Changing icons on folder, background is not transparent

[techmonkey]

I am trying to change the background on some Aliases and folders I created on my desktop. I downloaded some icons in .ico and .png format online, and I am able to use the .png format. I open up the .png file, ctrl-c it, then goto the Alias or Folder I want to change the icon on. I do a "Get Info", then I click on the icon at the top and do a ctrl-v. This changes the icon, but it puts a White background behind the icon. See the screenshot below to see what I am talking about.

What am I doing wrong?

Screenshot of resulting icon on desktop

Site where I downloaded the icons
http://www.iconarchive.com/category/system/black-and-blue-icons-by-icondrawer.html

 

[matticus008]

What am I doing wrong?

You need to download the Mac archive and not the PNG files directly, or you need to do some Photoshopping.

Once you open the archive in Finder, just click on the icon you want, copy it, and then do the Get Info thing. The icon (with the correct transparency mask) will show up.

 

[techmonkey]

I downloaded this icon set from apple.com. How do I use these icons on my Alias links? I tried using the Get Info method, but it didnt work.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/icons_screensavers/amoebaeicons.html

 

[neilyoung01]

Same Problem

I am having a similar problem;

I purchased a LaCie hardrive and wanted to change the default icon it came with to one from the Lacie Imagebank on their website, which are there specifically for that purpose.

I went through the same procedure for changing an icon as is outlined on every thread online (open both files side by side>copy>paste) and I get the same problem: White background.

I then went into photoshop, opened a new transparent file, meticulously hand cropped the image and dragged it onto my new transparent file. But when I paste it in it still places a white background
WTF?!

Can anyone explain what's going on?!

 

[i.shaun]

Hmm that is strange.

Did you try Repairing Permissions in Disk Utility, and rebooting?


I just went to the OP's link, and downloaded the iPhoto file. 'ico' is Windows, and 'png' is used for OS X. I opened it in Preview, copied it, then I selected the Png file itself to "Get Info" and pasted. I actually got the icon pasted, and it had a transparent background, even in finder Icon view with a black background.


So I'm unsure why it would be pasting a white background for you, the original photos appear to be transparent.. Could it be the OS? I'm still using 10.4 Tiger

 

[rimoun]

The same problem here
Did anybody find a solution for that?

 

[forcefieldkid]

With regards to this issue, you need to open the .png files in preview and cmd+a before copying, closing preview and then pasting into the get info pane of the desired folder.

 

[rimoun]

Thank you forcefieldkid for that solution.. it works fin for me.
but for the stack icons like the one on the image below. which I should place into folder and it should appear transparent so the other icons appear behind it it still shows that problem. Do you have a solution for that?
Thanks in advance
Rimoun

 

[HarmfulHippo]

I have the same issue, made my own Adobe folder in Photoshop, background was transparent but it didn't work.

 

[HarmfulHippo]

There seem to be differencess between what I made (right) and the original I used as a template (left). They also look different in the Finder.