Package Builder
Build macOS installer packages easily.
Version 2 — $30 — Requires macOS 13 or Later
Apple has left macOS installer package building to the realm of command line wizards, with little and unclear documentation, making it take hours to even understand how to build an installer correctly. — Package Builder makes it super easy to build installer packages by simplifying the process: Simply drag and drop your files, set a few settings, and click "Build". Done. Headache-free.
The internet is full of posts from people trying to create a macOS installer package correctly, which is a testament to how confusing and time consuming it can be. Your time is worth more. — Package Builder makes it super easy to build installer packages by simplifying the process: Simply drag and drop your files, set a few settings, and click "Build". Done.
…Applications, Fonts, Screensavers, Automator workflows, Shortcuts, Extensions, Device Component Plugins, Sounds, Preference Panes, Input Managers, Color Pickers, Desktop Pictures, and anything else.
A serves as a personal backup system, ensuring that the first game a student ever made, or the final project for a coding class, survives regardless of the status of the online account.
There is no single "Scratch Project Archive." Instead, several distinct types exist: scratch project archive
Use a consistent naming system:
Many young coders operate under the assumption that if it is on the internet, it is there forever. However, several risks threaten these creations: A serves as a personal backup system, ensuring
| Tool | Purpose | Best For | |------|---------|-----------| | | Manual save/load | Individuals | | TurboWarp Packager | Bulk export as HTML/EXE | Teachers | | scratch-dl (GitHub) | CLI downloader by user ID | Developers | | Phosphorus | Play old .sb projects in browser | Archival playback | | Sulfurous | Lightweight Scratch 3 player | Archived project viewing | Relying solely on cloud saving can be risky
Creating your own personal scratch project archive is also highly recommended. Relying solely on cloud saving can be risky if you lose access to your account or if a project is flagged by mistake. To archive your work, you should regularly use the "File > Save to your computer" option within the Scratch editor. This generates an .sb3 file which contains all your code, costumes, and sounds. For a more robust solution, some advanced users utilize Python scripts to bulk-download their entire project library, ensuring every line of code is backed up on a local hard drive or a cloud service like Google Drive.
Set a custom background image for both light mode and dark mode interfaces.
Add custom text.
Customize the installer behavior with Installer JS scripting, and pre/post-install shell scripts. Figuring out exactly what command line arguments and environment variables there are to use is a cinch, because the built-in shell script editor conveniently lists them all with documentation.
Just like Apple does, when shipping your .pkg file, you may want to place it in a disk image .dmg with a beautiful background and perhaps a license agreement as well. Package Builder integrates with DMG Canvas which is the perfect tool for building your disk image. With this integration, building your disk image in DMG Canvas will now automatically build your installer in Package Builder, and place the .pkg file into your disk image, code signed, notarized, and ready to go.
Check Out DMG Canvas
Package Builder's significance is in not requiring the command line to build an installer package, but of course you can absolutely automate it as part of your own build process using the pkgbuilder command-line tool, it's a trivial single call that Just Works.
By using the pkgbuilder tool, you can integrate building your pkg files into your normal build workflow, such as building an application in Xcode. Using the pkgbuilder tool is as simple as passing it the '.pkgbuilder' and the path to save your '.pkg' file to. That's it.
