AfterStep color schemes are supposed to ease the pain of assembling set of colors that go well with each
other, while providing additional flexibility while designing custom looks/themes.
AfterStep Colorscheme is a standard set of color names, that may have different color values assigned to
them. This color names are used in defining Look and in XML images. By assigning different color values
to the same color names it is possible to instantly change colors throughout entire Look, without
altering any images or configuration files.
Not all of the Colorscheme colors have to be explicitly defined. Only the Base color is important.
AfterStep is capable of autogeneration of good-looking colorscheme, from this single color. Explicit
color definition in colorscheme file will override any automatic choice. Example of this is the NeXTish
colorscheme, where all of the colors are customized. If grayscale color is chosen for Base - it will
generate grayscale colorscheme, where different shades of gray are used for different colors.
Selected colorscheme file is loaded by all modules and afterstep proper. Whenever new colorscheme is
selected - it triggers reloading of the Look file and all image files.
All of the supplied Look files had been written to take advantage of the AfterStep colorschemes.
Please read below for more details on how colorschemes are generated and other color-related topics :
HARMONIOUS COLORS Task of selecting a set of matching colors is a serious matter, and it was studied by
artists and designers for centuries. AS the result there are certain rules developed to simplify this
task.
Firstly, instead of selecting colors in Red/Green/Blue colorspace, matching colors should be selected
using Hue/Saturation/Value (HSV) colorspace. Color hues are the most important characteristic of the
color, and is measured in degrees from 0(red hue) to 60(yellow hue) to 120(green hue) to 180(cyan hue) to
240(blue hue) to 300(purple hue) and then to 360 which is the same hue as 0 - red. Hues could be placed
on a so called color circle, making it easier to choose matching colors.
There are two main approaches to selecting color scheme - single hue, or several hues.
Single hue colors differ in its saturation, and usually allow for a soothing, simple theme. Such theme
could be pleasant to look at, but it lacks in excitement, and makes it difficult to distinguish between
different elements.
Using several hues makes theme a bit more exciting, and adds more visual cues to the screen, providing
for easier operation, and allowing user to relax eye muscles, resulting in better ergonomics. Accordingly
this is the approach that should be used for user interface colors. Now how to select hues that compose
harmonious theme? The rule of the thumb is that hues that are close to each other on color circle go well
with each other, while those, located on opposing sides of the circle, create contrasting effect.
AfterStep addresses the task of selecting harmonious colors, by generating a set of colors from a single
color using designer rules. IMAGE HUES Look of the screen (aka Theme), includes numerous images, such as
icons, backgrounds, bars, etc. Each such image may have one or several dominating hues, which brings us
back to the task of matching hues, in order to achieve harmonious look.
The rule of the thumb to follow here is that, each image on any particular interface element, such as
titlebar, should have at least one dominating hue to be the same as the hue of the background of this
element.
There are several way to make sure that hue of the image matches that of the background :
tinting
If an image has single dominating hue, it could be converted to grayscale and then tinted with the
color of the background.
hue rotation
If an image has several hues, or a hue and some grayscale parts - its hues could be rotated, by
converting image into HSV colorspace, changing range of hues, and then converting image back into
RGB colorspace.
superimposition
Also image hues may be altered by superimposing it over the background image using allanon
composition method, where each pixel is substituted with the average of image's pixel value and
background's pixel value.
AfterStep addresses the task of changing hues of images using XML image scripting. See asimagexml
for more on that. COLOR NAMES AfterStep Colorscheme color names could be separated in several
categories :
Foreground and Background
Foreground colors are used to render text, while background colors make up a backdrop for that
text. Now there are several constraints on foreground colors - they should be contrasting with
backgrounds, and it is always better to constrain foreground colors to black and white, as colored
text tends to "bleed" ontop background, making it less eligible. Another problem with foreground
being colorful is that it increases strain on user's eyes, forcing them to adapt to too many
different contrasting colors.
Base, Active and Inactive
General color theme of the screen is determined by background. Accordingly we term it a Base
color, and determine the rest of the colors as relation to it. Now at any given time there could
be one element that is focused and active, while other are off focus and should assume lower
visibility. We define Active colors to be used with focused items (should be contrasting with the
Base color). We also define Inactive colors to be used with off-focus items (its a good idea to
make them analogues to the Base color). Now as we may have 2 kinds of off-focus windows (sticky
and non-sticky ), we actually define 2 Inactive colors: Inactive1 and Inactive2.
Gradient colors
Gradients create very appealing look when used to color titlebars and other interface elements.
Generally its a good idea to use colors of the same hue, but having different intensity. To denote
colors designated for gradients we add Dark/Light postfix to color names. COLOR VALUES AfterStep
supports extremely flexible and extensive ways to define color value. Standard approach is to use
#RRGGBB notation. In addition to that, AfterStep supports the following notations :
#RGB Same as #RRGGBB, only using 4bit values for components. For example #F84 is the same as #F08040.
#ARGB This is the same as #RGB plus Alpha value is added (Alpha value defines opacity of the color).
#AARRGGBB
This is the same as #RRGGBB plus 8-bit Alpha value is added.
hsv(hue,saturation,value)
Defines color using HSV colorspace hue is measured from 0 to 360 degrees, saturation and value are
measured from 0 to 100.
rgb(red,green,blue)
Defines color in RGB colorspace. Similar to #RRGGBB form, but values are not in hex, but in
decimals (from 0 to 255). It also allows for nested expressions, such as :
rgb(128,128,blue(Base)).
ahsv(alpha,hue,saturation,value)
Same as hsv(), but also adds Alpha channel.
argb(alpha,red,green,blue)
Same as argb(), but also adds Alpha channel.
hue(hue,color)
Alters hue of the given predefined color, preserving its saturation and value.
sat(saturation,color)
Alters saturation of the given predefined color.
val(value,color)
Alters value of the given predefined color.
alpha(alpha,color)
Alters alpha of the given predefined color. This is useful to make colors from colorscheme
semi-transparent.
red(red,color)
Alters red channel value of the given predefined color.
green(green,color)
Alters green channel value of the given predefined color.
blue(blue,color)
Alters blue channel value of the given predefined color.
Example :
#This could be used in colorscheme definition :
Inactive1 #FF5C5B66 # or ahsv(255,245,10,40) or argb(255,92,91,102)
#This could be used in MyStyle definition in the look. #That makes Sticky window's titlebar
semi-transparent:
BackMultiGradient 6 alpha(50,Inactive2Dark) 0.0 alpha(50,Inactive2Light) 1.0
Actuall usage of colors is defined in AfterStep look file, in MyStyle definitions. Also all
ColorScheme colors could be used in AfterStep XML images, similarly to standard X color aliases.
It is also possible to use different aspects of each color - red, green, blue and alpha, hue,
saturation and value individualy. For each color there are 6 variables defined using following
sytax: $ascs.colorname.component . For example $ascs.Active.hue represents hue of the Active
color. This is useful while doing transformations (tinting, hsv, etc ) in AfterStep XML images.
3rd Berkeley Distribution AfterStep v.2.2.12 ColorScheme(1x)
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