contrast in the new UI is higher, wich makes v2 more distracting

[ichier]

while i like the new colour-tone and in darkness of the interface, it becomes distracting due to more contrast when on the default app-contrast.
please bring back the gamma-slider for the ui, it's been a great feature! (brightness without gamma, is not so useful. when i use the new brightness to match v1, it gets worse) i didn't need to adjust gamma on v1, but now i would tweak it, UI needs to be calm! (i'm on a high contrast 10bit monitor.)
note that changing text-contrast only affects some text, but this is also about icons and stuff.

and if you look at my picture - gamma only might not be it. like those value-backgrounds and header-backgrounds are way darker than they need to be. this brings in a lot of discomfort while readability is just fine in v1!

and just now i see what makes it very distracting too: anti-guidance due to darker headings inside those panels opposed to panel-headers.

pleeease give those details an overhaul!
i mean: really? Were the UI-designers sleeping, did some CEO mess it up? the more you look at it, the left one is just right, while the right one is something a coder (like me) would come up with, to be beaten up by the designers...

please bring in contrasts that suite a UI to stare at a whole day without getting ptsd give our eyes some peace!

to end positively: the new ui in general is cleaner and thats nice.

Edited November 13, 2022 by ichier

[fde101]

Have you tried adjusting the Text Contrast slider under Preferences -> User Interface?

[Designer1234]

IMHO it looks almost the same except a few background bars inside some panels. The difference is really tiny especially if you make background a little bit brighter. Generally v2 seems to look a bit better (but still the difference is barely noticeable - I mean you can see it direct comparison, but you don't think about it while using new version). Perhaps these bars could be made brighter, but I'm afraid they intentionally highlighted them to separate different groups of settings.

[ichier]

1 hour ago, fde101 said:

Have you tried adjusting the Text Contrast slider under Preferences -> User Interface?

yes. as i wrote, this affects only some text, but this issue is about the overall UI-contrast and colour-decisions.
see this, text-contrast default vs lowest (unfortunately that's counter-helpful):

44 minutes ago, Designer1234 said:

(but still the difference is barely noticeable - I mean you can see it direct comparison, but you don't think about it while using new version)

i didn't notice everything exactly in the first place myself (and probably still don't see a lot of problems of the new UI). i'm not a designer, although i learnt some stuff over the years.
but: immediately the UI felt disturbing, less calm. i don't know the exact designer-terms for that in english. But i guess everybody understands, that a UI can be a mess or a peace of zen (even if t has a lot of stuff packed in there). RawTherapee, blender or Affinity v1 are good examples for high complex UIs that you can actually work with without going crazy, unfortunately v2 is not. the new contrasts and colours make it a battlefield.
opening up those packed panels is just a crowded mess, while it wasn't before. i instantly felt, this had gone wrong, but couldn't spot why.
this screenshot(OP) makes it easier to spot some.

many people only feel this unconsciously. but an experienced designer wouldn't deliver something like this, those details - of achieving peace but chaos - are crucial in a software that people may stare at their whole day.
right now you can tweak it to high contrast, which is important for bad devices and impaired folks, but right now you can't make it quiet. brighten up makes some details worse. nevertheless i did that. but i prefer it darker!..
see here, while contrast between value-fields and surrounding is acceptable on full brightness, there still is a big difference between them. overall it gets more peacefully but also worse (imho). and: it's way too bright too suit me.

while this might seem like overreacting to some, such detail _really_ makes a difference while staring at screens using software! no matter if you consciously realize the difference or not: it effects your stress-level, it simply does. our brains are wired that way.
i can see where the dark colours in the value-fields come from, removing 3d but remain understandable. but: nope, too much.

46 minutes ago, Designer1234 said:

but I'm afraid they intentionally highlighted them to separate different groups of settings.

yes sure, but as you can see in the OP-screenshot: they did that in v1 too, but with proper hierarchy.
probably they wanted to achieve clarity and structure with those dark headings or it became necessary due to the darker value-fields - unfortunately it turns out the opposite due to now reversed hierarchy, while the solution imho would be brighter value-fields, and (obviously) darker headings in the panel-headings then in their sub-groups.

 

in general i really need to say there's a lot of sloppiness in the new UI. see those up and down-arrows? they are badly aligned. there's quite some of that stuff here and there. see those two buttons with the fi-ligature? these are not even (instantly notable) a ligature. c'mon!.. that's not how icon-metaphors work? probably they switched from graphics to css (or such) and the coder didn't have a clue or enough time?
while i can totally live with that sloppiness, the overall uncomfortability of the new UI due to contrast and colour just made me unpin v2 and pin v1 after one day. that's sad.
i don't regret upgrading, but hope this gets fixed real soon, so that i'll use v2...
and yes! v2 seems damn stable and such! but bringing messiness into the UI by neglecting issues as contrast and colour, feels somewhat unprofessional to me, that extra-time for finishing everything should be taken before delivery.

[ichier]

okay, don't just criticize; provide solutions.
while i was playing with those new masks, i did this quick mock-up. its just a quick-n-dirty pixel-mask on a shrunken screenshot, and i believe it could be done better, but i think it's clear that there comes in some structure and orientation and less mess when you adjust those colours to sane grades.

so, affinity, imho, it is obvious, that you need to just change that. that'd be easiest. but it'd also be okay, if the different grades become adjustable in the settings.
fyi: i changed 3 things individually: darkened panel-headings, brightened subheadings, brightened value-fields.
i forgot: slightly darken some of those white controls. (all those angles: open close of sub-headers, drop-down, adjust values - angles are more distracting than the triangles that were used before.)
it's not much, but it's impact is huge. suddenly you can spot the panels again! 😱 which is important, if you don't want your customers end in an asylum.

besides: i just saw, that the panel-headers got bigger now. while i love UI/layouts with looots of space, i believe that in this case this is space which is better used for all those controls - the key of being able to see where a panel starts and ends, of finding stuff, is colour-hierarchy.

cheers

Edited November 14, 2022 by ichier

[Designer1234]

Hmm, I didn't notice that the value fields are darker too...
Generally you're right - main headers could be darker (or IMHO even remain as they are), while sub-headers and value fields could be brighter...
However it's the most distracting in the character panel, I think that others aren't so clumsy so the color change is less problematic if you rarely edit text

On the other hand I think that slightly darker background (with slightly colder gray?) is OK, so they shouldn't spoil it while tweaking some details.

[Ron P.]

I'm not saying there isn't any difference, but I really can't see much difference in the screenshots you provided. There are several areas of improvement needed, especially in the Light UI.