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Add a Lighter/Brighter UI-mode (implemented)


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I'll just speak up as one of the strange ones (perhaps it's better eyesight) and just say how much I'm in love with the dark UI. :) I agree the contrast is a tad low at points but gamma adjustment options fix that up pretty well for me. I actually I find that the colored icons in Affinity's apps reduce how much I squint compared to the monochrome icons in Adobe's apps.

 

The most interesting example I see at the moment for light/dark modes is Tumult's Hype—and the light mode is the default for the "consumer" level and the dark mode is default for the pro upgrade. Generally, a darker UI interface actually allows your eyes to focus more on the work at hand (especially if you have a black or dark monitor). But I can see something like a dual light/dark mode similar to Hype being a nice option in the future for some folks.

 

http://tumult.com/hype/

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another one here from the "I just set up an account on this forum specifically to make this request " wagon!

The system (Yosemite) light gray is very pleasing and calm and has a perfect contrast with the black text.

Please add a "light UI" option (a la photoshop).

This is a very important ergonomic issue and in my opinion a major flaw in the UI.

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Generally, a darker UI interface actually allows your eyes to focus more on the work at hand (especially if you have a black or dark monitor).

Dark and light UI have both their use and value. While working with fotos the dark UI let you easier focus on your image (I like Lightroom, too), the light UI is better for printed material. It makes it easier to imagine how your project will appear printed on paper.

Since Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer (or Publisher) share the same architecture, it just makes sense to offer both option. As shown above, it should not be hard to do,  xor $FFFFFF of all the colors used for the UI could do most of the job.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd just like to add my small voice to all the appeals above for a lighter UI. I've tried hard to get used to the existing UI without success. There is some limited adjustment possible in Preferences, but not nearly enough. How difficult is it to tweak this further? It really is a deal breaker for me at present.

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Jeffg53,

 

The colour and brightness of the User Interface isn't a problem that needs to be fixed, it is a preference. While it might please some people to have a lighter/brighter UI, I would wager that more people prefer the darker looker than those that want a lighter/brighter UI, I certainly do. I can sympathize with you and the others that have some reason for disliking the UI, but it is difficult to make everyone happy. If they had started with a lighter/brighter UI, many people would complain that it is too light and too bright. Maybe down the road they will offer some kind of preference choice for the UI, then everyone would be happy. Is Adobe's interface better, easier on the eyes? 

 

Hokusai

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  • 2 weeks later...

The dark UI is so unpleasant and anti-productive for me that I have barely touched the apps since purchasing them. And I am really, really eager to find viable alternatives to Adobe software.

 

Is there any actual data to back up the notion the "most" people prefer a dark UI? It seems like a fashion choice to me.

 

I have a good monitor and keep it calibrated, and I have to squint to see the UI elements in the Affinity apps, Pixelmator, etc. I've been using Adobe apps going back to the late 80s and find the light UI that was typical for most software for most of that time far, far easier on the eye. I adjust the UI on more recent Adobe apps to a tolerable level, and about the only thing for which I am grateful to Adobe is the fact that this CAN be adjusted.

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I also like a lighter UI. Fireworks has it and I don’t know if I’m just so used to it but the dark UI feels awkward – like an application that wasn’t specifically designed for Apple’s OS. I also don’t understand why one wouldn’t use the user interface API the OS provides; I never understood, for example, why Adobe had to introduce their own design for their installers instead of using the native one by Apple. Same with the application UI for Affinity Designer.

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Hi,

I use now AD since it is published for the first time.

But the dark UI is a biggest mistake in the AD because I get a claustrophobic feeling if I see it.

And this is not a great enviroment to create creative thinks.

 

Is there no possibility to add an slider to change the UI color?

 

Kind regards

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Hi,

 

@herbert123: How will it help that photoline can change the GUI-color?

 

Sorry, I do not understand your question? The slider allows for a seamless black --> dark --> neutral --> light --> very light grey overall GUI colour. If a user prefers a dark interface, slide it to the left. If the user prefers a light UI, slide it to the right.

 

SImple as that. The icons switch from dark to bright ones automatically, depending on the overall UI brightness or darkness.

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  • Staff

Hi JFS,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Currently you can only adjust the gamma of the interface slightly. You can find the Gamma setting in the menu Affinity Designer ▸ Preferences..., User Interface, UI Gamma (the second slider).

 

I think Herbet123 was just giving an example of an application that allows a wider customisation of this setting in the context of this thread. He wasn't implying that Photoline setting affects Affinity apps in any way.

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I just wanted to give my support to this request! This is the only significant feature that I see is missing. Many people have sight problems with a black background with white letters. The rest of the software is amazing!

 

It's also a matter of personal likes if you like the dark background. I like a light background better.

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Imo it would be relatively easy to realize this popular request:

 

As an option (checkbox) do an XOR $FFFFFF on all GUI colors (such as background, lines and text) and the GUI would be "light". The gray (disabled) and the small white icons could also be inverted in this mode, while the colored icons remain unchanged.

 

The possible result can be seen easily by inverting a screenshot of the current GUI - for me that would be a large improvement. 

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  • 2 months later...

Oy with the poodles already — I prefer for the developers to spend their time on fixing bugs and implementing new features. The UI works fine, even saves energy / battery.

I'm glad the UI works fine for you.  However, it does not work fine for a number of us who have less than perfect eyesight or who simply find that the most legible color combination is black on white.  We are not asking for a universal change, just the option to chose a light UI that works for us as well as the dark one does for those who prefer it.

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while i am strongly in the favour of dark UI's myself (and see it as one of OSX's letdowns that it's interface is just so glaringly white and not customizable beyond the menu bar for when you step out of graphics apps running full-screen) i think it totally depends on what kind of work you do and your work environment.

 

mine requires working with often pretty flat texture files and CG renders with a lot of darks in them and is done in a dimly lit environment. a white interface would completely overpower the image contents. i actually skipped PS CS2-5 because of this and know a few others in my line of work who did similar. all my tools come with dark interfaces or are customized to look like that.

 

however, when trying to work with generally bright images or working in daylight on the reflective screens so common on macs i can see how this could get very hard to read. just taking a screenshot of the interface with tool icons set to greyscale and inverting it gives a pretty decent result already.

shouldn't be too hard then to implement a slider for setting interface brightness in a decent range. one for background, the other one linked to that to adjust text and icon brightness?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I would like to add my voice to this request. I'm having substantial problems with "light grey on black" interface design. The contrast is just not very good. In a brightly lit room, as the one I work in, it is rather difficult to use and it induces headaches after a while.

 

I have the same problem with Pixelmator. I hope you will be different than the Pixelmator team, which absolutely refuses to offer the possibility of customising the UI colour scheme. There are graphic professionals in their 50s and 60s who might not have the eyes of our younger colleagues. Please consider our needs, too. Thank you!

+1

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