Embedding an icon into a file so it can be emailed?

[tobefirst ⚽️]

I have a file on my desktop that, when double clicked, takes me to a website. I created this by dragging the website's favicon to my desktop. The resulting file looks like this:


Is it possible to attach a fancy icon to this web link file so that, when I email the file to other people on various platforms, the link looks like the fancy icon instead of the generic image above? I'm able to change the icon on my desktop without a problem. The issue is that the new icon doesn't "stick" when I try to email it.

I currently have the icon in .icon format but could also create one in .icns or possibly anything else I need to do. Is this possible?

 

[dissolve]

What are you doing to change the icon now? I imagine it's the copy-paste trick in the Get Info window? If that's not working, you can try this, but only if you're emailing it to Mac users:

Enter the following into AppleScript Editor:

tell application "Safari"
	activate
	do JavaScript "window.open('http://www.google.com')" in document 1
end tell

Where you replace the URL with your desired one. Save the file as an Application. Right click the Application and Show Package Contents. Navigate to Contents>Resources. Replace the applet.icns icon with your own and that should do it.

That script is not the most elegant, but that was all I could find with a brief search. Perhaps others here or a better Google search will come up with a better solution.

 

[spinnerlys]

Mac OS X: How to Use Custom Icons via "mac os x change icon custom"

via "too much time on my hands"

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

spinnerlys, yes, I know how to do that. The problem is, when you email that link to yourself or others, it doesn't carry the icon with it. You'll get the @HTTP icon in the upper left of your walkthrough. I'd like for the custom icon to be somehow embedded in the file. Kudos on the work you put in, though.

dissolve, I was thinking that it might be possible by making it an application, and, as you've demonstrated, would work on the Mac side. But I need it to be crossplatform, or at least work on the Windows side, as most (but not all) users will be on Windows.

If anyone else has any ideas, great. If not, I'll just move it to the "impossible" column. Thanks!

 

[dissolve]

spinnerlys, yes, I know how to do that. The problem is, when you email that link to yourself or others, it doesn't carry the icon with it. You'll get the @HTTP icon in the upper left of your walkthrough. I'd like for the custom icon to be somehow embedded in the file. Kudos on the work you put in, though.

dissolve, I was thinking that it might be possible by making it an application, and, as you've demonstrated, would work on the Mac side. But I need it to be crossplatform, or at least work on the Windows side, as most (but not all) users will be on Windows.

If anyone else has any ideas, great. If not, I'll just move it to the "impossible" column. Thanks!

Sorry, wish I could help more, but I'm out of ideas. I imagine you'll need to have two versions of this to deploy: one for Mac users and one for Windows. That may not be feasible for your situation though. I'd suggest researching how to do this on Windows sites as then you'd be able to support most of your users. Hope you find a good solution.