| Using "Export Icon" to modify the 32 bit System icons.
I find it odd that Apple went through the trouble of including 32 bit icons for STOP, NOTE, and CAUTION that were nothing more than 8 bit copies.
This edit will show you how to use Export Icon to turn those boring icons into 32 bit wonders.
(Be sure you have the plugin installed in the correct Photoshop folder.)
 First, we need to get our hands on the icons. Since the 32 bit icons are simply copies of the 8 bit, we can use the 8 bit icons in the System suitcase as a starting point.
Open the System suitcase in ResEdit (it doesn't have to be a copy since we aren't going to change anything).
Open the cicn icon resources and scroll down to icons 0, 1, and 2. Once you have the three icons in the window, the easiest way to get them into Photoshop is to take a window snapshot with the key combination: command-shift-4. This creates a new PICT in your hard disk called "Picture 1".
Open "Picture 1" in Photoshop, and using the square marquee tool, select the Stop Sign icon and copy it to the clipboard.
Open a new window and make sure of the following settings: size is 32 x 32 pixels, and the Contents is Transparent.
 Paste in the Stop Sign from the clipboard. Use the Magic Wand to select the four white corners around the icon and delete them.
The image should look like the one on the right. The light checkerboard pattern in the corners denotes transparency.
What I want to do is select the red color in the Stop Sign, and then use the Gradient tool across two slightly different shades of red.
But which shades? Use the Eyedropper tool to make the foreground, and background colors the same shade of red that's in the icon.
 Click on the Foreground color box to bring up the color chooser.
I want this new color to be a little brighter than the current shade of red. As a starting point, increase the brightness value by 20%.
Select the background color box and decrease its value by 20%/
 What you now have are two new colors - one a little brighter, one a little darker than the original red.
 With the tolerance set to one, use the Magic Wand to select the red of the icon.
 Select the Gradient tool and make sure to it set to "Foreground to Background". (If the settings look funky, simple reset the tool.)
Drawing a small diagonal line across the palm of the hand will give you the image on the left. The larger your diagonal drag, the more subtle the color change.
For extra credit, you can repeat the process on the hand color.
Once you are satisfied with the look of your new icon, select Export from the File menu and choose the Export Icon option. (Leave the dithering options on their default settings.)
 Now we just need to get the new icon into the System Resources file. Sounds like a job for ResEdit!
Using ResEdit, open the new icon file, made by Export Icon, and double-click on the icns resources.
Click once on ID #-16455, and from the File menu, Get Info on the resource.
Change the ID number to -3822, then close the info window and copy th icns to the clipboard.
Finally, open a copy of the System Resources file and paste in the icns from the clipboard. When the Alert box appears, select Yes to replace the original icon.
Save your work and quit ResEdit. Replace the original System Resources file with the modified one are restart the computer.
Now, doesn't that look better!
Here are the ID numbers for all three icons:
| icns |
ID Number
|
| Stop |
-3822
|
| Note |
-3821
|
| Caution |
-3820
|
(Sherman Uitzetter, the author of the plugin, reports that there is a bug in the Export Layer function, a function that doesn't affect these ResExcellence instructions.) |
