Help with theme colors

[the_flurk]

Hello,

I've been looking around to change the default green color of Mint. I've already found out that I can change the value of org-gnome-desktop-interface-gtk-color-scheme with dconf editor to a color code of my likings. This changes the color of the hightlighted text in Nemo etc... What it doesn't change is a number of hightlight colors in 3rd party apps. I.E the bordercolor of the textboxes inside Firefox, the text highlight color in other applications like Vuze etc. Is there anyone who can help me find these settings so I can adjust them to my likings? Something is telling me they are located near /usr/share/themes? Also, I would like to change the radiobuttons and checkboxes if possible, because they are also green. Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

[caribriz]

Hi -

There is very little information out there on how to do this for beginners (like me )

The dconf-editor way is a simple, but imperfect, way to change the highlight color in the default theme, but as you say, not all apps' colors are changed.
Many are content with just these changes.

If you want to go further, you have to change quite a few files and images within the theme and it is a lot of messing around.

I have experimented with changing the default green in Mint-X to create another theme - Mint-blue.

Mint-blue in LM14 Cinnamon.png

This is the theme I made:
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/download/w46axa4kufn2q6j/Mint-blue.tar.gz[/url]

If it helps, you can have a look at the notes I made (.pdf file) - it shows step-by-step with pictures how I did it.
I used LM14 Cinnamon.
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/view/pfystattwfzi4x8/HOW_TO_ADAPT_MINT-X_THEME_TO_CHANGE_GREEN_HIGHLIGHT_COLORS.pdf[/url]
Note: This particular .pdf relates to the Mint-X theme in LM14 Cinnamon.
I did new tutorials for the Mint-X theme in LM16, and provided links in posts below.
Be aware that these tutorials or the themes they create are not guaranteed to work for the Mint-X theme in previous or future versions of Linux Mint.
Also, the dconf-editor method referred to (of changing certain colors in the gtk-theme) no longer works properly since LM16.

If you do use the instructions and change to the new theme you created - you'll have to open dconf editor and remove any selected_bg_color
setting you may have made - because this setting will override the selected background color in the new theme.

No guarantee it will be perfect - as I said I'm no expert, but maybe you can get something from it.

PS. - use at your own risk .... I wouldn't recommend it for anyone new to linux to attempt.

Edit: The above does not change the colors of the Cinnamon theme (the panel, menu etc.) This only changes the colors of the Mint-X gtk+ theme.

[the_flurk]

Woah! Caribriz. Maximum respect. Thanks for sharing your files with me, I really appreciate it. It will certainly help me discover the different settings and maybe I can start editing the themes a bit myself. Although I'm new to Linux I'm pretty confident my allround programming knowledge is a good start.
Again, thank you for sharing Caribriz!

[caribriz]

No problem ..... hope it helps a little.
Good luck with it

[goi]

Caribriz, thank you for the fantastic detailed guide! This is what I looked for! I love Mint community!!

[austin.texas]

Caribriz,
What a great pdf ! There are some interesting ideas in there.

[caribriz]

Thanks, guys

An update, if interested....

I've been trying to sort out my chaotic notes on my beginner theme "experiments"
I've now made a series of three .pdf files setting out my personal color tweaks of the Mint-X theme in LM14 Cinnamon (cinnamon version 1.6.7)
I have updated the original .pdf file with an introduction to the series and made it Part 1. The three parts follow on, using the theme created in part 1, in part 2 etc.
Ending up with three "new" themes.

Keep in mind -
This is strictly amateur hour This is very basic - I am a beginner and have no desire to create a theme from scratch.
This is just outlining what I've done personally to change the colors of the Mint-X gtk theme in Cinnamon, to my liking.
I don't claim that the way I've gone about it is "right" or the only way to do it.
I probably won't be able to answer specific questions people may have on theme colors - I only know what I did
It's basically just to outline "what color goes where" in Mint-X theme.
The files are specific to LM14 Cinnamon which I realise will soon be outdated, and the instructions probably won't work the same
for future/previous versions of cinnamon (although I can say they do work in LM15 Cinnamon).
And, this is really only for use in Cinnamon, not mate, xfce, kde ...

Having said all that , if anyone wishes to have a look:

Part 1: Changing the selected background color
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/view/5xhf24mgd376g8m/HOW-TO-CHANGE-THE-COLORS-OF-MINT-X-THEME-IN-LM14-CINNAMON-PART-1.pdf[/url]

Part 2: Changing the background color
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/view/xpzndndrij5zk31/HOW-TO-CHANGE-THE-COLORS-OF-MINT-X-THEME-IN-LM14-CINNAMON-PART-2.pdf[/url]

Part 3: Changing Nemo's sidebar color
[url]http://www.mediafire.com/view/b2xhxa3n4p66m66/HOW-TO-CHANGE-THE-COLORS-OF-MINT-X-THEME-IN-LM14-CINNAMON-PART-3.pdf[/url]

No guarantees ... use at your own risk!

[caribriz]

Another update -

Here are similar step-by-step how-tos for LM16 Cinnamon Mint-X gtk theme (windows, programs) - but not the Cinnamon theme (panel, menus)
if interested:

Part 1 - changing the selected background color (the green "highlights")
http://www.mediafire.com/view/egq7qwlhb ... PART-1.pdf

Part 2 - changing the background color (from light-grey background)
http://www.mediafire.com/view/9tvs6ys9n ... PART-2.pdf

Part 3 - changing nemo's sidebar color
http://www.mediafire.com/view/3uo9mueq8 ... PART-3.pdf

And here are the gtk themes made in the tutorials for LM16 Cinnamon -

Part 1 - Mint-blue for LM16 Cinnamon
http://www.mediafire.com/download/gvz5m ... M16.tar.gz

Part 2 - Mint-blue-2 for LM16 Cinnamon
http://www.mediafire.com/download/pcbti ... M16.tar.gz

Part 3 - Mint-blue nemo for LM16 Cinnamon
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7a8au ... M16.tar.gz

Edit:
The tutorials above are being updated for LM17 - so far only part 1 - Changing the selected background color has been completed (as at 1 Sep 2014).
Edit #2: The LM17 tutorials are now complete (October 2014)
See this thread for further information if interested:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 46#p908313

[caribriz]

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.

[JosephM]

Just looked through your tutorial and it should be helpful to someone just looking to get started with this. The only thing that really stood out is the fact that your indentation on different lines is inconsistent. While it doesn't affect how the theme works it is really bad form. You might want to put in a short section about setting up gedit to make things easier.

Open the gedit preferences and make the following changes:
View tab
Disable text wrapping
Check Display line numbers, Highlight current line, Highlight matching bracket
Editor Tab
Set the Tab width to 4 and check Insert spaces instead of tabs (if you don't do anything else, do this. It will match what is already in the theme)
Enable automatic indentation

Hopefully that helps and good job on all the effort you put into these.

[caribriz]

Hi JosephM,

Thanks for the feedback and for the gedit tips.

Yes, I see now - much um ... "neater"

[James8888]

Hi guys,

does somebody know how I can change the color in e.g. Firefoxs url bar?

I installed Mint-Blue but this bar has still a green surrounding, I have the same issue in Thunderbird.

[JosephM]

Could you by chance show a quick screenshot of what you are talking about?

[caribriz]

Hi guys,

does somebody know how I can change the color in e.g. Firefoxs url bar?

I installed Mint-Blue but this bar has still a green surrounding, I have the same issue in Thunderbird.

Hi James8888,

Do you mean the border around the box?

Firefox url bar.png

Search bar.png

I didn't even notice that.
The eyesight must be going

Can you try this:

Open the Mint-blue folder > gtk-2.0 > gtkrc
In the section engine "murrine" - scroll down to line 97 -
focus_color = "#94b06f"

Change the line to read
focus_color = "#6F91B0"

Save the file
May need to logout/in

[caribriz]

Sorry, JosephM
posted at the same time.

[JosephM]

No problem. I assumed that was what he meant but I don't have your theme installed so I wanted to see what he was talking about before answering.

[James8888]

Hi,

@JosephM yes, I meant the boarder around the box.

@caribriz thx, changing focus_color solved my problem .

[caribriz]

Hi,

@JosephM yes, I meant the boarder around the box.

@caribriz thx, changing focus_color solved my problem .

Hi, James8888 -

Glad it's fixed.

If you notice any other problems, please let me know.

[EvilSupahFly]

I'm using the "Dragon" theme with Qiana, and I love it, except for one small detail - the selection box is completely solid, as for example when using Shift+prtscrn to do partial screenshots. The only thing I wish to change is that. How can I change that to be transparent (or at least transluscent)? I'm not an expert on CSS, but if you point me in the right direction, I can figure the rest out on my own, as there are a few other very minor things I wish to tweak in other, similar themes.

[caribriz]

I'm using the "Dragon" theme with Qiana, and I love it, except for one small detail - the selection box is completely solid, as for example when using Shift+prtscrn to do partial screenshots. The only thing I wish to change is that. How can I change that to be transparent (or at least transluscent)? I'm not an expert on CSS, but if you point me in the right direction, I can figure the rest out on my own, as there are a few other very minor things I wish to tweak in other, similar themes.

Is it this theme?
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/ ... ent=163156

If so, when I press Shift+prtscrn, and drag, I do get a transparent area: