By: Erik Vlietinck
Fri, November 30, 2007 - 7:46:01

http://www.panic.com
Score:

IconFactory and Panic Software joined forces again, and started developing CandyBar 3 long before Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard hit the streets. And now, a good month after Leopard has been released, CandyBar 3 has too. Much to my surprise, CandyBar 3 is a replacement for CandyBar 2 and for Pixadex. It looks like Panic and IconFactory have another winner on their hand with this icon management/replacement tool. CandyBar 3 doesn’t just look right, it also replaces the Leopard Dock if you so wish.

The first thing that struck me when installing CandyBar 3 was that it politely asked me to import my existing Pixadex icons. It took a couple of minutes for it to import my close to 2000 icons. When it had finished, I was gazing at the new CandyBar 3. Now, when I first laid eyes on Leopard in the flesh, so to speak, I was kind of baffled to see that Apple had succeeded in creating a user experience that comes close to perfection --at least for me. I couldn’t help --and I am still having them-- get visions of some Minority Report alike interface.

Unfortunately, Apple’s designers’ services are not to be compulsory hired by every developer for the new system. That explains why the “Minority Report feeling” that I get from using the OS by itself, rarely sets through in third-party applications. At worst, they are compatible with the system but display visible interface anomalies; at best they have all the window elements correctly in place, but the port from Tiger remains apparent.

Eye-candy Interface

Well, as could be expected from both Panic Software and IconFactory, CandyBar 3 is an exception. It looks every bit as “Minority Report-ish” as Leopard itself. In short, it looks great. What has remained, is the list in the left column, where you see your icon collections. New, however, is that above this list you will find the Replacement icons. There are four of these: system icon replacement, disk icon replacement, application icons replacement, and Dock looks replacement.

When the replacement icon tab is open, the top of the main window becomes the window where the replacement icons will be dragged --or where you will replace all icons with the click of a button. That’s in system replacement mode. In Applications icons mode, you can only drag icons to the icon well of supported applications --those with a “Package bundle”. The Dock mode shows you the default Dock. Clicking on the “Use this Dock” button between the upper and lower main window panels will fill the upper part with the replacement Dock. This will only happen when the icon collection in the lower part has Dock elements --a feat you can see from the icon collection list where collections with a Dock have a Dock label attached to them.

The whole new system works very well, and is well thought out. You can’t change anything by accident, as all replacement operations cycle through at least two separate actions on your part. To be sure you really want to change your icons and the Dock, CandyBar 3 adds a couple of dialogue windows that must protect you against unwillingly changing the look and feel of your desktop.

Of course CandyBar 3 supports the 512 pixel icon size that Leopard is capable of, but to really see these huge icons, you will have to use icon sets that are made for 512 pixel representation. If you haven’t, it becomes ugly --not CandyBar’s fault, though. With the 512 pixel support also comes Quick Look support. Select an icon, hit the Command-Y key combination or the Space Bar, and you’ll see the icon in all its glorious standard sizes, i.e. 16 pixels, 24, 32, 48, 128, 256 and 512 pixels. Spotlight search is included as well.

Changing Leopard's Dock

In short, CandyBar 3 ‘s management features are really meant to accommodate professional icon designers’ needs. The replacement of icons is better than with the previous version too. There are no icons that “stay behind” as with Tiger, and the Dock replacement is a no-brainer. You can switch between looks in matter of seconds and clicks.

Individual icons can be viewed in icon view or in list view --a new view, and one that makes sense if you have tens of thousands of them. In list view, the icon is shown very small, with its standard sizes and an Info icon so you can open the icon and see what it looks like in any size you choose.

Dock replacement is well implemented. You can restore at any time, and CandyBar 3 not only accepts Dock images included with iContainers, but also the individual elements that make up a Dock image. I tried this with a couple of Dock replacement images from Leopard Docks, and it worked like a charm: just drag the appropriate image in the right well, and CandyBar 3 is all set to change the Dock’s looks.

Finally, and I don’t remember if you could do this with Pixadex or CandyBar 2, you can print your icon collections with the icon names in a sort of contact sheet format on your printer. Of course, you can still export icons to a plethora of formats.

CandyBar 3 is a must for icon designers because of its management capabilities. For the rest of us, it’s a great utility to change the look of Leopard without hacking. Inevitably, Leopard’s good looks too will become dull after months of use day-in, day-out. If CandyBar had any competition, I would give it an Editor’s Choice. Without, it certainly merits my highest ranking.