

The rendering, however, can be as simple or as rich as you’d like. The shape of the artwork should be simple to make it easily identifiable in smaller sizes. Curves and points can extend into the margin to adjust for optical alignment. For example, on the 256x256 version, the drawing should be inside a 205x205 area, as shown in the image below. The bulk of the artwork for the center image should be drawn at ~80% of the canvas size. For example, the center image displays at 16pt on a 32pt icon size. The center image is always half the size of the document canvas. The Xcode Project icon and the Rich Text Format icons use nothing but the background fill element to create a custom look and feel. If you plan to create multiple custom icons for different file types, it’s important to make each design distinct and understandable to help people know what to expect when they open them.īeginning with macOS Big Sur, you can generate a new custom document icon with a set of images and a text string. Additionally, think of other document types that your document may commonly be next to, and use distinct shapes and colors that are identifiable even at smaller sizes. Try to depict what your icon represents as closely as possible and with as few details as possible.

When creating a custom icon, we recommend keeping its design simple. For example, a drawing application may open a jpg file, a project file, a library of drawing components, a plugin or a color swatch. You can additionally create a custom document icon if your app supports multiple file types and you’d like to visually distinguish between them. This is a common pattern for imported document types or non-proprietary file formats that your application can open such as MP3, JPG or PNG.īoth the Music and Preview apps use system-generated document icons for document types like JPG and MP3. Design a document icon for your appīy default, if you don’t specify a document icon for a file type in your app, macOS will automatically create one for you by compositing your app’s icon together with the correct extension name.
#Document app for mac how to
We’ll show you how to design a great icon, integrate it into your Xcode project, and assign document types and type identifiers.

With macOS Big Sur, you can customize and control how your app’s document icons display across the system. If someone has chosen not to show document extensions in System Preferences, these icons can additionally provide additional context in deciphering their file type and native program. These icons may be displayed on screen as small as 16pt or large enough to showcase every glorious design detail.ĭepending on the file type and personal preference, document icons can also display document previews. A good document icon aids in the identification of your file on the Desktop, in a Finder window, or in an open dialog, especially when previews aren’t available.
