See your menu bar icon the way it actually ships.

See your menu bar icon the way it actually ships — rendered in the real macOS status bar, not a mock window. Size, template tinting, light and dark — exactly as they'll look the day you release.

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later · Apple Silicon & Intel · v1.0.0

BarCat — preview menu bar icons in the real macOS status bar

Screenshots

See BarCat in action

BarCat main window — preview, compare, and inspect menu bar icons
Main window
BarCat vectorization — convert a bitmap icon into a vector PDF
Vectorization

How it works

Three steps from candidate to shipping icon.

The core loop, end to end — preview honestly, compare instantly, ship a clean asset.

BarCat previewing a candidate icon in the real macOS menu bar

01

Preview in the real menu bar

Candidates render on a live NSStatusItem using the same NSImage + isTemplate path as the system. The only honest place to judge a menu bar icon is in the menu bar itself — not in a Figma frame or a mock window.

Several BarCat candidate icons compared side by side in the menu bar

02

Compare candidates side by side

Tick a few candidates and they all appear together in the menu bar at once. Compare visual weight, drag to reorder, and pick the winner with an instant A/B that no static grid can give you.

BarCat turning a bitmap icon into a vector PDF and exporting an imageset

03

Vectorize, then export

Turn a bitmap into a true vector PDF with original / vector / overlay views and live tuning. Export PNG @1x / @2x / @3x or a ready-to-ship PDF imageset in one click.

The problem

A canvas doesn't tell the truth about a menu bar icon.

Icons look fine in Figma or on the canvas. Then they hit the real status bar, and the trouble shows up:

  • Size that's off — too big, too small, or blurry at 1×.
  • Template tinting that vanishes against the real menu bar in light or dark.
  • Edges that alias or lose detail you only notice once it ships.

Features

Built for the menu bar, specifically.

  • Real menu bar preview

    Candidate icons render on a live NSStatusItem using the same NSImage + isTemplate path as the system. What you see is what ships — no mock windows.

  • Side-by-side comparison

    Tick several candidates and they appear together in the menu bar for an instant A/B. Drag to reorder and pick the winner.

  • Light, dark & pixel zoom

    Preview against both appearance modes and inspect at 8× to catch aliasing, blur, and lost detail before your users do.

  • Precise sizing

    A slider plus common presets (14 / 16 / 18 / 22 / 24 / 26 / 28 pt) and a template-image (isTemplate) toggle.

  • Vectorize

    Turn a bitmap into a true vector PDF with original / vector / overlay views and live tuning. Powered by a built-in vector tracer — no external tools needed.

  • Flexible input

    Drag in PDF or PNG, multi-select files, or drop a whole directory — .imageset folders are read recursively.

  • One-click export

    Vector → PDF imageset. Bitmap → PNG @1x / @2x / @3x. Batch export included.

Built with care

Engineered to be honest and clean.

  • Native Swift / SwiftUI + AppKit.
  • Same NSImage + isTemplate render path as the system — preview equals ship.
  • Vectorization powered by a built-in tracer — no external dependencies.
  • Hardened Runtime enabled.

Questions? See the help docs