Here is my modded dock. I made it slightly darker, removed the curved highlight, and made it less deep.
that's very slick, mind posting the pngs?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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
- Thread starter AlexisV
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
that's very slick, mind posting the pngs?
Let me clarify what I have to do before I accidentally delete or mess something up.
According to the DarkDock file someone posted on the previous page, all I have to do is drag the dock style folder I want and drop it right into the resource folder with all the previous dock settings? Do I have to delete the previous dock settings (I already backed them up). Do I leave them there?
Then I have to drag the indicator folder into the window the same way, as well as the frontline file?
I thought I had to open Terminal to do this (which I have never used)?
Then it does say to open Terminal to 'killall Dock' - do I just open Terminal and put that in? And this automatically stops the process of the original dock and doesn't affect the new dock files I added to the resource folder?
In order to revert to the old dock, what would I have to do?
Again, I'm completely new to Macs and as much a hacker as I am Superman. Sorry if this post is n00bish.
According to the DarkDock file someone posted on the previous page, all I have to do is drag the dock style folder I want and drop it right into the resource folder with all the previous dock settings? Do I have to delete the previous dock settings (I already backed them up). Do I leave them there?
Then I have to drag the indicator folder into the window the same way, as well as the frontline file?
I thought I had to open Terminal to do this (which I have never used)?
Then it does say to open Terminal to 'killall Dock' - do I just open Terminal and put that in? And this automatically stops the process of the original dock and doesn't affect the new dock files I added to the resource folder?
In order to revert to the old dock, what would I have to do?
Again, I'm completely new to Macs and as much a hacker as I am Superman. Sorry if this post is n00bish.
From my experience, to get the new files working you first have to remove the old ones from the resources folder (backups are a good idea), then add the new ones to the folder. It didn't seem to work for me when I merely dragged the new ones in and told it to replace the old ones. This method is for all the files, scurve, frontline, and indicator files all work the same way.
After that you're exactly right, just type that into Terminal and your dock will disappear for a few seconds, with no effects on any other programs or anything, and should come back looking different.
To get it back to the old dock just follow these steps again, except put the backup original image files into the folder and delete/backup the newer files you replaced them with to start with.
Thank you! I really appreciate your help.
But wait, you're saying doing what you just explained to me didn't work for you?
EDIT: Okay, I just made an entire copy of the whole Resource Folder and put the duplicate in folder under my User name, just incase.
I'll attempt this tomorrow when I have some more free time. Hopefully it works.
No problem, I'm just happy to have an excuse to not do my work. Removing the files first, then replacing them was what worked for me. Dragging the new files in and selecting replace from the pop up window was what didn't work for me.
Just drag all the files you are replacing from the resources folder to the trash (or backup, if you haven't) then move the new ones in, that's what worked for me.
The file path is System>library>core services>dock>contents>resources, but I'm guessing you're getting stuck at "dock". You have to right click dock and select "show package contents", and then you can follow the rest of the path and find all the files. The files are 4 or so "scurve" images for the background of the dock, 4 or so "indicator" files for the dots under active programs, and the "frontline" file for the line at the very bottom of the dock.
Need a little help...I ended up with 2 of the open program orbs. I deleted the files and copied the new ones over, killed dock, and when it came up it looked like this:
edit - nevermind, thats just the reflection of it. I HATE THAT. I changed my indicatores to the simple ones and its better I think, even though I still prefer the 2d dock.
edit - nevermind, thats just the reflection of it. I HATE THAT. I changed my indicatores to the simple ones and its better I think, even though I still prefer the 2d dock.
Attachments
Awesome! This is what I've been wanting to see, people being creative! This is really the first visible part of the OS that a user has EVER been able to skin without using 3rd part hack utilities, so let's see some excitement!
The brushed metal and rusty metal are a great start, good job, but I want to see more wild and crazy possibilities! It's great that people are coming up with their own dock floors that make the dock more refined and usable, HOWEVER, in addition let's start seeing some dock floors that are just fun and crazy! Don't worry about refinement or even usability for now, let's just revel in the fact that for the first time ever we can actually truly customize a very visible graphic in OS X!
Pattern it with a bright red and yellow checker board!
Steak a huge lightning bolt across it!
Shoot flames all over it like a hot rod!
Graffiti your name on it!
Heck, just put a picture of your dog on it!
(I know, things sort of like this have been possible in the past, but not in such a prominent OS element, and not with such ease. If I had leopard I'd be having so much fun with this right now!)
It should be pretty much a given that you should upload such creative resources like this.Ok here are two more unconventional ones. One is a translucent brushed metal, and the other is a rusty metal. If people like them, I'll upload the pngs.
That's great, enjoy.
But now that we've seen screenshots of all the ways the dock can be made more refined using the alternate stock graphics and minor variations thereof, now let's see some coolness!
Have some fun people! Open the indicator graphic in a graphics program and go nuts!
There are so many awesome things you could change the indicator lights to. Make the indicator light look like:
a star!
a flipped up light switch!
a plugged in power cord!
a thumbs up!
a lightning bolt!
a UFO!
Have some fun out there!
OK here they are. I'm using the brushed metal one which I think looks pretty cool, and is actually very usable.
Brushed Metal Dock
Rusty Metal Dock
Brushed Metal Dock
Rusty Metal Dock
Awesome! Exactly! Don't worry about making it look perfect or even usable right now, lets just have fun and get an idea of what's possible!
Good work!
is the transparency in the graphics file itself, or is OS X doing it? I'd like to make a completely invisible dock... like cleardock.
Does the dock floor image have to be a specific height? Because if it accepts taller images, then you could add on a virtual "back" to the dock so that your icons would look like they're actually contained in a real shelf and not spilling onto the desktop! That way the desktop image won't make the icons hard to see.
Take the dock graphic that looks like this:
And make it look like this:
Take the dock graphic that looks like this:
Code:
______________
/______________\And make it look like this:
Code:
____________
| |
|____________|
/______________\