PokeFolders

Design beautiful elemental folder icons for macOS, then export them or apply them directly to real Finder folders.

PokeFolders is a real native macOS utility for making original creature-collection-inspired folder icons. It uses SwiftUI for the desktop interface, AppKit for macOS panels and folder icon application, and CoreGraphics/CoreText for crisp high-resolution icon rendering.

This project does not include official character artwork, logos, trademarks, or branded assets. Every bundled theme is an original elemental design inspired by the broader language of collectible creature games.

What It Makes

Classic folder silhouette
        +
Elemental color system
        +
Custom badge, glow, shadow, texture, and text
        =
Finder-ready macOS folder icon

Highlights

Area	What PokeFolders does
Native app	SwiftUI sidebar, live preview, inspector, toolbar, onboarding, light and dark mode
Theme gallery	Ten bundled original styles: capture orb, electric, fire, water, grass, psychic, dark ghost, fairy, gold, and pixel
Customization	Base color, tab color, accent, badge type, glow, shadow, gradient, texture, text, badge position, radius, icon size, transparency
Live preview	512x512 canvas, Finder-size thumbnails, and light/dark desktop checks
Export	PNG 512, PNG 1024, .iconset, and full .icns generation through iconutil
Apply	Select a real folder and set its Finder icon using NSWorkspace
Presets	Save, load, rename, and delete local JSON presets
Drag and drop	Drop an image into the preview to use it as a custom badge or watermark

Built-In Style Packs

• Starter Pack
• Electric Pack
• Fire Pack
• Water Pack
• Dark Pack
• Legendary Pack
• Pixel Pack

App Structure

PokeFolders/
  Package.swift
  Sources/
    PokeFolders/                 Native SwiftUI macOS app
      App/
      Views/
      Support/
    PokeFoldersCore/             Models, rendering, export, folder apply, presets
      Models/
      Rendering/
      Services/
      Stores/
    PokeFoldersCoreChecks/       Framework-free verification executable
  script/
    check.sh
    build_and_run.sh

Rendering Pipeline

flowchart LR
    A["IconConfiguration"] --> B["BaseFolderShape"]
    A --> C["FolderTabShape"]
    A --> D["TypeBadgeRenderer"]
    A --> E["GlowRenderer"]
    A --> F["TextureRenderer"]
    A --> G["TextOverlayRenderer"]
    B --> H["ExportRenderer"]
    C --> H
    D --> H
    E --> H
    F --> H
    G --> H
    H --> I["PNG"]
    H --> J["Iconset"]
    H --> K["ICNS"]
    H --> L["Apply to Folder"]

Loading

Requirements

• macOS 13 or newer
• Xcode Command Line Tools
• Swift 5.9 compatible package tooling
• iconutil for .icns export, included with macOS

Run Locally

git clone https://github.com/ayushap18/pokefolders.git
cd pokefolders
./script/check.sh
./script/build_and_run.sh

The run script builds the SwiftPM product, stages a real app bundle at dist/PokeFolders.app, and launches it as a foreground macOS app.

Verification

PokeFolders includes a small executable check target instead of relying on a specific test framework being available in every Command Line Tools install.

./script/check.sh

The checks cover:

• Required bundled themes and preset packs
• Random configuration bounds
• CoreGraphics rendering at 512x512
• PNG export
• .iconset export
• .icns export through iconutil
• Preset save, rename, reload, and delete behavior

Export Formats

PokeFolders can generate the standard macOS icon sizes:

16x16
32x32
64x64
128x128
256x256
512x512
1024x1024

For .iconset, it writes Finder-compatible filenames such as icon_16x16.png, icon_16x16@2x.png, and icon_512x512@2x.png.

Design Notes

PokeFolders is intentionally not a web app. The app uses:

• SwiftUI for the main macOS interface
• AppKit for NSOpenPanel, NSSavePanel, app activation, and folder icon application
• CoreGraphics and CoreText for deterministic icon rendering
• ImageIO for PNG encoding and dropped custom badge images
• UserDefaults-free local JSON storage for portable presets

Trademark Note

PokeFolders is an independent creative utility. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., or The Pokemon Company. The app avoids official logos, character artwork, and copyrighted assets.

Star History

License

No license has been selected yet. Add one before accepting external contributions.