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How can i get the desktop icon more smaller?

Flae

Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:51:47 pm

Hello. Im new user of Zorin OS. I have a problem that I can't solve. How can i get the desktop icon more smaller? I already set the smaller size, but for me they are still too big. It's possible to make the desktop icon more smaller that the "small" setting? Thank you

zorinantwerp

Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:32:41 pm

Hi

you will find in 'software' undernoted prog allowing to alter the size of your icons :)
Image

:)

ian4238

Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:51:18 am

Hi. I wonder if my Zorin 15 download is faulty, because in Software there is no search bar at the top. In past versions there has always been one to find difficult to find programs. I have searched through lists of Productivity, Utilities, Dev tools, Add-ons etc but cannot see either Desktop Icons or Gnome Shell Extensions.
I see your screen shot, but wonder where you found it? Please help.

ian4238

Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:44:54 am

I have just had an update of 'Software' in Zorin 15, but the problem still remains. Sorry if you were referring to Zorin 12. I did not use 12 very much, as I prefer XFCE (much quicker, easier to use, not as "clunky" as Gnome), and so replaced it with new Zorin 15. I understood the Beta version was being updated to a final version. I also had problems installing Thunderbird (email) as it was not in 'Software'. Perhaps I will just leave Z15 for a month or two - see if it gets fixed.
Regarding the problem of big icons in Zorin 12 Ultimate I had advice in 2016 from the Zorin Team, to replace Nautilus with Nemo as default file browser. That gave me much smaller icons (as in Mint). It took a little time to get it right, but it gave me a much better desktop. Thunar in XFCE is also better in this respect.

ian4238

Sun Apr 14, 2019 11:07:41 am

Hi Flae
I'm sorry if my previous post is more info than you want. You cannot get the icons really smaller without changing the file browser (Nautilus). If you want to run Zorin 12 with small icons, the easiest way is to ignore the discouraging statement on Zorinos webpage about Zorin Lite: "Streamlined to run fast on old and low-spec computers". Zorin Lite is based on XFCE and not on Gnome desktop, and uses Thunar instead of Nautilus for files. I have Zorin 12 Lite Ultimate dual-booted with Win 10 on my main PC [Quad core 3.1 GHz/4GB RAM], and I use it every day. It runs like greased lightning. I suggest downloading the Lite version, and trying it. As soon as Z 15 Lite Ultimate is available, I will buy it.

Flae

Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:04:39 pm

Thank you. I like the graphics of Zorin OS 12 and i wouldn't install Zorin light. I think that is possible to solve the problem of the icons by replacing nautilus with nemo or thunar. Do you think this will work?

ian4238 wrote:Hi Flae
I'm sorry if my previous post is more info than you want. You cannot get the icons really smaller without changing the file browser (Nautilus). If you want to run Zorin 12 with small icons, the easiest way is to ignore the discouraging statement on Zorinos webpage about Zorin Lite: "Streamlined to run fast on old and low-spec computers". Zorin Lite is based on XFCE and not on Gnome desktop, and uses Thunar instead of Nautilus for files. I have Zorin 12 Lite Ultimate dual-booted with Win 10 on my main PC [Quad core 3.1 GHz/4GB RAM], and I use it every day. It runs like greased lightning. I suggest downloading the Lite version, and trying it. As soon as Z 15 Lite Ultimate is available, I will buy it.

zorinantwerp

Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:22:37 pm

ian4238 wrote:Hi. I wonder if my Zorin 15 download is faulty, because in Software there is no search bar at the top. In past versions there has always been one to find difficult to find programs. I have searched through lists of Productivity, Utilities, Dev tools, Add-ons etc but cannot see either Desktop Icons or Gnome Shell Extensions.
I see your screen shot, but wonder where you found it? Please help.


have a second look ...top right
Image
+++

Aravisian

Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:52:50 pm

Flae wrote:Thank you. I like the graphics of Zorin OS 12 and i wouldn't install Zorin light. I think that is possible to solve the problem of the icons by replacing nautilus with nemo or thunar. Do you think this will work?

Flae, in another thread we discussed changing icon sizes (Hard to search up on the forum and hard to find as the title did not match the discussion at that exact moment, we rascals :P )
But here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14300&p=63238#p63231
We discussed an option for changing Icon sizes in Nautilus.
I will post a full quote at the bottom of this post in case you don't feel like jumping lots of links.
In the meantime, I use Nemo3 as my default and I prefer it over Nautilus hands down, without debate.
Just my two bits...

Now, the promised quoted post as follows:

Aravisian wrote:Swarfendor- should this topic be splintered off into a new thread?

Alright...
This is what I have been able to find so far:
The minimum size for icons in Gnome is 64 or 48px. In order to change that, you must pull lout lots of hair.
First, find out what version of Nautilus you have. Open a terminal and type
Code:
nautilus --version

It should be 3.18 or 3.20...
Once you know your version, visit this site:
https://download.gnome.org/sources/nautilus/
and find your version and download it. Select your version, then select the tar file listed. In my case, it was 3.18.2tar.xz
Open a terminal and install the following dependencies:
Code:
sudo apt install libgd-dev autotools-dev libexif-dev libexempi-dev libselinux1-dev libtracker-sparql-1.0-dev libext-dev libxml2-dev libgnome-desktop-3-dev

Navigate to the archive you downloaded for Nautilus and unzip it and put it in the Home Folder or a location you prefer.
After you have it unzipped, navigate to "nautilus-icon-info.h" and double click the file to open it. The path on version 3.18.2 was: /nautilus-3.18.2/libnautilus-private. If you have a different version and it is not in the libnautilus-private folder, then you may need to hunt for it.
In the text format file, scroll down to line 30 or so. You will see the following:
nautilusicons.png

Change the values to what you want to use. For example, where you see "#define NAUTILUS_CANVAS_ICON_SIZE_SMALL 64", change the value to 28 if you want that size.
When you are finished, click save (Check for any mistakes before exiting the file).
Now, you must Install this updated version of Nautilus.
Open terminal and CD to "nautilus-3.18.2" or the name of the version you downloaded.
type in
Code:
./configure

Code:
make

Code:
sudo make install

After all that, reboot.


Hopefully, this works out for you and you end up one happy camper. If not. I'm a lousy Linux noob. But let me know, anyway. I looked up and searched earlier but had to rush back out the door. So I read the material and jotted down the download site and folder names on notepad and rushed off. I typed this up when I got home based off memory, a bit of testing and the notes.

ian4238

Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:59:38 pm

Thankyou Zorinantwerp for pointing out the little 'search' symbol at the right top of Software page. Cannot believe I missed it. Regarding icons, I should not have got involved as it is too complicated for me.