Tweaking the Xcode 4 background canvas (in the IB editor).
So I was listening to the Xcode 4 sessions from WWDC 2010 yesterday, and one guy mentioned that the background (when you're doing UI work in the now-intergrated IB editor) originally had a marble option. The options in the shipped Xcode are four: Graph Paper; Checkers; White; Gray. Check this by selecting a .xib file, then in the menu select Editor > Canvas.
I thought, why not create my own background? That way I can revel in my own smugness while simultaneously editing .xib files. I searched on "Checkers" with Find All Files (since Spotlight ignores all the interesting folders), and found:
/Developer 2011_03_09 Xcode 4.0.0 SDK 4.3/Library/Xcode/PrivatePlugIns/IDEInterfaceBuilderKit.ideplugin/Contents/Resources/IBCanvasBackground-Checkers.png.
Replace Developer 2011_03_09 Xcode 4.0.0 SDK 4.3 with wherever you installed your Xcode 4. You'll need to use Show Contents on IDEInterfaceBuilderKit.ideplugin as you drill down. Now you'll see six files of interest:
IBCanvasBackground-Checkers-Preview.png
IBCanvasBackground-Checkers.png
IBCanvasBackground-GraphPaper-Preview.png
IBCanvasBackground-GraphPaper.png
IBCanvasBackground-White.png
IBCanvasBackground-Gray.png
The Preview files determine what's shown on the menu (I'm guessing), the other (non-Preview) determine what's shown on the canvas itself. There are no preview files for White and Gray, probably because they can generate white and gray without using files.
You can open, say, IBCanvasBackground-White.png in a graphics program (I used the great Pixelmator). It's a 64x64 png file, just do what you will to it. Oops, you should save a copy IBCanvasBackground-White.png in case you want to go back to it, or this modification doesn't work for you. Then save your changes (as IBCanvasBackground-White.png, in the path above). Go to Xcode, edit a .xib file, set the canvas to White (the menu will still show white as we didn't modify the non-existent white preview file), and your user interface is now backgrounded by a tile of your design that you saved in IBCanvasBackground-White.png.
So I was listening to the Xcode 4 sessions from WWDC 2010 yesterday, and one guy mentioned that the background (when you're doing UI work in the now-intergrated IB editor) originally had a marble option. The options in the shipped Xcode are four: Graph Paper; Checkers; White; Gray. Check this by selecting a .xib file, then in the menu select Editor > Canvas.
I thought, why not create my own background? That way I can revel in my own smugness while simultaneously editing .xib files. I searched on "Checkers" with Find All Files (since Spotlight ignores all the interesting folders), and found:
/Developer 2011_03_09 Xcode 4.0.0 SDK 4.3/Library/Xcode/PrivatePlugIns/IDEInterfaceBuilderKit.ideplugin/Contents/Resources/IBCanvasBackground-Checkers.png.
Replace Developer 2011_03_09 Xcode 4.0.0 SDK 4.3 with wherever you installed your Xcode 4. You'll need to use Show Contents on IDEInterfaceBuilderKit.ideplugin as you drill down. Now you'll see six files of interest:
IBCanvasBackground-Checkers-Preview.png
IBCanvasBackground-Checkers.png
IBCanvasBackground-GraphPaper-Preview.png
IBCanvasBackground-GraphPaper.png
IBCanvasBackground-White.png
IBCanvasBackground-Gray.png
The Preview files determine what's shown on the menu (I'm guessing), the other (non-Preview) determine what's shown on the canvas itself. There are no preview files for White and Gray, probably because they can generate white and gray without using files.
You can open, say, IBCanvasBackground-White.png in a graphics program (I used the great Pixelmator). It's a 64x64 png file, just do what you will to it. Oops, you should save a copy IBCanvasBackground-White.png in case you want to go back to it, or this modification doesn't work for you. Then save your changes (as IBCanvasBackground-White.png, in the path above). Go to Xcode, edit a .xib file, set the canvas to White (the menu will still show white as we didn't modify the non-existent white preview file), and your user interface is now backgrounded by a tile of your design that you saved in IBCanvasBackground-White.png.