Main FAQ page | Issues for Mac OS 8/9 and Mac OS X Server 1.x

Q 
How do I use custom icons for my own files/folders/disks/etc on Mac OS X?
A 

  1. Select the icon you want to use.
  2. Choose Show Info from the File menu.
  3. Click on the icon in the upper-left corner of the Info window.
  4. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
  5. Find and select the file/folder/disk you want to put the icon onto.
  6. Make sure the Info window is still showing.
  7. Click on the icon in the upper-left corner of the Info window.
  8. Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
Note that due to Mac OS X's inherent multiuser nature, you must have write permission to the item whose icon you want to change.

Q 
Why don't you distribute icons for Windows or other platforms?
A 

The Windows icon format has a number of limitations which make it difficult to convert Mac OS X icons without losing some level of quality. Since we tend to avoid that platform anyway, we're not particularly motivated to put a lot of our time into making good translations of our icons for it.

You're welcome to attempt to convert our icons for your own use, but don't post them for others to download. (That would be a modification of our copyrighted work.)

Q 
Your new site design looks really weird.
A 

Questions of taste aside, you might find the new design looks strange if you're using an older web browser. Based on the statistics we get from our server logs, we decided it was time to do something new and cool that pushed the technology envelope a bit — we're now using some pretty intense table layout tricks, and many of our images now use the PNG format so you can get more accurate previews of our icons.

So, if your web browser doesn't render us quite right, you may want to try OmniWeb 4, Internet Explorer 5, Netscape 6, or iCab 2.5 on the Mac.

Q 
Can I put a link to http://www.icons.cx on my site?
A 

Sure! We don't mind a bit, and we'll try not to let it get to our heads. :-) If you'd like a little badge thingy for that link, here's one you can use:

Q 
Here's some cool icons/pictures/etc. I made. Can you post them on www.icons.cx? Or post a link to my site?
A 

This site exists solely to be the showcase for our own work. We don't post other people's icons, desktop pictures, splash screens, or anything else. If you're looking for a good place to post or announce such work, try ResExcellence or The Iconfactory.

Also, while we do occasionally link to other sites in the icon/interface community, it's at our own discretion — www.icons.cx is not a links directory. Please don't come asking for us to post a link to you.

Q 
How do you make your icons, and how can I make icons that look that cool?
A 

Sorry, that's classified. We'd tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. :-)

Both of us create our icons in Photoshop, though our methodologies vary greatly. When it comes time to convert our Photoshop artwork into icon format(s), Anne uses IconBuilder Pro, and Rick usually uses IconComposer (part of the Mac OS X Developer Tools) and/or Iconographer. We also often use some homegrown utilities (built on AppleScript, perl, Cocoa, and the Mac OS X command-line icon tools) to automate icon set creation, for which the Akua Sweets osax has been indispensable in the past.

Q 
What's with the .cx top-level domain?
A 

It's Christmas Island, a territory of Australia sitting in the ocean somewhere between Perth and Singapore. We got a domain there because a) it's cheap, and b) it's kinda unique in this age of anything-and-everything-dot-com.

You can find out more about Christmas Island and its domain service at http://www.nic.cx