There had been rumours of the “Marble” interface, but nothing (I repeat: nothing) has changed visually as regards the general interface (bar a few luminosity adjustments and the changes required by the new functionality). Icons, scrollbars, list headers, the “traffic lights”, …, everything with which Mac OS X themes generally deal, it’s all unchanged.

Except that Apple decided to change a couple of things in the structure of its theme files, which means that a) we can’t simply copy our theme files from Leopard to Snow Leopard, and b) we haven’t a clue how to decode one of the core UI files, “SArtFile.bin”. Hopefully there will be a decoder soon.

In the meantime, I’ll be using my external drive every now and again to boot under Leopard, because the only theming tool we can use (Themepark 4) works only under Leopard.
If you are an iTunesque user, expect a bunch of new packs for Snow Leopard in the coming days/weeks.

Edit: many iTunesque packages are now available. See the iTunesque page for more details.

Here is therefore a tutorial on how to combine elements of themes you like on Mac OS X Leopard.

Tools

Before doing anything else, the user should download some tools. Now, the free Architect exists, but it’s not exactly what you’ll want, because it requires an (as of yet) unreleased application which will cost 10 USD to apply themes.
This tutorial is therefore useless if you plan on waiting for Façade, this unreleased app. Theming with Architect + Façade is easier than this tedious method.

Instead, we’ll take a look at other tools, more “primitive”, but which will ensure that you can do the whole process for free. It’s going to be more tedious, however.

So, go to MacThemes and grab ArtFileTool and ArtTools, and grab ThemePark as well.

These three tools each serve a different purpose, because they each deal with different kinds of files. So, how to know which one you’ll need to use?

Leopard’s UI: which file does what

So far, Leopard theming isn’t completely doable. It will only be considered “nearly completely doable” when Architect and the accompanying app, Façade, are officially released.

Because of the current absence of an “all-in-one” theming application besides Architect, we’ll have to edit the files separately. Here is a (simplified) summary of what each file does.

The so-called “ArtFile” is known to draw most of the UI elements, from traffic lights to the shape of buttons, via list headers.
This file can be read thanks to ArtTools.

The “SArtFile”, on the other hand, draws the menu bar (when not transparent) and the colour of the drop-down menus available from that menu bar.
This file is read thanks to ArtFileTool.

Finally, the “Extras” files (two of them) were used in Tiger, but are now only used for progress bars and scroll bars.
These are edited with ThemePark.
Note: PowerPC Mac users need only use the “Extras.rsrc” file, whereas Intel Mac users have to use both the “Extras.rsrc” and the “Extras2.rsrc” files (on Intel Macs, Extras is used for PPC apps, and Extras2 is used for Intel-only and Universal apps).

Where are the files?

This is the more annoying bit: the theme files are located deep within the Mac OS X “System” folder, and most of the few released themes come with an automated installer only, not with the files themselves readily accessible.
If you want to combine two themes, I therefore suggest the following method: install the first, copy the resulting files to your Desktop in a “Theme 1″ folder (or some other easily accessible place), and then install the second before copying the resulting files to a “Theme 2″ folder.

Fortunately, you can reach these files’ locations easily using Finder’s “Go To Folder” feature (Shift-Cmd-G).

ArtFile.bin & SArtFile.bin:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreUI.framework/Resources/

Extras.rsrc & Extras2.rsrc:

/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/

And now that you have those files, you’re ready to roll.

Using the files

ArtTools and ArtFileTool are applets that will decode and re-encode ArtFile and SArtFile respectively, whereas ThemePark directly edits the Extras files.

If you want to use elements from one theme in another, here (finally) are two short examples.

Example 1: scroll bars

Say I want to use the scroll bars of iTunesque in iLeopard, because I see that iLeopard only has grey scroll bars in Graphite mode, not the blue ones similar to the iTunes ones.
Scroll bars are found within the Extras files, so, as an Intel Mac user (I have a MacBook), I have to use both Extras and Extras2. They are completely identical files when you look at the output in ThemePark though, so you can copy resources from one Extras2 into an Extras without a problem.

In the iTunesque Extras, in the “pxm#” field, I do a search by name of “scroll”, because these resources are named. If I open the iLeopard Extras and do the same search, the same results will appear, and from then onwards, it’s a simple “copy & paste” operation (select all the images in one resource of your “source Extras”, copy, and paste in the same resource of your “target Extras”). Tedious, but it works.

At the end, if you’re an Intel Mac user, be sure to “Save As” both Intel and PPC, so you end up with an Extras and an Extras2.

Example 2: traffic lights

Say that you want to use the traffic lights of iLeopard in the KISS Me theme (based on MobileMe).
Traffic lights are found in the ArtFile.bin file, so you’ll decode both the iLeopard and the KISS Me files with ArtTools.

The result is a long list of folders, all containing different UI elements. And the folder called “titlebarcontrols” contains all the traffic light resources.

Here, replacing is easy: you just copy the titlebarcontrols folder of iLeopard to KISS Me, and encode the result with ArtTools.

Applying the modifications

Saving your theme as you want it to be isn’t enough. You still need to apply it.

If you try replacing ArtFile.bin directly (or any other of the theme files), nothing will happen, because they are protected.
Instead, what you have to do is delete the file (authentication is required), and only then can you drag & drop your new theme file into the destination.
Basically, the method for applying a new theme file is not “replace” or “drag & drop”. It’s “delete, drag & drop”.

I won’t describe all that is inside, but if you feel something is slightly wrong with one or two aspects of Mac OS X Leopard’s User Interface, I suggest you take a look.

Themes

I never was interested in themes under Tiger (Mac OS 10.4), partly because I had a 1999 G3 iMac, and partly because the only tool “average users” could use to apply themes was Unsanity’s ShapeShifter (which came at a hefty price for a student, and which is a “haxie” that requires “Application Enhancer” [APE] to run, and APE has caused me a couple of problems in the past).

Then Leopard came along, and while I was very happy with the new unified metal look for all applications, the blue aqua (scrollbars, list headers, …) was starting to feel old.
So I decided to take a look at Leopard theming options.

It turns out that Apple has completely changed the way OS X draws the User Interface (UI) in Leopard, because it hopes to move towards resolution independence (something you can see in action here).
But we’re not there yet, and so Leopard uses a number of old and new sources of data to draw this UI (when resolution independence isn’t enabled – if you wish to try out resolution independence, Vector UI instructions are here).

Since the 18th of May, it is possible to theme (in great part) Leopard, by replacing images found within these different sources, thanks to the release of ArtFileTool, a tool to complement ArtTools and ThemePark.
If you are interested in theming, by using these different tools, I strongly recommend heading over to the MacThemes Wiki.

But for the average user, who doesn’t want to spend hours replacing images (trust me, this kind of time is required), what are the possibilities?

Right now, there are no “full theme” options, because theme developers are only starting to get things done with the aforementioned tools.
But if you’re interested, there are already partial themes, and there are a number of themes in development.

First of all, I’d like to mention a way to “iTunesify” your Leopard. If you prefer the iTunes look to standard Aqua scrollbars, progress bars and list headers, this kind of change is possible:
(click for full-size)

To do so, read this post. It contains links to all the required files, step-by-step installation instructions and even an installer package.
A more complete “iLeopard” theme has been released in the works.

Another partial theme is a scrollbar replacement, Ether (and an Ether-inspired theme is also in the works).

Other themes in development for Leopard include Metal Muku, Kaer and Siro.

Unfortunately, as you can see, the list isn’t very long. Yet.
Given time, a number of themes will appear to feed some spice to your Leopard.
And, a little note to (would-be) developers: a new tool to make this whole image replacement business easier is in the works, a sort of “ThemePark for Leopard”. Keep an eye out for Architect & Façade.

That’s it for this series on Leopard customisation. Hopefully, you will have learnt something useful and have found this interesting.
If you have any questions, do leave a comment, or send an e-mail address to the address on the “About” page.

Edit: updated 14th of November to reflect some recent developments.

Dock

The Dock itself

The 3D Dock introduced in Leopard was one of its most controversial features. Many users far preferred the 2D Dock from Tiger. But then someone found how to customise the 3D Dock, and now, you can find Dock skins and instructions on how to install them all over the place (LeopardDocks.com and LeopardDocks.net spring to mind).

Best of all, you can even find apps to help you organise & apply your Dock skins. CandyBar comes with that functionality, but freeware DockDoctor is my personal choice for that.

The Dock’s contents

But the Dock skin isn’t the most important. No, the most important is what appears on your Dock (and what is hidden), how it reacts and how it’s arranged.
For many months, I had "just" three main Stacks (University, Arpia Novels and Downloads). I then added a Games Stack, and finally an Uploads Stack (because I upload lots of stuff, for university & for other things).

You’d be surprised how easy Stacks are to use as an application launcher. Before Leopard, Quicksilver was my application launcher: I hit "ctrl" + "space", then typed the first letters of the app’s name, and there we go. Then came Leopard, and Spotlight became my app launcher, because it was much faster than Quicksilver. And finally, I discovered how useful Stacks could be.

The thing is, you can create folders (I create them in my "Documents" folder) with aliases to applications, and make Stacks out of them. I have a "Web" Stack (CotEditor, CSSEdit, Firefox 2 and 3, Forklift, IE6 thanks to Darwine, and Webkit), an "Office" Stack (the MS Office suite, Grapher, OmniOutliner) and an "Organisers" Stack (Bento, Cha-Ching, Linotype Explorer X and Wallet). And to make it even easier to use, I replaced the system "Alias" icon with a blank one, which means that my Web Stack looks like this:

And now, to launch Forklift (so from the first move until the application is completely open) takes me 4.4 seconds using the Stack, where it took me 5.1 seconds using Spotlight. Wooo, 0.7 seconds saved!

And then, there’s the "Applications" side of the Dock. I put those I really use a lot there (Mail, Safari, iTunes, iCal, Pages) and the apps I use occasionally but still regularly (Adium, System Prefs, TextEdit, Keynote, Numbers and Photoshop). The rest is either in a Stack, or easily accessible via Spotlight. But you can see how, if it’s faster to open an app using a Stack, it’s even faster to open it if it lies on your Dock.

Wallpapers

Wallpapers are most probably the first thing the average user changes when he/she gets a new Mac. Let’s face it: the wallpapers that come with Leopard aren’t perfect, and certainly don’t match everyone’s personality.
I find that InterfaceLIFT and DeviantART are among the best repositories for wallpapers.
But what if you have a personal favourite, yet still want the wallpaper to change randomly every 5, 10, 30 minutes? I asked myself the question, because Aurora, Leopard’s default wallpaper, became my favourite (it’s the closest I’ve found to saying "this is for Peter" – I swear, Steve Jobs thought of me when he approved this wallpaper). The answer is simple enough: make duplicates. Little tip, but if you have over a hundred wallpapers (I know I do), having half a dozen copies of your favourite gives it a better chance of showing up.

One thing I’d like to mention is that it is possible to also customise the wallpaper that appears behind the login screen (if you have automatic login disabled), and it’s even possible to make that background change randomly every time you log out/shut down.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember exactly how to set it up. Here, however, is a place where you can see what I did (scroll down to the comment by "Pace", i.e. me). If you’re interested, I recommend doing a Google search for "logout hook".

Well, that’s it for the Dock and wallpapers. Next volume: theming and forcing OS X to appear even more as you want it to be.

So, what can you do if you have Mac OS 10.5, a.k.a. Leopard?

Until this weekend of mid-May, icons and dock changes (which I’ll detail later) were pretty much all you could do, because Apple has changed the way OS X generates the user interface in many ways. Not completely yet though: it appears 10.6 will be the first to fully use the new "CoreUI".
But enough technobabble. In short, since this week-end, all parts of Leopard are customisable. At least, that’s the theory.
And to illustrate, this is a normal Leopard screenshot. But here is an example of a new appearance, without using any hacks (note that system fonts can also be changed), and here is my personal Leopard’s appearance.

Note: there are still some limits, but for example, window backgrounds are customisable, …

In this series, I’ll talk about the different aspects of customisation, mostly for the sake of those users not entirely familiar with it, but it will contain some advanced customisation information as well.
Part II will concern the Dock and wallpapers, and part III, theming.

Icons

Icons are the first thing I believe every Mac user should give some thought to. Why? Without at least one new icon, Macs look like they’ve just come out of the Apple store. They are only half-alive, and they haven’t truly become the property of their owner.
Icons enable you to distinguish one folder from another, and this can be both crucial and a true timesaver.
I love icons, and if you take a look at my Leopard, you’ll see it right away:

So where can you get such icons?
My favourite source of Leopard icons (which are made to be nice from 16×16 pixels [mini size] to 512×512 [HUGE]) is MacThemes2.net (with a blog of announcements too). My personal choice has been Jonas Rask’s Maji icon set, modified to fit my needs and taste.

But getting icons isn’t enough. You then need to apply them, modify them, even change the system icons.
Fortunately for us, there are freeware options to doing all that.

First off, applying icons. This YouTube video shows you that applying icons requires no external software: you have it all in OS X.

Your first freeware friend is LiteIcon. LiteIcon enables you to change the stock system icons (that generic folder, that sidebar Desktop icon, that generic USB external drive icon) in no time, and makes it painless and costless. If you really want to do lots of changing, you might consider donating to the creator of this nifty app. If you want to also organise your icons within the same app, you’ll need CandyBar, by Panic, which does cost money.

Now, secondly, I’d like to mention an app I discovered by chance, after looking for a long time for "the right app" for creating custom icons by combining existing ones. IconCompo is one of the few apps out there to support Leopard’s 512×512 sizes (though it’s not apparent when you use the app), and it allows you to create icons that appear to be imprinted on another icon or icons that seem to be in front of another. A lot of trial & error is necessary before you can fully understand the app, which means it isn’t the easiest to use, but it’s the most powerful I found for free (and pretty much the only one that does what I wanted it to do).

Once you’ve got all that worked out, it’s time to move on to step 2: the Dock.