Can I copy image's content rather than file path in Mac finder/path finder?

Question

I collect a lot of icons and use them in applications.

In finder, when I copy an image using cmd+c into the clipboard, Finder actually copies the coaca Filename into the clipboard.

When I paste this (say into MindManager), it will paste the path of the image instead of the actual image.

To get around this, I have to open the picture in Preview, select all, copy. Then it works in other applications.

Is there any way to copy a picture in finder "as a picture"? so that I could paste it in as a picture in another program?

Answer 1

When you copy to the clipboard, the server app (in this case the finder) puts several formats on the clipboard, say 'text' format for the path and 'jpg' for the image. I'm not sure that's what the Finder actually does in your case.

When you paste, the client app (you don't say what your client app is, suppose it is TextEdit) should understand that there might be many formats on the clipboard, and choose one of them. In this case, possibly your client is choosing the 'text' format instance from the clipboard.

This explanation is in generalities, and every pair of client/server apps of the clipboard might behave differently.

(My specific problem is that using the Finder to copy and pasting into an app I wrote, it pastes an image, but it is the generic icon for an image (looking like the letters JPG, a loupe, and a photo of a boy.) I am guessing that Finder actually puts many images of the jpg format on the clipboard, and the client app needs to choose from those?)