exe2iconset 0.1.1

Extract icons from Windows EXE/DLL files and create macOS ICNS files

Exe2Iconset

Cross-platform tool to extract icons from Windows EXE/DLL files and create macOS ICNS files.

Installation

From PyPI (recommended)

pip install exe2iconset

From source

pip install .

Or install in development mode:

pip install -e .

Requirements

• Python >= 3.10
• Pillow >= 10.0.0
• pefile >= 2023.2.7

Usage

GUI

Run the GUI application:

# After pip install
exe2iconset-gui

# Or with python -m
python -m exe2iconset

Or import and run:

from exe2iconset import run_gui
run_gui()

GUI Workflow

1. Select EXE File: Click "Browse..." to select a Windows executable (EXE, DLL, MUN)
2. Extract Icons: Click "Extract Icons" to extract icon groups from the PE file
3. Select Series: Choose an icon series from the list in Step 2
4. Create ICNS: Enter output name and click "Create ICNS"
5. Save Location: ICNS file will be saved in the selected output directory

CLI

# Using the installed command
exe2iconset <file.exe> --list

# Or with python -m
python -m exe2iconset <file.exe> --list

# Create ICNS from specific group
exe2iconset <file.exe> -g icongroup_47_1033 -o output.icns

# Create ICNS with iconset directory for inspection
exe2iconset <file.exe> -o output.icns --iconset

CLI Examples

# List all icon groups in a file
exe2iconset app.exe --list

# Extract icons using the first available group
exe2iconset app.exe -o app.icns

# Extract from a specific group (shown in --list output)
exe2iconset app.exe -g icongroup_3_1033 -o myapp.icns

# Create iconset directory for manual inspection
exe2iconset app.exe -o app.icns --iconset

# Verbose output
exe2iconset app.exe -o app.icns -v

CLI Options

Option	Description
-l, --list	List available icon groups and exit
-g, --group GROUP	Icon group to use (e.g., icongroup_3_1033)
-o, --output FILE	Output ICNS file (default: appicon.icns)
--iconset	Also create iconset directory
-v, --verbose	Enable verbose output

Python API

from exe2iconset import extract_icons_from_pe, create_icns_from_images

# Extract icons from PE file
icon_groups = extract_icons_from_pe("app.exe")

# Create ICNS from images
create_icns_from_images(icon_images, "app.icns")

ICNS Format

The application creates ICNS files with these standard macOS icon types:

Type	Size	Format	Notes
ic04	16×16	ARGB	PackBits compressed
ic05	32×32	ARGB	PackBits compressed
icp6	48×48	PNG
ic12	64×64	PNG	Can serve as 32@2x retina
ic07	128×128	PNG
ic08	256×256	PNG
ic09	512×512	PNG
ic10	1024×1024	PNG	Can serve as 512@2x retina

Notes on ICNS

• ARGB format (ic04/ic05) preserves alpha channel correctly
• PNG format is used for larger icons
• Retina versions are handled automatically by macOS - no need to create explicit @2x variants
• The ICNS format is flexible - only the sizes available from the source are included

For details on ICNS format, see:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Icon_Image_format
• https://github.com/anakham/Exe2Iconset/issues

Testing

Run tests with pytest:

# Install test dependencies
pip install exe2iconset[dev]

# Or install from source with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/