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<articleinfo>
<title>Colors</title>
<authorgroup>
<author>&Matthew.Woehlke; &Matthew.Woehlke.mail;</author>
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</authorgroup>

<date>2009-07-27</date>
<releaseinfo>4.4</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>color</keyword>
<keyword>kcm</keyword>
</keywordset>
</articleinfo>

<sect1 id="color">
<title>Colors</title>

<sect2 id="color-intro">
  <title>Introduction</title>

  <para>The Color Selection module is comprised of several sections:</para>

  <itemizedlist>
  <listitem><para>
    <link linkend="color-scheme">The <guilabel>Scheme</guilabel> tab</link>,
    used to manage schemes.
  </para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>
    <link linkend="color-options">The <guilabel>Options</guilabel> tab</link>,
    used to change the options of the current scheme.
  </para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>
    <link linkend="color-colors">The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> tab</link>,
    used to change the colors of the current scheme.
  </para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>
    <link linkend="color-effects">The state effects tabs</link>
    (<guilabel>Inactive</guilabel>, <guilabel>Disabled</guilabel>), used to 
    change the state effects of the current scheme.
  </para></listitem>
  </itemizedlist>

  <para>Note: This documentation will sometimes refer to the
  &quot;current&quot; scheme, or the &quot;active&quot; scheme.
  The &quot;current&quot; scheme is the set of colors and color scheme options
  that was most recently applied, &ie; what you would get if you choose
  <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>. The &quot;active&quot; scheme is the set of
  colors as has been most recently edited by you, &ie; what you would get if
  you choose <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="color-scheme">
  <title>Scheme Management</title>

  <para>The <guilabel>Scheme</guilabel> tab lets you manage the color schemes
  on your machine. Only one scheme is active at once, but you may save schemes,
  allowing you to quickly change the scheme later. When you have created a
  scheme you like, you can save it with <guibutton>Save Scheme...</guibutton>.
  You can remove schemes using <guibutton>Remove Scheme</guibutton>.
  Note that system schemes cannot be removed; trying to do so will display an
  error.</para>

  <para>&kde; ships with several schemes. If you have an Internet connection,
  you can also browse and retrieve user-created schemes using <guibutton>Get
  New Schemes...</guibutton>.</para>

  <sect3>
    <title>Importing Schemes</title>

    <para>You can also import schemes that you have downloaded or otherwise
    obtained, as well as import &kde; 3 schemes. &kde; 4 color schemes are
    named like &quot;*.colors&quot;, while &kde; 3 schemes are named like
    &quot;*.kcsrc&quot;.</para>

    <para>Because &kde; 4 has many more color roles than &kde;, importing a
    &kde; 3 scheme is different from importing a &kde; 4 scheme. When a
    &kde; 4 scheme is imported, it becomes part of your saved scheme
    collection. When a &kde; 3 scheme is imported, the colors that exist in
    &kde; 3 are overlaid onto the active scheme, and the result is not
    automatically saved into your collection. After importing a &kde; 3 scheme,
    you will likely need to adjust the colors that are new in &kde; 4, as well
    as the state effects. For best results, before importing a &kde; 3 scheme,
    select a similar &kde; 4 scheme (you do not need to apply the scheme before
    importing).</para>
  </sect3>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="color-options">
  <title>Color Scheme Options</title>

  <para>The <guilabel>Options</guilabel> tab allows you to change some
  properties that deal with how the color scheme is used, as well as some
  options that change the color scheme that are different from actually
  assigning colors.</para>

  <itemizedlist>
    <listitem><para><guilabel>Apply inactive window color effects</guilabel>
      &mdash; If checked, state effects (see below) will be applied to inactive
      windows. This can help visually identify active versus inactive windows,
      and may have aesthetic value, depending on your taste. However, some
      users feel that it causes distracting &quot;flickering&quot; since
      windows must be repainted when they become inactive. Unlike desktop
      effects, color state effects do not require compositing support and will
      work on all systems, however they will only work on &kde; 4 applications.
    </para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guilabel>Inactive selection changes color</guilabel>
      &mdash; If checked, the current selection in elements which do not have
      input focus will be drawn using a different color. This can assist visual
      identification of the element with input focus in some applications,
      especially those which simultaneously display several lists.
    </para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guilabel>Shade sorted column in lists</guilabel>
      &mdash; If checked, multi-column lists will use a slightly different
      color to paint the column whose information is being used to sort the
      items in the list.
    </para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guilabel>Apply colors to non-KDE4 applications</guilabel>
      &mdash; If checked, &kde; will attempt to export its color scheme so that
      non-&kde; 4 applications will use the same colors. Most applications will
      honor the exported scheme to varying degrees, though some may have bugs
      or otherwise not honor the exported scheme.
    </para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guilabel>Contrast</guilabel>
      &mdash; This slider controls the contrast of shaded elements, such as
      frame borders and the &quot;3D&quot; effects used by most styles. A lower
      value gives less contrast and therefore softer edges, while a higher
      value makes such edges &quot;stand out&quot; more.
    </para></listitem>
  </itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="color-colors">
  <title>Colors</title>

  <para>The <guilabel>Colors</guilabel> tab allows you to change the colors in
  the active color scheme.</para>

  <para>Creating or changing a scheme is a simple matter of clicking on the
  swatch in the color list and selecting a new color. You can check your
  changes at any time by pressing <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>. It is suggested
  that you save your scheme (via the <guilabel>Scheme</guilabel> tab) when you
  are done.</para>

  <para>The <guilabel>Common Colors</guilabel> set, which is displayed
  initially, is not actually a &quot;set&quot; in the sense used by &kde; (see
  next section), but presents a number of color roles in a way that makes it
  easier to edit the scheme as a whole. When creating a new color scheme, you
  will usually change these colors first, and use the other sets to tweak
  specific colors if needed.</para>

  <para>Note that <guilabel>Common Colors</guilabel> makes available roles from
  all sets. For example, &quot;View Background&quot; here is shorthand for the
  Normal Background role from the View set. Also, setting colors that do not
  refer to a specific set will change that color in <emphasis>all</emphasis>
  sets. (As an exception, &quot;Inactive Text&quot; will change the color for
  all sets <emphasis>except</emphasis> for Selection; there is a separate
  &quot;Selection Inactive Text&quot; for Inactive Text in the Selection set.)
  Some roles may not be visible under <guilabel>Common Colors</guilabel> at
  all, and can only be changed (if needed) by selecting the appropriate
  set.</para>

  <sect3>
    <title>Color Sets</title>

    <para>&kde; 4 breaks the color scheme into several sets based on the type
    of user interface element, as follows:</para>
    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para><guilabel>View</guilabel> &mdash;
        information presentation elements, such as lists, trees, text input boxes, etc.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para><guilabel>Window</guilabel> &mdash;
        window elements that are not buttons or views.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para><guilabel>Button</guilabel> &mdash;
        buttons and similar elements.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para><guilabel>Selection</guilabel> &mdash;
        selected text and items.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para><guilabel>Tooltip</guilabel> &mdash;
        tool tips, &quot;What's This&quot; tips, and similar elements.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Window Manager &mdash;
        window title bars and related elements.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>Each set contains a number of color roles. Except for the Window
    Manager colors, each set has the same roles. All colors are associated with
    one of the above sets.</para>
  </sect3>

  <sect3>
    <title>Color Roles</title>

    <para>Each color set is made up of a number of roles which are available in
    all other sets. (The Window Manager set is an exception; it has its own
    unique roles that do not exist in any other set, and does not use the same
    roles as the other sets.) In addition to the obvious Normal Text and Normal
    Background, these roles are as follows:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para>Alternate Background &mdash;
        used when there is a need to subtly change the background to aid in
        item association. This might be used &eg; as the background of a
        heading, but is mostly used for alternating rows in lists, especially
        multi-column lists, to aid in visually tracking rows.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Link Text &mdash;
        used for hyperlinks or to otherwise indicate &quot;something which may
        be visited&quot;, or to show relationships.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Visited Text &mdash;
        used for &quot;something (&eg; a hyperlink) that has been
        visited&quot;, or to indicate something that is "old".
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Active Text &mdash;
        used to indicate an active element or attract attention, &eg; alerts,
        notifications; also for hovered hyperlinks.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Inactive Text &mdash;
        used for text which should be unobtrusive, &eg; comments,
        &quot;subtitles&quot;, unimportant information, etc.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Negative Text &mdash;
        used for errors, failure notices, notifications that an action may be
        dangerous (&eg; unsafe web page or security context), etc.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Neutral Text &mdash;
        used to draw attention when another role is not appropriate; &eg;
        warnings, to indicate secure/encrypted content, etc.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Positive Text &mdash;
        used for success notices, to indicate trusted content, etc.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>As well as the text roles, there are a few additional
    &quot;decoration&quot; roles that are used for drawing lines or shading
    UI elements (while the above may, in appropriate circumstances, also be
    used for this purpose, the following are specifically
    <emphasis>not</emphasis> meant for drawing text). These are:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para>Focus Decoration &mdash;
        used to indicate the item which has active input focus.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Hover Decoration &mdash;
        used for mouse-over effects, &eg; the "illumination" effects for
        buttons.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>In addition, except for Inactive Text, there is a corresponding
    background role for each of the text roles. Currently (except for Normal
    and Alternate Background), these colors are not chosen by the user, but are
    automatically determined based on Normal Background and the corresponding
    Text color. These colors may be previewed by selecting one of the sets
    other than &quot;Common Colors&quot;.</para>

    <para>The choice of color role is left to the developer; the above are
    guidelines intended to represent typical usage.</para>
  </sect3>

  <sect3>
    <title>Window Manager Colors</title>

    <para>As previously stated, the Window Manager set has its own roles,
    independent of those in other sets. These are (currently) only accessible
    via <guilabel>Common Colors</guilabel>, and are as follows:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para>Active Titlebar &mdash;
        used to draw the title bar background, borders, and/or decorations for
        the active window (that is, the one with input focus). Not all window
        decorations will use this in the same way, and some may even use the
        Normal Background from the Window set to draw the title bar.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Active Titlebar Text &mdash;
        used to draw the title bar text when Active Titlebar is used to draw
        the title bar background. May also be used for other foreground
        elements which use Active Titlebar as the background.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>The Inactive Titlebar [Text] roles are the same as the above, but for
    inactive windows, rather than active windows.</para>
  </sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="color-effects">
  <title>Color State Effects</title>

  <para>Color state effects are applied to interface elements in the inactive
  (windows that do not have focus; only if <guilabel>Apply inactive window
  color effects</guilabel> is enabled) or disabled states. By changing the
  effects, the appearance of elements in these states can be changed. Usually,
  inactive elements will have reduced contrast (text fades slightly into the
  background) and may have slightly reduced intensity, while disabled elements
  will have strongly reduced contrast and are often notably darker or lighter.
  </para>

  <para>Three types of effect may be applied to each state (with the effects
  of the two states being independent). These are Intensity, Color and
  Contrast. The first two (Intensity, Color) control the overall color, while
  the last (Contrast) deals with the foreground colors relative to the
  background.</para>

  <sect3>
    <title>Intensity</title>

    <para>Intensity allows the overall color to be lightened or darkened.
    Setting the slider to the middle produces no change. The available effects
    are:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para>Shade &mdash;
        makes everything lighter or darker in a controlled manner. Each
        &quot;tick&quot; on the slider increases or decreases the overall
        intensity (&ie; perceived brightness) by an absolute amount.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Darken &mdash;
        changes the intensity to a percentage of the initial value. A slider
        setting halfway between middle and maximum results in a color half as
        intense as the original. The minimum gives a color twice as intense as
        the original.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Lighten &mdash;
        conceptually the opposite of darken; lighten can be thought of as
        working with &quot;distance from white&quot;, where darken works with
        &quot;distance from black&quot;. The minimum is a color twice as
        &quot;far&quot; from white as the original, while halfway between
        middle and maximum gives an intensity halfway between the original
        color and white.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </sect3>

  <sect3>
    <title>Color</title>

    <para>Color also changes the overall color, but is not limited to
    intensity. The available effects are:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem><para>Desaturate &mdash;
        changes the relative chroma. The middle setting produces no change;
        maximum gives a gray whose perceptual intensity equals that of the
        original color. Lower settings increase the chroma, giving a color that
        is less gray / more &quot;vibrant&quot; than the original.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Fade &mdash;
        smoothly blends the original color into a reference color. The minimum
        setting on the slider produces no change; maximum gives the reference
        color.
      </para></listitem>
      <listitem><para>Tint &mdash;
        similar to Fade, except that the color (hue and chroma) changes more
        quickly while the intensity changes more slowly as the slider value is
        increased.
      </para></listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </sect3>

  <sect3>
    <title>Contrast</title>

    <para>The contrast effects are similar to the color effects, except they
    apply to the text, using the background color as the reference color, and
    desaturate is not available. Fade produces text that &quot;fades out&quot;
    more quickly, but keeps its color longer, while Tint produces text that
    changes color to match the background more quickly while keeping a greater
    intensity contrast for longer (where &quot;longer&quot; means higher
    settings on the slider). For Contrast effects, the minimum setting on the
    slider produces no change, while maximum causes the text to completely
    disappear into the background.</para>
  </sect3>

</sect2>

</sect1>

</article>
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