How To Make Your Own Dock Mods in Leopard

[roneil4]

I had a hard time figuring out how to do this originally, but now that I know, I thought I could help you guys out by making a guide about it. Also, I want to let you know before you start, I take no responsibility for anything you do based on the info in this guide. The base images I used can be found in the installer located Here. The installer was made by Transeau. I also put the pics here for easy access, along with a picture of a dock mod I made.

 

Before we start, Here are some things you need:

-an installation of Leopard (duh)

-Photoshop (or some other editor supporting layers)

-Some spare time and creativity

 

Before you can start modding the dock, you need to know some background information about how the mod works. There are four main files which are used for the mod, named scurve-l.png, scurve-m.png, scurve-sm.png, and scurve-xl.png. They are located here: /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources

To get there, go to the coreservices folder, option-click Dock.app, and select show package contents. The contents folder is there. Also, you only need to change one of these images to change the dock, but that is based on the size of your dock and display. The best way to figure out which photo to switch is to experiment by changing each one until the dock changes. Look below to find out how to change the images.

 

Now that you know about how the mod works, you can start to learn how to mod the dock. For my mods I used the attached images as a base, but you do not need to do this. If you don't care about the dock being reflective (and looking good while reflective), you can just erase the entire image, and start from scratch. You should erase the image instead of making a new one so that it is the correct size. If you do want the dock to be reflective, and look good while being reflective, it is best to use the base images.

 

Here are the steps if you want a reflective dock:

1. Start by making a layer above the base image you are using in your photo editor, and call it layer1

2. Add whatever you want the dock to look like to that layer (I found it best to use gradients, but you could also use a pattern or a piece of another picture)

3. Now, change the opacity of layer1 (Lower = more reflective, Higher = less reflective)

4. Save this entire image as whatever scurve you need

5. Now open up terminal, and enter the following: (Parenthesis are where you need to add something)

sudo -s
(enter password, then return)
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources
rm scurve-(letters for your image).png

6. Now in finder, copy your new image to the Resources folder in Dock.app

7. Assuming that you left terminal open, type this:

killall Dock

8. Your new dock should show up now. If not, try using a different scurve image

9. To get out of the terminal process, enter this into terminal:

exit

10. Now you can quit terminal

 

If you want a fully opaque dock, follow these steps:

1. Open up whichever base image you want to use with your editor, and erase the whole thing

2. Add whatever you want the dock to look like to the image (I found that gradients work well, but any pattern or part of a picture will work)

3. Save this entire image as whatever scurve you need

4. Now open up terminal, and enter the following: (Parenthesis are where you need to add something)

sudo -s
(enter password, then return)
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources
rm scurve-(letters for your image).png

5. Now in finder, copy your new image to the Resources folder in Dock.app

6. Assuming that you left terminal open, type this:

killall Dock

7. Your new dock should show up now. If not, try using a different scurve image

8. To get out of the terminal process, enter this into terminal:

exit

9. Now you can quit terminal

 

Once you finish, if you find a dock png you like, post it here for everyone. I hope my guide worked for you! If not, post what went wrong, and I will try to help you. Also, if you know something which can be added to the guide, post that here too. As an expansion to this project, you can look at the other images in the Resources folder of Dock.app, and replace them with your own pics. The main example of this is the indicator for a running application. Post feedback too, I would like to know how it works. Have fun Modding!

Base_Images.zip