If you have ever needed to grab the icon of an application with all the transparencies in place, you need to know this tip. It comes in handy when you’re doing something like a wallpaper or need to use the icon in one of your blog posts.

In a Finder window, right-click on the application and select Get Info [Cmd + I]. Then, click on the proxy icon at the top of the Get Info window and hit Cmd + C. Next, open Preview from you Applications folder. With Preview in focus, go to ‘File » New from Clipboard’. This will load up all the possible icons for that application, right up to the maximum resolution of 512×512 pixels.

Then, click on whichever icon version you want and hit Cmd + C and then Cmd + N. This will load up the icon in a new Preview window by itself. Using the ‘Save As…’ dialog, save the icon in the format of your choice and you are all set to use this wherever you wish. Over and out.