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This is a short how-to on creating a nice desktop launcher in Ubuntu 10.04.

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Desktop launchers act as convenient shortcuts to starting programs which do not appear in the main menu.

For this example, we will create a shortcut for an installed viewer.

1. Right-click on your desktop. This opens a blank launcher creation window
   

   Empty desktop launcher window

2. Leave the drop down set to Application
   

   Leave Type set to Application

3. Enter the name of your program as you would like to see it on your desktop. This is handy for programs that have rather obscure sounding names so you can name the launcher as something memorable. I chose “Awsome Viewer” for my example.
   

   Enter the name you want for this launcher

4. Unless you know the exact file path to the program you are launching, you will need to hit the “Browse” button and navigate to the directory which contains the executable file.
   

   Select your program's executable file

5. If you have any notes or comments feel free to enter them in the Comments field.
6. To select an icon, click on the “spring” looking thing to open up a selection window. This will initially open up a window in a default desktop icon set. The exact icons may vary if you have a different desktop theme and not all programs will have an icon. In our example, we know our Awsome Viewer does have an icon, so we navigate to the appropriate directory and select the icon.

   

   Click this image to choose an icon

   

   Example icon image

7. Our new icon should replace the “spring” thing (ok…technically it is a “panel-launcher” icon)
   

   The new icon should appear in the launcher window

8. Click the “Ok” button and enjoy your new desktop launcher.

NOTE: Programs in the “/usr/bin” directory can often, but not always, be launched using just the file or program name without needing the full path. Your mileage may vary, so if it does not work one way, try it the other.

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