Hi,
Is there a way to reduce the grid spacing of icons in the Finder even further than what the normal settings allow.
I know how to View- show view optioins and how to slide the grid slider but this doesn't size icons close enough - ALot of wasted space there. Help?
Thanks
Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Heh, be happy you have even that. It took apple years to add that slider!
So, no, I don't think there is a way to change that.
As I recall, that slider for the size of icons has been there since at least 10.2.
Actually it hasn't. It is not on my Tiger system. The only view option slider is icon size. I don't know if it appeared in Leopard since I skipped to Snow Leopard when I replaced my old machine.
I thought you were talking about the size of the icons, because their size would naturally affect the grid spacing of them.
Size doesn't affect the grid spacing. It only affects what grid point the icon may appear on in the specified spacing. I say "may" because the finder never has had a good grid spacing algorithm. Invisible files affect visable files. Scroll bars affect icon positions. Multi-line filenames also affect placements.
I get what you're saying, but I disagree with the logic. Icon size does affect spacing; there's no way around that. It's just like laying out rows of cars for maximum capacity: if they're all small(er) you maximize the number you can fit in the lot, but if they're larger, that reduces the number you can fit in the lot, as well where on the lot they will end up, which does affect the spacing.
I am a designer - All this light blue area is wasted space that I could be using to view my papers/elements/pictures or whatever. I have the icon area as large as I can already get it and grid spaced as close as I can get it. Apple designers might think this looks pretty but it's not useful to me, nor alot of other people I'm sure.
I'd much rather have a wider range with the grid where I can place everything much closer.
Thanks for your interesting conversation to date. I appreciate your efforts. Maybe enough attention to this post might draw more attention to Apple Designers. Thanks
kurt188 wrote:
I get what you're saying, but I disagree with the logic. Icon size does affect spacing; there's no way around that. It's just like laying out rows of cars for maximum capacity: if they're all small(er) you maximize the number you can fit in the lot, but if they're larger, that reduces the number you can fit in the lot, as well where on the lot they will end up, which does affect the spacing.
Yes, icon size affects the spacing you see the icons, but it does not affect the specified grid spacing. Think of the grid spacing laying out a piece of graph paper. The intersection of the lines, are at a fixed spacing, i.e., the grid spacing. Place a square (icon) of a certain size on one of the grid points (say, align the upper left corner of the square to the desired grid point). Depending on the size of that square the next available grid point to the right that you could stick another square is a function of the previous square size, i.e., the icon size. But the grid spacing (value) is invariant.
I think we may be arguing semantics here.
carenas wrote::
I'd much rather have a wider range with the grid where I can place everything much closer.
Thanks for your interesting conversation to date. I appreciate your efforts. Maybe enough attention to this post might draw more attention to Apple Designers.
Don't hold your breath. The so called apple human interface folks think they know everything about how to interact with the system and by d@mn you do it like they say or else!
1. Turn off the grid completely and put the icons where you want them.
2. Or put them in the Dock, which will scale to fit whatever you put in it, and can be parked out of the way at the side of the screen.
Grid Spacing of Icons
