11. Customizing the Application Icon

Both Mac OS and iOS use the same icon file format (.icns). Icon files are used primarily for application and document icons but can be used as standard images in your application like any other image format. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use the Xcode Tools utility application Icon Composer to turn your artwork into icon files, as well as how to use these icons in your application.

Picking the Ideal Artwork

The ideal artwork for a Mac OS or iOS icon is a PNG (.png) or TIFF (.tif) image. The image should use transparency to let the background show through “empty” areas of your design. You should also have a version of the artwork in 512×512, 256×256, 128×128, 64×64, 32×32, and 16×16 sizes, each with ...

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