DeepLabCut · C-Achard · Jun 15, 2026 · Jun 15, 2026
diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/components.py b/deeplabcut/gui/components.py
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@
 
 from PySide6 import QtWidgets
 from PySide6.QtCore import Qt, Slot
-from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon
 
 from deeplabcut.core.config import read_config_as_dict
 from deeplabcut.gui.dlc_params import DLCParams
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource
 from deeplabcut.gui.widgets import ConfigEditor
 
 
@@ -671,8 +671,9 @@ def _create_message_box(text, info_text):
 
     msg.setWindowTitle("Info")
     msg.setMinimumWidth(900)
-    logo = Path("logo.png").resolve().parent / "assets" / "logo.png"
-    msg.setWindowIcon(QIcon(str(logo)))
+    # logo = Path("logo.png").resolve().parent / "assets" / "logo.png"
+    icon = icon_from_resource("logo.png")
+    msg.setWindowIcon(icon)
     msg.setStandardButtons(QtWidgets.QMessageBox.Ok)
     return msg
 
@@ -685,8 +686,8 @@ def _create_confirmation_box(title, description):
 
     msg.setWindowTitle("Confirmation")
     msg.setMinimumWidth(900)
-    logo = Path("logo.png").resolve().parent / "assets" / "logo.png"
-    msg.setWindowIcon(QIcon(str(logo)))
+    icon = icon_from_resource("logo.png")
+    msg.setWindowIcon(icon)
     msg.setStandardButtons(QtWidgets.QMessageBox.Yes | QtWidgets.QMessageBox.No)
     return msg
 

diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/gui_assets.py b/deeplabcut/gui/gui_assets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#
+# DeepLabCut Toolbox (deeplabcut.org)
+# © A. & M.W. Mathis Labs
+# https://github.com/DeepLabCut/DeepLabCut
+#
+# Please see AUTHORS for contributors.
+# https://github.com/DeepLabCut/DeepLabCut/blob/master/AUTHORS
+#
+# Licensed under GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0
+#
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from importlib.resources import files
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon, QPixmap
+
+ASSETS_DIR = files("deeplabcut.gui").joinpath("assets")
+
+
+def resource_bytes(*parts: str) -> bytes:
+    """Read a resource bundled inside deeplabcut.gui."""
+    return ASSETS_DIR.joinpath(*parts).read_bytes()
+
+
+def resource_text(*parts: str, encoding: str = "utf-8") -> str:
+    """Read a text resource bundled inside deeplabcut.gui."""
+    return ASSETS_DIR.joinpath(*parts).read_text(encoding=encoding)
+
+
+def get_assets_dir() -> Path:
+    """Get the path to the assets directory."""
+    return Path(ASSETS_DIR)
+
+
+def get_style_qss() -> str:
+    """Get the contents of the style.qss file."""
+    return resource_text("style.qss")
+
+
+def pixmap_from_resource(*parts: str) -> QPixmap:
+    pixmap = QPixmap()
+    data = resource_bytes(*parts)
+
+    if not pixmap.loadFromData(data):
+        joined = "/".join(parts)
+        raise FileNotFoundError(f"Could not load GUI resource as QPixmap: {joined}")
+
+    return pixmap
+
+
+def icon_from_resource(*parts: str) -> QIcon:
+    return QIcon(pixmap_from_resource(*parts))
diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/launch_script.py b/deeplabcut/gui/launch_script.py
@@ -24,18 +24,16 @@
 import PySide6.QtWidgets as QtWidgets
 import qdarkstyle
 from PySide6.QtCore import Qt
-from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon, QPixmap
 
 from deeplabcut.gui import BASE_DIR
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource, pixmap_from_resource
 
 
 def launch_dlc():
     app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
-    app.setWindowIcon(QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "logo.png")))
+    app.setWindowIcon(icon_from_resource("logo.png"))
     screen_size = app.screens()[0].size()
-    pixmap = QPixmap(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "welcome.png")).scaledToWidth(
-        int(0.7 * screen_size.width()), Qt.SmoothTransformation
-    )
+    pixmap = pixmap_from_resource("welcome.png").scaledToWidth(int(0.7 * screen_size.width()), Qt.SmoothTransformation)
     splash = QtWidgets.QSplashScreen(pixmap)
     splash.show()
 

diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/create_project.py b/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/create_project.py
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from PySide6 import QtCore, QtWidgets
-from PySide6.QtGui import QBrush, QColor, QDesktopServices, QIcon, QPainter, QPen
+from PySide6.QtGui import QBrush, QColor, QDesktopServices, QPainter, QPen
 
 from deeplabcut.create_project import create_new_project, create_new_project_3d
-from deeplabcut.gui import BASE_DIR
 from deeplabcut.gui.dlc_params import DLCParams
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource
 from deeplabcut.gui.tabs.docs import (
     URL_3D,
     URL_MA_CONFIGURE,
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ def lay_out_user_frame(self):
         self.loc_line = QtWidgets.QLineEdit(self.loc_default, user_frame)
         self.loc_line.setReadOnly(True)
         action = self.loc_line.addAction(
-            QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / "open2.png")),
+            icon_from_resource("icons", "open2.png"),
             QtWidgets.QLineEdit.TrailingPosition,
         )
         action.triggered.connect(self.on_click)

diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/modelzoo.py b/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/modelzoo.py
@@ -15,11 +15,10 @@
 import dlclibrary
 from PySide6 import QtWidgets
 from PySide6.QtCore import QRegularExpression, QSize, Qt, QTimer, Signal, Slot
-from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon, QPixmap, QRegularExpressionValidator
+from PySide6.QtGui import QRegularExpressionValidator
 
 import deeplabcut
 from deeplabcut.core.engine import Engine
-from deeplabcut.gui import BASE_DIR
 from deeplabcut.gui.components import (
     DefaultTab,
     VideoSelectionWidget,
@@ -28,6 +27,7 @@
     set_combo_items,
     set_layout_contents_visible,
 )
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource, pixmap_from_resource
 from deeplabcut.gui.utils import move_to_separate_thread
 from deeplabcut.gui.widgets import ClickableLabel
 from deeplabcut.pose_estimation_pytorch.apis.utils import TORCHVISION_DETECTORS
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ def _add_output_settings_section(self, layout: QtWidgets.QGridLayout):
         )
         self.loc_line.setReadOnly(True)
         action = self.loc_line.addAction(
-            QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / "open2.png")),
+            icon_from_resource("icons", "open2.png"),
             QtWidgets.QLineEdit.TrailingPosition,
         )
         action.triggered.connect(self.select_folder)
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ def _add_tf_scales_row(self, layout: QtWidgets.QGridLayout):
         validator.validationChanged.connect(self._handle_validation_change)
         self.scales_line.setValidator(validator)
         tooltip_label = QtWidgets.QLabel()
-        tooltip_label.setPixmap(QPixmap(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / "help2.png")).scaledToWidth(30))
+        tooltip_label.setPixmap(pixmap_from_resource("icons", "help2.png").scaledToWidth(30))
         tooltip_label.setToolTip(
             "Approximate animal sizes in pixels, for spatial pyramid search. If left "
             "blank, defaults to video height +/- 50 pixels"
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ def _add_use_adaptation_row(self, layout: QtWidgets.QGridLayout, layout_row: int
         self.adapt_checkbox.setStyleSheet("font-weight: bold; font-size: 16px; padding: 6px 12px;")
         # Add help button
         adapt_help_btn = QtWidgets.QToolButton()
-        adapt_help_btn.setIcon(QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / "help2.png")))
+        adapt_help_btn.setIcon(icon_from_resource("icons", "help2.png"))
         adapt_help_btn.setIconSize(QSize(24, 24))
         adapt_help_btn.setToolTip("What is video adaptation?")
 

diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/open_project.py b/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/open_project.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from PySide6 import QtCore, QtWidgets
-from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon
+
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource
 
 
 class OpenProject(QtWidgets.QDialog):
@@ -76,17 +77,13 @@ def open_project(self):
 
             msg.setWindowTitle("Error")
             msg.setMinimumWidth(400)
-            self.logo_dir = str(Path("logo.png").resolve().parent) + "/"
-            self.logo = self.logo_dir + "/assets/logo.png"
-            msg.setWindowIcon(QIcon(self.logo))
+            icon = icon_from_resource("logo.png")
+            msg.setWindowIcon(icon)
             msg.setStandardButtons(QtWidgets.QMessageBox.Ok)
             msg.exec_()
 
             self.loaded = False
         else:
-            self.logo_dir = str(Path("logo.png").resolve().parent) + "/"
-            self.logo = self.logo_dir + "/assets/logo.png"
-
             self.loaded = True
             self.accept()
             self.close()
diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/train_network.py b/deeplabcut/gui/tabs/train_network.py
@@ -11,11 +11,9 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from pathlib import Path
 
 from PySide6 import QtWidgets
 from PySide6.QtCore import Qt, Slot
-from PySide6.QtGui import QIcon
 
 import deeplabcut.compat as compat
 from deeplabcut.core.engine import Engine
@@ -27,6 +25,7 @@
     _create_label_widget,
 )
 from deeplabcut.gui.displays.selected_shuffle_display import SelectedShuffleDisplay
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource
 from deeplabcut.gui.widgets import ConfigEditor
 
 
@@ -244,9 +243,7 @@ def train_network(self):
 
         msg.setWindowTitle("Info")
         msg.setMinimumWidth(900)
-        self.logo_dir = str(Path("logo.png").resolve().parent) + "/"
-        self.logo = self.logo_dir + "/assets/logo.png"
-        msg.setWindowIcon(QIcon(self.logo))
+        msg.setWindowIcon(icon_from_resource("logo.png"))
         msg.setStandardButtons(QtWidgets.QMessageBox.Ok)
         msg.exec_()
 

diff --git a/deeplabcut/gui/window.py b/deeplabcut/gui/window.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 from napari_deeplabcut import __version__ as NAPARI_DLC_VERSION
 from PySide6 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
 from PySide6.QtCore import Qt
-from PySide6.QtGui import QAction, QIcon, QPixmap
+from PySide6.QtGui import QAction, QPixmap
 from PySide6.QtWidgets import (
     QComboBox,
     QLabel,
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@
 from deeplabcut import auxiliaryfunctions, compat
 from deeplabcut.core.debug import install_debug_recorder
 from deeplabcut.core.engine import Engine
-from deeplabcut.gui import BASE_DIR, components
+from deeplabcut.gui import components
 from deeplabcut.gui.dialogs import create_generate_debug_log_action
+from deeplabcut.gui.gui_assets import icon_from_resource, pixmap_from_resource
 from deeplabcut.gui.tabs import (
     AnalyzeVideos,
     CreateTrainingDataset,
@@ -213,9 +214,8 @@ def engine(self, e: Engine) -> None:
 
                 msg.setWindowTitle("Info")
                 msg.setMinimumWidth(900)
-                logo_dir = str(Path("logo.png").resolve().parent) + "/"
-                logo = logo_dir + "/assets/logo.png"
-                msg.setWindowIcon(QIcon(logo))
+                icon = icon_from_resource("logo.png")
+                msg.setWindowIcon(icon)
                 msg.setStandardButtons(QtWidgets.QMessageBox.Ok)
                 msg.exec_()
 
@@ -511,8 +511,8 @@ def window_set(self):
         palette.setColor(QtGui.QPalette.Window, QtGui.QColor("#ffffff"))
         self.setPalette(palette)
 
-        icon = str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "logo.png")
-        self.setWindowIcon(QIcon(icon))
+        # icon = str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "logo.png")
+        self.setWindowIcon(icon_from_resource("logo.png"))
 
         # Set default window size and allow resizing
         self.resize(
@@ -545,8 +545,7 @@ def _generate_welcome_page(self):
         image_widget = QtWidgets.QLabel(self)
         image_widget.setAlignment(Qt.AlignCenter)
         image_widget.setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0)
-        logo = str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "logo_transparent.png")
-        pixmap = QtGui.QPixmap(logo)
+        pixmap = pixmap_from_resource("logo_transparent.png")
         image_widget.setPixmap(pixmap.scaledToHeight(400, QtCore.Qt.SmoothTransformation))
         self.layout.addWidget(image_widget)
         description = (
@@ -602,15 +601,15 @@ def create_actions(self, names):
         self.newAction = QAction(self)
         self.newAction.setText("&New Project...")
 
-        self.newAction.setIcon(QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / names[0])))
+        self.newAction.setIcon(icon_from_resource("icons", names[0]))
         self.newAction.setShortcut("Ctrl+N")
         self.newAction.setStatusTip("Create a new project...")
 
         self.newAction.triggered.connect(self._create_project)
 
         # Creating actions using the second constructor
         self.openAction = QAction("&Open...", self)
-        self.openAction.setIcon(QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / names[1])))
+        self.openAction.setIcon(icon_from_resource("icons", names[1]))
         self.openAction.setShortcut("Ctrl+O")
         self.openAction.setStatusTip("Open a project...")
         self.openAction.triggered.connect(self._open_project)
@@ -624,7 +623,7 @@ def create_actions(self, names):
         self.darkmodeAction.triggered.connect(self.darkmode)
 
         self.helpAction = QAction("&Help", self)
-        self.helpAction.setIcon(QIcon(str(BASE_DIR / "assets" / "icons" / names[2])))
+        self.helpAction.setIcon(icon_from_resource("icons", names[2]))
         self.helpAction.setStatusTip("Ask for help...")
         self.helpAction.triggered.connect(self._ask_for_help)