How to set a Finder-window background image on a disk image volume

Question

Hi all,

Generally to distribute a simple cocoa application we make dmg of its release folder. When we double click on it, it mounts its image and displays an un-editable window with .app and/or other files, such dSYM, contained within it. Right now the un-editable window appears with white background and icons of files within it.

My requirement is:

To customize un-editable window such that I can display some images in background, change location and size of icons and customize other appearance features within it. eg. Skype, Growl install windows.

Can anyone suggest how can I implement it?

Thanks,

Miraaj

Answer 1

The easiest way would be DropDMG.

Answer 2

The cheapest way would be to create the disk image normally, mount it, tell the Finder to open its window, and tell the Finder to set the window's background picture. Here's the source code for the Growl project's script for this.

The downside to this solution is that you pretty much can't use your Mac while the script runs, lest you throw the script off track.

Answer 3

An easy trick is:

Create a read/write enabled dmg, set it up like you want it to look, load the app and then convert it to a compressed read only dmg.

cheers... :)