Help with theme colors

[caribriz]

In general news re changing theme colors .... look at this just in:

http://segfault.linuxmint.com/2014/08/mint-x-colors/



This will be the answer to many users' prayers

[Minterator]

In general news re changing theme colors .... look at this just in:

http://segfault.linuxmint.com/2014/08/mint-x-colors/



This will be the answer to many users' prayers

Thank you, this an interesting thread. I'm not able to read your .PDF how-to links.


Is there a color manager utility with a GUI similar to gnome-color-chooser?

[caribriz]

Thank you, this an interesting thread. I'm not able to read your .PDF how-to links.

Is there a color manager utility with a GUI similar to gnome-color-chooser?

Just so I know - when you say you aren't able to read the .pdf how-to links - is there a problem with the link or with downloading the file,
or, is it because it isn't in your language?

I'm not aware of a tool that you can use to change the colors of a gtk theme (completely).

You used to be able to use dconf-editor to change certain colors in a theme, but since LM16, it no longer works as it used to.
But, even when it worked, it was not a complete solution.

Soon, you probably won't have to bother messing around trying to change the colors of the gtk theme - you will be able to choose from quite a few different
colored versions of the Mint-X theme in upcoming releases, according to this announcement linked to above.

[Minterator]

Thank you, this an interesting thread. I'm not able to read your .PDF how-to links.

Is there a color manager utility with a GUI similar to gnome-color-chooser?

Just so I know - when you say you aren't able to read the .pdf how-to links - is there a problem with the link or with downloading the file,
or, is it because it isn't in your language?

I'm not aware of a tool that you can use to change the colors of a gtk theme (completely).

You used to be able to use dconf-editor to change certain colors in a theme, but since LM16, it no longer works as it used to.
But, even when it worked, it was not a complete solution.

Soon, you probably won't have to bother messing around trying to change the colors of the gtk theme - you will be able to choose from quite a few different
colored versions of the Mint-X theme in upcoming releases, according to this announcement linked to above.

Firefox downloads a PDF file that Document Viewer cannot open.

Right, I'm not interested in editing theme files. The default bright-white background is what makes Cinnamon unusable for many, it hurts the eyes.

The OS lacks a built-in utility that allows the user to set fonts & colors for all controls in any theme, Mint-X Colors doesn't seem to do that.

[caribriz]

Firefox downloads a PDF file that Document Viewer cannot open.

Hmmm ... don't know what's going on there for you - I just downloaded the .pdfs to test and Document Viewer opened them all without a problem for me.

Right, I'm not interested in editing theme files.

If you're not interested in editing theme files, the .pdfs probably won't be of any use to you then.

The default bright-white background is what makes Cinnamon unusable for many, it hurts the eyes.

Yes, some people say this. Others, don't mind it at all.
Personally, I dislike dark themes and never use them - I find it hard to read the screen with a dark background.
On the other hand, some people wouldn't use anything else than a theme with a dark background. To each his (or her) own.

The OS lacks a built-in utility that allows the user to set fonts & colors for all controls in any theme, Mint-X Colors doesn't seem to do that.

No, Cinnamon doesn't have a built-in utility to change colors.

Using LM13 mate, you would know it is a simple matter in mate to change (most of) the background color and selected background color of apps by
customizing a theme in Appearance Preferences using a color wheel. I don't think it changes all instances of the selected background color.
You can also change the white background of caja by selecting a color or pattern with the "Backgrounds and Emblems" feature.
In this way, mate has an advantage over Cinnamon, at this time.

Mint-X-Colors is not a GUI tool to change colors, but will be a collection of ready-made Mint-X themes with different colors (other than the default green),
that will be in future releases of Mint.

Many people welcome this news - me, for one.

[expat_tony]

Caribriz, you are forum member of the month - no, year - as far as I'm concerned for producing and sharing this.
I have a very simple question, I hope. Is there a list of Hex codes published for all the different greens used in Linux Mint (Mint-X, Forums, etc.), and if so, do you know a link?
I believe there are 6 or 7 greens on this page alone.

[caribriz]

Hi expat_tony,

I don't know of any list anywhere of the green color codes for the forum - but there is a way you can find out for yourself the color codes
of any colors you can see on your screen.

If you wish to try it - this is what I have done:

Create a launcher on the desktop .... (or on your panel)

Right-click the desktop > click Create a new launcher here ... (this is the terminology in LM17 Cinnamon, mate and xfce will be similar)

In the window that appears, enter -

Name: Color selector (or whatever you want to name it)
Command: zenity --color-selection --show-palette

For an icon, click on the "rocket" on the left of the window - I scrolled up the list that appeared and clicked on gnome-color-chooser.svg > clicked ok.

When you click on the desktop icon, a window opens with a "dropper" that you click on, then move your mouse to an area on the screen,
click again, and the color code for that area will appear in the "Color name" box in the window.



For Mint-X theme, have a look at the files and images in the theme's folder - /usr/share/themes/Mint-X - the green "highlight" is the theme_selected_bg_color
in gtk-3.0 > gtk-main.css. Copy the # codes you see in the files, and paste them into the Color name box of the Color-selector tool and press enter.
Then you will be able to see the color that the code represents.

Hope this helps.

[expat_tony]

Fantastic. I like configuring stuff myself anyway and I just learned how to make custom icons a while ago. I don't expect any difficulties but will post here if any arise.
I have also posted to the thread http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 1&t=171146 which you contributed to, about Gimp v. Inkscape for re-theming in Mint. I'd appreciate if you could comment on my post there.

[LesStrater]

What!...It's built in? I installed an IDENTICAL app from the repository called "Gcolor2" which I've been using. I guess I'll have to uninstall it now.
This tool should have been on the Graphics menu in the default Mint installation!
As usual, thanks again caribriz!
P.S. now please tell us how to move this new icon/launcher off the desktop into the Graphics menu...

[expat_tony]

P.S. now please tell us how to move this new icon/launcher off the desktop into the Graphics menu...

I can do that.
When you create the desktop launcher, it offers to place a copy in the "Other" section on the Mint Menu. Say 'yes please' to that.
Now go the the Menu icon at bottom left (unless you've moved it), right-click, and click' configure'.
An Applets screen shows up, and you click the bar at the bottom saying 'Open the menu editor'
Click on Other in the left-hand list, then on the right side, check the box by the launcher you just created.
Now you can 'Cut' it in the button menu on the right, go to Graphics, and 'Paste'
Done

Finding all this out is half the fun, and also the reason I don't care if it's pre-installed or not.
Four months ago I would never have written that.

[LesStrater]

When you create the desktop launcher, it offers to place a copy in the "Other" section on the Mint Menu. Say 'yes please' to that.

Tried that, and it won't let me get past that stage. If I try to "place a copy in Other" the create launcher process never finishes, I have to say 'no' to create the desktop icon. I also tried to create a launcher right in the 'Edit Menu" screen, which resulted in an error saying I 'can't create a launcher here'.
There's something about that command line from caribriz that it doesn't like...
I'm running Mint-17 Cinnamon.

[expat_tony]

How did you create the desktop launcher?
Copy for me the command line you wrote in the middle of the three text boxes, please.
Did you fill in all three text boxes?
Did you click the box "Launch in Terminal" or not?

Either seek out and create the icon first (best, provided you know what you want), or leave the rocket until it's sitting in the Graphics menu, then we'll talk again.

I'm also wondering if you have installed zenity or not. If you don't remember ever doing that, it doesn't mean you didn't, because zenity might be part of a package that arrived under a different name. Zenity is needed to interpret visuals in a GUI as a command.
I don't think you'll break anything if you type in the terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install zenity

. It might just tell you it's there already. If not, you just installed it.

[LesStrater]

How did you create the desktop launcher?
Copy for me the command line you wrote in the middle of the three text boxes, please.
Did you fill in all three text boxes?
Did you click the box "Launch in Terminal" or not?

OK, the program is installed, I have no problem running it from the desktop icon, both on its own and in a terminal window (I've tried it both ways.)
I've tried everything possible at least 3 times and nothing works.
The problem is with my main menu. I tried to create new launchers in other menues like "Graphics" and it always fails. I also tried to create a new sub-menu and nothing showed up. There are 16 items in my "Other" menu and none of them can be checked.
Looks like my menu is LOCKED and Im not sure what to do at this point.

[caribriz]

Hi Les

I don't know what's going on
It works perfectly for me - as a desktop icon, in the Menu and on the panel.
I followed my instructions, deleted the launchers, then did it again with Tony's instructions.
It worked again.

Have you tried a logout/in?
Open the Menu and see if the Menu items work then.

Failing that:
Open the Menu editor
click on the category where you put it on the left side
When the items come up on the right side, delete the instance of the "Color chooser" launcher you created - click on it, click Delete (on the far right side of the window).
Wait - I find it takes a couple of seconds.

If there's more than one - put in different categories on the left side, repeat the above until all instances of "Color chooser" launcher are gone from the categories Other, Graphics or wherever else they are.
When finished close the menu editor
Close Menu applet
Logout/in

Then start again.

If you deleted your desktop icon, start with recreating it on the deskop.
This time, when it asks you if you want to put it in the menu - choose no.

Right-click Menu button > click Configure ... > click Open the menu editor
click on Graphics category on the left, click New Item
Fill in the fields:
Name: Color chooser
Command: zenity --color-selection --show-palette
For the icon - click on the rocket and choose gnome-color-selector.svg from the list that pops up
Click ok
Click ok again

Close the Menu editor
Close the Menu applet
Try opening the Menu to see if "Color chooser" is there now.

That's all I can suggest, I'm afraid.

[expat_tony]

So, if you come to an immovable object (the Other category) walk round it. Genius!

[LesStrater]

I got it - and the solution REALLY ticks me off. Hours wasted on something so trivial.
In the 2 weeks I've been using Mint-17, I've been using the default 'mint' login. It turns out "mint" has very limited privileges and won't even let you create a new menu item. I created a new user account (named "guest" with admin status) and everything now works like what's described above.
Caribriz, you gave me the clue when you suggested I try to logoff/on.
Sadly, I think this also explains other problems I've been having. Changes I tried making always disappeared every time I re-booted. I was about ready to trash LMCE, go to Swap-O-Rama, and buy a Commodore-64.
Thanks for your efforts! I appreciate it.
-- On to the next rock, tony! --

[KirbySmith]

In addition to the above neat solution for finding the color of an existing patch, for help getting to the color one might want there are several topics in Wikipedia that can help, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... %E2%80%93F.

kirby

[KirbySmith]

If you have Mint 17 MATE, you should have zenity, but not the icon file "gnome-color-chooser.svg". A copy can be found at:

http://icons.kdaweb.com/apps/g/svg/

if you want this particular art. The menu constructor would probably accept any path to where the art is stored, but the one the constructor defaults to is "/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps". Don't forget that "paste into folder" requires caja opened as administrator for this folder.

kirby

[thom_A]

Further update -

If anyone is interested in learning how to change the colors of a Cinnamon theme (panel, menus etc.), I have done a similar beginner's
step-by-step tutorial based on the default "Linux Mint" cinnamon theme in LM16 Cinnamon:

Tutorial pdf file (5MB):
http://www.mediafire.com/view/i934f6tm6 ... -THEME.pdf

Here is the theme it created:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ncw77 ... t-2.tar.gz

From the original:


to Linux-Mint-2 cinnamon theme:


This theme and tutorial also works with "Linux Mint" cinnamon theme in LM13 Cinnamon (with cinnamon 2.0 backported).
I cannot guarantee that it will work with previous/future versions of cinnamon or other Cinnamon themes.
Use at your own risk - not recommended for those new to linux to attempt.

Edit: The tutorial pdf file linked to above has been updated to include suggestions in JosephM's post below, regarding gedit preferences.

Any simple way to change the All Applications column to a different color? I've been downloading a few custom themes and all of them apply the same colors on the three columns, and I don't get it. Any name of a theme that differentiates the three columns by color?