Changed default background color

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Jolbas
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by Jolbas »

I didn't really care earlier because it's easy to customize but reading this thread I'm being convinced that it would be better to have a plain background. The poll about it didn't have a very clear result with 18 users for gradient and 17 users for plain. Wouldn't a plain background free up some more of the color space to the foreground colors? I suggest using the lightest color in current gradient.
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by chrisb »

Jolbas wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 2:59 pm Wouldn't a plain background free up some more of the color space to the foreground colors?
That's what I experienced as well. As you can see in my post above, I use a very slight gradient, which just gives a bit of depth.
The man problem I had with a stronger gradient was, that the Sketcher colors are not independent and use themselves different shades of the same color.
I hope we can agree that e.g. partially constrained elements should have basically the same color as the fully constrained, but with less saturation.
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adrianinsaval
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by adrianinsaval »

A very subtle gradient is the way to go for the background IMO.
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uwestoehr
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by uwestoehr »

adrianinsaval wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 5:57 pm A very subtle gradient is the way to go for the background IMO.
Sorry for the delay. Now I am back.

As I wrote, fine with me is everything that improves the "first look feeling". While traveling I showed a bio engineer I met FreeCAD and her first reaction was "it looks a bit old". And these are the moments I am frustrated. FreeCAD is so great but the first impression is obviously old-style.

What I learned in the thread with the poll I once made is that at least a small gradient is important to get a depth effect to keep the eyes relaxed. Therefore I think we should stick with a gradient.

What about this, like we did for the 0.20?:
- we start a new thread in the users forum to send us backgrounds with gradients that users use
- after 30 days of collecting them, we start a poll
- in the first round the 50% with the most votes makes it into the next round, then a second and third round.
- once we have the gradient with the most votes, we change the different default colors of other WBs to match this background

I think this is the most democratic way and it assures that a wider audience does not feel it old-style.
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FBXL5
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by FBXL5 »

uwestoehr wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:01 pm FreeCAD is so great but the first impression is obviously old-style.
I love this old style, but I made my first steps into CAD on SYRKO. :D
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adrianinsaval
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by adrianinsaval »

uwestoehr wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:01 pm What about this [...]
I like the approach, +1 from me. If the objective is to have freecad look better by default should we consider a default stylesheet too? I say yes so that submitters may propose background colors matching a stylesheet, I say this so that it doesn't happen that later on we decide to apply a default stylesheet but the background doesn't fit well and we have to do this all over again. A default stylesheet shouldn't be something too controversial since that one is much easier to change and discover how to change for the user.
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mfro
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by mfro »

FBXL5 wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:15 pm I love this old style, but I made my first steps into CAD on SYRKO. :D
I would be astonished if anybody else here except you and me would know what that is/was (or what "NUF" might mean) :lol:.

(I spent quite some of my (life-) time in the late 80s/early 90s developing the PHIGS interface for SYRKO)
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onekk
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by onekk »

Good approach, but a part from democracy, readability and contrast shoulb be taken in account.

Having a colorful style could be left to the casual user.

As it seems that some part of the interface are not easy to be put in a Qt stylesheet so some work as to be done even in code if there are hardcoded colors. There were a relatively recent post if a developer that says that there are 40 places on which a "default color" is present, but sadly I've not recorded in my mind and on paper the post link.

It seems old has to be explicitated in positive so what is considered "new looking" or modern?

Suprisely I think that if you make a pool with 100 participants you will obtain 150 answers (this ... but maybe even this ... would be a not too infrequent answers)

Now the modernity is a "dark look" once was a "white look" (Machintos era) 🤔.

My two cents.

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Re: Changed default background color

Post by chrisb »

uwestoehr wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 5:01 pm - we start a new thread in the users forum to send us backgrounds with gradients that users use
- after 30 days of collecting them, we start a poll
- in the first round the 50% with the most votes makes it into the next round, then a second and third round.
- once we have the gradient with the most votes, we change the different default colors of other WBs to match this background
Good idea, but let's wait until Chennes has improved the preference packs to make such exchanges easier. Changing only the background color will most probably not do.
If we do a voting, we shouldn't exclude non gradient backgrounds.
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berniev
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Re: Changed default background color

Post by berniev »

I don't understand why most of the dialogue here is really necessary.

There seems to be serious hangup about the so-called 'default' theme. The expertise is simply not here, and if it is, it is shunned.

IMHO better to forget that and make all themes equal, with one just happening to be chosen default.

Have an infrastructure that allows anyone to create a theme. Over time one or more will raise to prominence by word of mouth, and if a candidate achieves serious popularity mark it default. Truly democracy at work.
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