app icon. A major breakthrough, I must say!

Candybar 3 is expected to allow users to customize the Leopard dock. There's A LOT of potential for customization, with multitude of Leopard-specific UI elements. Can't wait to see what the future brings. :cool:
 
Quillz

Quillz

macrumors 65816
Jan 6, 2006
1,421
0
Los Angeles, CA
ChexBoss32890 said:
Very nice!

There's just one thing I don't get though... In an earlier topic on this forum, one users discovered where all the UI elements were stored and how simple it would be to edit them.

This new discovery only strengthens my suspicions...

Is Apple opening up their UI to, dare I say, 'Themes'?
Click to expand...
I don't think so, I think it's just Apple simplifying things a bit for developers and what not. Keep in mind that most average users would never bother with something with this, let alone probably even know where to find it.
 
zepharus

zepharus

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
684
2
Coolnat2004 said:
This is because whatever file is currently being used by the dock won't be overwritten with Finder. It will work if you copy it using the sudo command in Terminal:

Code: 
sudo cp /Users/nathan/Downloads/scurve-m.png /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/scurve-m.png
Click to expand...

I used this command for each line and it did nothing for me.. I obviously inputted my info..
 
I

ivnj

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2006
1,466
97
Very cool. Yes I posted earlier "remove leopard dock effect". But I had no ideas which files were which. Thanks.

ivnj
 
pcguru83

pcguru83

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2006
583
0
Charlotte, NC
Since there appears to be two concurrent threads about basically the same topic, I'll post this in this thread as well.

I feel it's necessary to point everyone to the place where I got the graphics files to mod my Dock. Early this morning, a user over on the Ars Technica forums was the first person that I had seen mention this mod. Here's his original post:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/111001128831?r=963004628831#963004628831

He then followed up with a post including a link to download the graphic files:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/111001128831?r=345004628831#345004628831

And finally, here's a direct link to his graphic files:

http://www.dlpart.com/dock/DarkDock.zip

Credit must go out to ciel over at the Ars forum, as these graphic files appear to be his doing. He's calling the package "Dark Dock". Awesome stuff ciel!

EDIT: I also wanted to point out that ciel's zip package also includes a Readme file with very clear instructions on how to complete this mod.
 
E

elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
hmm... thanks for the info on frontline.png, but for some reason it's not updating like the scurve files...

edit: actually this is very odd... now none of my attempts at replacing the files are working.. I replace the appropriate files and it never changes after I kill the dock.. it worked perfectly on my first change, I wonder why it's stuck? I've logged out and rebooted, but to no avail
 
Quillz

Quillz

macrumors 65816
Jan 6, 2006
1,421
0
Los Angeles, CA
elbirth said:
hmm... thanks for the info on frontline.png, but for some reason it's not updating like the scurve files...

edit: actually this is very odd... now none of my attempts at replacing the files are working.. I replace the appropriate files and it never changes after I kill the dock.. it worked perfectly on my first change, I wonder why it's stuck? I've logged out and rebooted, but to no avail
Click to expand...
Are you doing all your editing through the Terminal? Because you should. I can replace every file, including frontline.png, just fine via the Terminal.

Here's what my Dock looks like right now for those who are interested...
 

Attachments

  • Picture 1.png
    Picture 1.png
    117.3 KB · Views: 1,221
E

elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
I'm just doing it through the Finder, but I got it figured out... just deleted the files and then moved the new ones over instead of trying to replace and it works now.
 
U

un1ty

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2007
83
0
Here is my modded dock. I made it slightly darker, removed the curved highlight, and made it less deep.

picture95jh5.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom