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iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Rick Churchill
The iMovie cover image shown within the iMovie for each project seem randomly chosen and I haven't bothered to correct them to a meaningful image until now but with one of my videos the chosen frame is within a transition and it looks awful, I've trawled the internet for a solution without much success. (There is a solution to an earlier version of iMovie by moving the cursor across the image in the Sharing window)

Also the image chosen for the file icon I would like to change. There is a posted answer to use Get Info and paste a new image into the Preview window but I have had no success trying to do this.

Has anyone come up with a solution to what ought to be a menu option?

I don't mind delving into the guts of the machine and substituting files if I knew where to look but I've been unable to find the relevant folder.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Tony Still
Hi Rick,

Changing the file icon is a standard macOS function described here. It's similar in principle to what you described but that's either muddled or out-of-date. Note that it refers to the file icon at the top of the Info window.

The iMovie one is interesting. I think you can set the Poster frame in Quicktime but that probably wouldn't affect what's inside iMovie.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Rick Churchill
I was trying to use the preview image to copy and paste rather than the icon. (The preview image shows a different image to the icon)

Anyway have successfully copied an image. Now I have an generic PNG icon. I'll try closing all the windows and re-starting the computer.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Rick Churchill
When I said above that the preview image shows a different image to the icon I meant the icon in the folder. The icons showing at the top of the information panels are generic icons.

Re-starting the computer has had no effect, the icon showing in the folder is still a PNG generic icon.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Tony Still
Can't follow what you've done.

To summarise:
* To change the icon image for a file that is shown in the Finder
* Get the new image onto the clipboard (e.g. you could use a screen grab)
* Open the Get Info window for the file
* Select the (generic) image at the top of the Get Info window
* Paste your new image

The image shown for the movie within iMovie - dunno yet.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Rick Churchill
Got it!
I was copying and pasting the icon at the top left of the info panel when the one I was pasting from (the source) was shown as a generic icon (even though the icon on the desktop was showing what was inside the file). When I pasted it onto the destination file's info panel icon it replaced the existing image with a generic icon.

When I opened the source image in preview and copied it onto the clipboard then, when I pasted it over the destination icon in the info panel it all worked well.

Weird that the source file (a screenshot PNG file) shows a miniature image on the desktop but in the information file the icon at the top left is a generic image.

Thanks.

Re: iMovie Cover Picture and Icon image

Avatar Tony Still
I suspect that you had the Finder window set to "Show Icon Preview" that shows a preview of the file's contents instead of its icon. This setting is in Finder's View options (on the View menu or Cmd-J).

That would explain why you got a generic icon to paste to replace a generic icon...
 
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