MacOS icon

[zkvvoob]

Hi there,

Would it be possible to have the macOS version of Calibre use a Big Sur-looking icon? The default one is very nice, but completely out of style on the dock. Compare the two screenshots.

This website has a very nice collection, including for Calibre, as well as a template that you can use.

Thank you!

[zkvvoob]

Hi again,

Any thoughts on this subject? I can see that no one's replied to my post for the past 9 months.

[dunhill]

You can customize the icons to your liking.
Do an internet search for how to customize icons on MacOS

[zkvvoob]

Actually you can't. You could try to change it, but the moment Calibre opens, it restores its default icon.

Try something before being so rude to others.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by dunhill

You can customize the icons to your liking.
Do an internet search for how to customize icons on MacOS

Originally Posted by zkvvoob

Actually you can't. You could try to change it, but the moment Calibre opens, it restores its default icon.

Try something before being so rude to others.

Actually, you can. See Overriding icons, templates, et cetera in calibre's manual.

And IMO it is your reply that is rude, not dunhill's.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

Actually, you can. See Overriding icons, templates, et cetera in calibre's manual.

On Windows I'm pretty sure the icon that appears on shortcuts, on the taskbar, start menu etc is the one that's embedded in the .exe.



No idea if that's true for MacOS or if there's a Resource Hacker for MacOS.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

On Windows I'm pretty sure the icon that appears on shortcuts, on the taskbar, start menu etc is the one that's embedded in the .exe.

It isn't on my install of windows 10 with calibre 5.33.2.

Try the new feature to change the library icon in the toolbar (right-click on the library button). Changing that icon changes the task bar.

An icon named "lt.png" is used by default for the library, title bar, etc. You can change this icon in the config resources directory. The screen capture shows what happens (for me). NB: if you change the icon you must restart calibre.

EDIT: I don't know what happens with shortcuts, but for them you are probably correct. If you pin calibre to the task bar then it reverts to the standard icon if calibre isn't running.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

It isn't on my install of windows 10 with calibre 5.33.2.

Try the new feature to change the library icon in the toolbar (right-click on the library button). Changing that icon changes the task bar.

An icon named "lt.png" is used by default for the library, title bar, etc. You can change this icon in the config resources directory. The screen capture shows what happens (for me). NB: if you change the icon you must restart calibre.

EDIT: I don't know what happens with shortcuts, but for them you are probably correct. If you pin calibre to the task bar then it reverts to the standard icon if calibre isn't running.

Ah-ha - then we're both right

I have shortcuts pinned to the taskbar for programs that I start manually, which includes calibre. And, because I don't use the toolbars I haven't explored assigning library specific icons.

I've used the Resource Hacker to change a couple of embedded resource icons - notably a version 4.23 of portable ebook-viewer from a brown book to a blue book.

Added: and on Windows you can change shortcut icons.

None of which helps with MacOS of course.

BR

[skb]

Originally Posted by zkvvoob

Hi there,

Would it be possible to have the macOS version of Calibre use a Big Sur-looking icon? The default one is very nice, but completely out of style on the dock. Compare the two screenshots.

This website has a very nice collection, including for Calibre, as well as a template that you can use.

Thank you!

I tried it on my Mac (not big sur) and although the instructions for changing the icon work in the dock when the app isn't running, it reverts to the original icon when the app runs. I tried to replace the only version of calibre.png that I could find, but no luck.
I seem to recall that I had the same issue on the Mac when I tried to create a shortcut to another app. So, it looks like "it just works" probably doesn't.

[kovidgoyal]

You need to replace lt.png as descibed in the user manual as well https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/customize.html

[BetterRed]

On Windows the only way I can get File Explorer to display anything in the taskbar other than the .ico file embedded in the calibre.exe, is to replace the .ico in the .exe. Or if I have a shortcut pinned to the taskbar then replace .ico in the .lnk file in %appdata%\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar.

If I override the lt.png in resources/images/, or set a library specific icon that will change what's in the title bar (and calibre's toolbar of course), but it won't change what's shown in the task bar… even if I refresh it with ie4uinit -show.

But once again - None of that helps with MacOS.

Added: on reflection, maybe MacOS reflects title bar icon changes in the dock display.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If I override the lt.png in resources/images/, or set a library specific icon that will change what's in the title bar (and calibre's toolbar of course), but it won't change what's shown in the task bar… even if I refresh it with ie4uinit -show.

This isn't what I see. The task bar changes when I have an overridden icon and calibre is running.

Steps:

1. Start calibre. The icon isn't overridden and it isn't pinned.
   
   
2. Override the icon. The task bar changes.
   
   
3. Pin it. The task bar still shows the new icon.
   
   
4. Quit calibre. The task bar reverts as you say.
   
   
5. Restart calibre from the task bar. The task bar icon becomes the new one.
   

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

This isn't what I see. The task bar changes when I have an overridden icon and calibre is running.

No matter what I do I can't my lt.png override or a library png to appear in the taskbar. I did the following:

terminated the 7TT taskbar tweaker;
removed the pinned shortcut from the taskbar,
moved the taskbar to the bottom of the screen,
made the taskbar icons bigger
and started calibre directly from program files\calibre2

And what I got was



I read lt(ell-tee).png as it(aye-tee).png.

Can't think of anything else to try.

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H1
Installed on ‎2020-‎08-‎26
OS build 19043.1348
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H1
Installed on ‎2020-‎08-‎26
OS build 19043.1348
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

Almost certainly some configuration difference (obviously.) I don't have anything like a task bar tweaker or Win7 compatibility tools. At this point I think we should accept that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

For the record, I am also running:
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H1
Installed on ‎05/‎08/‎2020
OS build 19043.1348
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

[zkvvoob]

When I add my own lt.png file in

Library/Preferences/calibre/resources/images

, it does appear as a dock icon when Calibre is not working. However, the moment Calibre is up and running, it reverts to its default icon.

Moreover, I tried manually replacing the calibre.icns icon inside the calibre package in Applications, and it refused to start - which leads me to believe there is some checksum verification or something. At any rate, this is rather bizzarre, if you ask me, because I've done this for other applications like Skype and they work fine.

Bottom line, how difficult would it be to make the default application icon in line with the macOS style?