Icons & Cursors: Overview

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The nine tabs under display different types of icons and cursors, allowing you to make changes to individual ones.  The menu options are identical for most tabs (i.e. Desktop, Start, Others, Launch, Control Panel), with a few differences on , and tabs.  This section will describe the common options, and then explain the differences.  To make changes to icons/cursors on these tabs, you must first apply an icon package to your computer. On each of the nine tabs you will see a sidebar menu on the left with options to change, restore, edit, save and apply changes.  To the right of that is the large preview area displaying each icon for that group of icons (i.e. Desktop, Start menu, Others, ...).   Double-clicking on an icon will allow you to change the graphics, while right-clicking will open a menu of choices.  In the lower left corner is the "Package Builder" which allows you to package up & save the icons you have changed into a new icon package.  Below the preview area is the full file path (i.e. File Name) to the selected icon or cursor (if on the tab).

 

At the top of the sidebar menu is the name of the selected icon package (i.e. LocalFlavor Vista) and the name of the author (i.e. By coco).  ("coco" is an alias for the authors real name and is common on the Internet.)
Change This Icon The second menu option is "Change this Icon..." which will allow you to change the selected icon by opening a "Change Icon" window.  There are three ways you can open this window:
Left click on the icon in the preview, then click on "Change this Icon..." on the sidebar menu, Double-click on the icon in the preview, or ... Right-click on the icon in the preview & select "Change Icon...".
Shell Integration
Another way to change an icon outside of IconPackager is through the Windows Explorer Shell Integration feature.  When using Windows Explorer, you can change the icon of a single file.  Do this by browsing to the file, then right-clicking on it.  A (shell) menu will open with a number of options.
Windows Vista
On Windows Vista, select "Change Icon" and a Properties dialog box will open with information about the file you clicked on.  The "Current icon" lists where the icon for the selected file is stored.  This may be inside of a .DLL (library), .ICO, or other type of file.  To change the icon, click and the "Change Icon" dialog will open.  (Skip to the section, Change Icon Dialog.)  After changing the icon, click (Properties).
Windows Vista Shell Menu.	Windows Vista Properties.
Windows XP or Vista
On Windows XP (or Vista), select "Properties", then click on the "Icon" tab.  The "Current icon" lists where the icon for the selected file is stored.  This may be inside of a .DLL (library), .ICO, or other type of file.  To change the icon, click and the "Change Icon" dialog will open.  (The next section Change Icon Dialog will describe how to change the icon.)  After changing the icon, click (Properties).
Windows XP Shell Menu.	Windows XP Properties.
Change Icon Dialog
At the top of the window that opens ("Look for icons in this file"), is the full path & filename of the selected icon.  Clicking the pull down menu lists recently opened files.  You can select a new icon from the list below, or click on one of the options to the left: (i.e. Browse (default), Recent Icons, Similar Icons (same group type, but from different icon packages), Live Folders, and then each installed Icon Package (i.e. LocalFlavor Vista, nicon Vista, Slicer Vista).  Clicking on anyone one of these will display those icons & you can select one of those.  You can also use the scrollbar, resize the window or maximize it to see more icons displayed.
Right-clicking on an icon in the "Select an icon from the list below" preview will display a small menu with these options: Select (to select this icon), "Edit using IconDeveloper..." (opens IconDeveloper if installed, otherwise asks if you want to download & install it), show "Small Icons" or the (default) show "Large Icons".  (Clicking off the menu will close it without making a selection.)
Restore Default In the lower left corner is an pull-down menu to "Restore Default".  Clicking this will present two choices: "Restore Windows default" and "Restore current icon".  "Restore Windows default" will change the selected icon to the standard Windows icon.  Clicking "Restore current icon" will change the selected icon back to the graphics from the current icon package.  Selecting either will close the "Change Icon" window & update the preview with the changed icon.  (Clicking off the menu will close it without making a selection.) Browsing for a New Icon Clicking opens an Explorer window to locate other icons on your computer.  The current "File Name" of the icon will be displayed with the file type set to "Icon Files".  However, icons can be stored in: Icon Files (.ICO), Programs (.EXE), Libraries (.DLL, .OCX, .ICL, .CPL) or you can select "All Files" to locate other file types that may contain icons.  Icons stored in this package are displayed on the left, with Favorite Links & Folders on the left.  (Your screen may vary, if your preferences are set different for Explorer windows.)  After locating the new icon graphics, click on it, then click .  (Or click or to abort.)  (Clicking on the "Change Icon window will return you to the previous screen with the new icon replacing the one you wanted to change.)
The second sidebar menu option is "Restore Default Icon", which displays a small menu of choices: "Restore Windows default" (changes the selected icon back to the standard Windows graphics for that icon), "Restore current icon" (changes selected icon back to the icon from the current icon package), "Restore all Desktop icons" (changes only the icons on the current tab back to the Windows standard icons), and "Restore all Windows icons" (changes the icons on all tabs back to the standard Windows icons).  You still need to click either "Apply My Changes" or to actually change the icons on your computer.
The third sidebar option is "Edit in IconDeveloper", which opens IconDeveloper (if installed).  If not installed, it will ask if you want to download & install it now.  Click to download it.  (Or Click or to abort.)  You can either download the free trial version or purchase the full-featured, Enhanced version.
The fourth sidebar option is "Change Icon Color" (Icon Recoloring), which allows you to change the color of an individual icon.  (This feature will be added in a later update, as of version 4.0 it was disabled (grayed out).) The fifth sidebar option is "Save Icon Package", which opens a small menu with two choices.  "Save Icon Package" - which saves changes made.  If you didn't create a new filename, if will ask if you want to overwrite the current icon package.  Click to overwrite.  Click to save to a different filename.  (Click or to abort.)
If you either selected (on the overwrite message box) or selected "Save Icon Package As...", it will open a "Save Icon Package" Explorer window so you can name your new package.  If you click on "Browse Folders" (lower left corner) you can select a different folder.  After naming the package, click .  (Click or to abort.)
On the tab (under ) you have the option "Show 'Icon' tab in File/Folder/Drive Properties dialog" checked, then the "Package Info" dialog will open after saving.  This allows you to enter information about the new package, such as: name of Author, E-Mail, Web site, Category, Comments and if the package supports high color (XP & Vista).  Enter the info., then click to save. (Click or to abort.)  Your package will be stored on your hard-drive under: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Stardock\IconPackager\ (C: drive by default).  Your new icon package will then appear listed on the "Look & Feel" & tabs listing the packages.
The sixth and last sidebar option is "Apply My Changes", which will change your computer icons to any changes made on any of the tabs. Preview Area Options If you right-click on an icon in the preview area, the following menu will open:

 

Action	What it does
Change Icon...	Same as the "Change this Icon..." option on the sidebar menu.  It will open the "Change Icon" window to locate & select a different icon to replace the selected one.
Restore Windows Default...	Changes the selected icon back to the standard Windows default icon.
Restore Current Icon	Changes the selected icon back to the icon from the current icon package (i.e. LocalFlavor Vista).
Export Image...	Opens an Explorer window to save the current icon as a Bitmap (.BMP) type graphic file to the desired folder.  Click to store it.  (Click or to abort.)
Copy Image	Copies the selected icon to the Windows Clipboard to be pasted into another program (i.e. graphics program, PhotoShop, PaintShop Pro, ...) for editing, etc..
Edit using IconDeveloper...	If installed, launches IconDeveloper to edit the selected icon.  If not installed, you will be asked if you want to download & install it.
View Icon...	Launches IconPackager Explorer and displays the selected icon.
Add Format...	Allows you to add a file type (extension) to the preview area so you can change it's icon.  Clicking this will open a dialog box to locate it or create a new one, if desired.  (See the Icons & Cursors: Files, Drives & Cursors - Files section for more information.)
Remove Format...	If you don't want an icon for a particular file type anymore, right-click on it and select "Remove Format" and it will be deleted from the preview area.  There is no confirmation screen, once you select Remove, it's gone.  (This won't delete it from Windows, it will just disassociate the icon with that file type in IconPackager.)
Sort	Allows you to sort by: Default, Application or Extension.
Properties...	Displays the standard Windows Properties of the selected icon file.