What it does
Paper is Sam Hewitt's freedesktop icon theme, combining bold colours and geometric forms with desktop icon and cursor artwork. It includes a source-build route for system-wide or local installation. The artwork is available under an attribution and share-alike licence.
Paper's build uses Meson and Ninja. Choose an installation prefix for the whole system or your own account, install the theme, then select Paper separately for icons and cursors through GNOME Tweak Tool or gsettings. The local-prefix option lets the artwork live under your home directory.
Its geometric shapes and bold colours adapt Material Design ideas to a freedesktop theme. Hardcoded application icons can remain unchanged when an application keeps them outside the shared icon-theme locations. Paper's artwork uses CC BY-SA 4.0, which requires attribution and the same licence for shared adaptations; its build scripts have GPLv3 terms.
Strengths
- Icons and cursors can be selected independently.
- Meson supports system-wide and local installation prefixes.
Watch out for
- Applications with hardcoded icon resources can keep their original artwork.
Best for
- Desktop customization using bold geometric artwork
Sources
- Paper Icon Theme README (Oct 27, 2026)
- Paper Artwork License (Oct 27, 2026)