For PDF files if you want the generic PDF icon and not a copy of the file itself, you'll first need to do a File->Get Info, select the icon in the Get Info window, press Command-C on your keyboard ...

While we all love to keep icons and files on the Desktop for quick access, it results in too much clutter. As Windows changed, it allowed you to hide the desktop icons, so everything looked cleaner.

Ubuntu's DING extension adds new keyboard shortcuts for desktop icon selection, including multi-select, Ctrl+Space toggle, ...

Just like other file and folder icons you have on your desktop, you can change the way that Stacks appear. You can increase the size of the icons, move the labels, adjust the spacing, and more.

Go back to your desktop, right click on the desktop icon you want to change, then select Change Icon. Now click Browse and find your saved ICO file, then select it and hit Open.

There are four easy ways to select more than one file on your Mac. There are different shortcuts for selecting multiple files on your Mac's desktop, for instance, or every file in a single folder.