Change file type icons, not application icons

[DarkHeraldMage]

Okay everyone, it's time to (hopefully) get a question answered that I've yet to see definitively answered on this site, or anywhere else for that matter. So let me break it down...

I switched from Windows to Mac back in November (hold the congratulatory applause until the end please), but one of the few functions I've never been able to replicate on the Mac side is the ability to change file type icons with ease. That is to say, without the need to pay for a separate application which still doesn't entirely address the problem (i.e. CandyBar).

I use Pages/Numbers/KeyNote on my MacBook Pro, but still have lots of legacy Word/Excel/PowerPoint files on my laptop from the good ol' days. I'd like to change the icons to show their original Microsoft icon so I can easily distinguish, but also just because they look a little nicer than the boring Pages icon of a piece of paper with an inkwell on it. However, I have yet to find a way to do this systemwide.

One idea put forth in other threads has been to have CandyBar change the icon type by dragging the application that opens it into the program. That won't work for what I'm referring to since I still want Pages files to reflect as such and Word files to reflect differently. I know I can do a Get Info on an individual file and change that one icon but obviously that's no good.

So please please please can someone(s) chime in and help me out? Help us all out? You will receive 50 cool points in returns. Thank you.

 

[Beric]

You mean you want your Pages, Numbers, and Keynote app symbols to appear as though they were Office documents, even though they aren't? If so, that's one of the weirdest things I heard of.

I assume you can hack into the icon images, though I don't know how, but is this really what you want?

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

You mean you want your Pages, Numbers, and Keynote app symbols to appear as though they were Office documents, even though they aren't? If so, that's one of the weirdest things I heard of.

I assume you can hack into the icon images, though I don't know how, but is this really what you want?

No, not at all. Perhaps I wasn't clear. I still have many .doc/.xcl/.ppt files and I want them to appear differently than the rest. I know that the iWork programs will open the office counterparts, but I still want them to show differently so I know at a glance what they are without having to have extensions always visible. This is why I don't want to change the icons across the board for an entire application and the files it opens. I want to change by file type a.k.a extension. Am I making sense?

 

[prspectiv2]

I'd love to find an answer for this question, too!

Change icon for file type (.xmp in my case) without changing default application's icon (TextEdit in my case).

Any ideas?

 

[ebarstad]

I'm a little late to the party, but here's the solution on the Apple Support forums, in case you're still looking:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5491917

Go to the bottom of the page, and the answer is there. One thing to note is that, if you're running Leopard, the terminal command he gives has changed to:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -f /Applications/iWork\ \'08/Pages.app

 

[prspectiv2]

I'm a little late to the party, but here's the solution on the Apple Support forums, in case you're still looking:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5491917

Go to the bottom of the page, and the answer is there. One thing to note is that, if you're running Leopard, the terminal command he gives has changed to:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -f /Applications/iWork\ \'08/Pages.app

Thanks, ebarstad. Nice find.