Icomancer

Icomancer Folder Icons Composer lets you choose any image for any folder, as well as custom colors, textures, and styles. A free online account not only stores your icons but also lets you share them and try icons created by other users. Icomancer's user interface is a bit busy and its processes could be a bit more intuitive, but once mastered, it's easy to use. Icomancer's enhancements look cool, but they're functional, too. You can color-code folders to quickly identify content, for example.

You can create a free online account when installing Icomancer or log in with Facebook. The program's launcher is ad-supported and text-heavy, but it accesses your account, synchronizes content with the database, and accesses the Manual and Help file, among other functions. Each feature is clearly explained, starting with the first section, Craft. Dragging and dropping an image into this panel opens the Crafter tool, which is as visually disorienting as the Launcher, though a little playing around unravels its mysteries, which involve creating a Skeleton template. The Crafter's menus and templates offer the samples included with Icomancer's download as well as options included with Windows. The Crafter applied a variety of colors, textures, styles, and cover images to selected folders. The Imbuer let us assign icons to any folder or shortcut. Dropping an image or icon into the Embody tool applied it to the Skeleton and containing folders. The Copy tool automatically copies any icon or PNG file you select.

Despite its unique and slightly overstimulated look, Icomancer lived up to its wizard-like name. Our customized folders made it easy to find stuff at a glance. Icomancer's style could use an update, and online accounts aren't everyone's cup of tea, free or not. But in the end, Icomancer proved you can't judge an app by its interface.