CSS tweak for white background in darkroom

I prefer a lighter background for my darkroom than is available in the included themes. I have been looking for a darktable.css file (Linux installation) to see how I might add some tweaks for a white background colour but have not had any luck. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Take a look here: darktable 4.0 user manual - color assessment

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There’s a good reason why it is this specific grey colour (as explained in the link posted by Josema).

But, here you go if you do want to change it:

Preferences->General and add the following to the CSS Tweaks box and press save and apply:

@define-color darkroom_bg_color #FF0000;

Change FF0000 (=RED) to the colour you want/need.

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Thank you both for the answers. I didn’t know about the ‘color assessment’ button and will try it out!

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I think that advice is mostly valid if you’re printing. If you target online viewers on a platform that uses a light background (such as Facebook, Instagram, Flickr), images developed against a mid-grey backdrop may look dark to most of the audience.

@kofa

Most have, besides the white(-ish) mode a night/dark mode/theme (or, like pixls, a grey one)… Best way is to use that specific grey when editing :slight_smile:

It is one of the reason I often times upload an image with a specific coloured border to emphasize what I want the user to (not) see.

You cannot control what themes the audience will use. I agree about the frames.

That was exactly my point! And thus the reason why you should use ISO 12646:2008 recommended viewing conditions when editing.

I agree with Kofa’s post that when you know that the files are to be displayed on screen with white surround you’re better off editing with white surround. But DT has the option to view with white frame built in.

That’s from personal experience but over many years I’ve checked how my images display on any device I can get my hands on. I expected uncalibrated devices to be overly bright and contrasty but over time it seems the bigger problem is dark tones cutting to black. When editing on grey backgrounds the problem gets worse. So a few years ago I switched to editing on white background for web display.

Of course if your website/gallery uses a grey background that changes things.

I think that this is the main issue: Most people do not host their own but use reddit, 500px, facebook, deviantart, instgram, pixls etc. What these all have in common is a bright or dark themed mode and maybe a grey(-ish) one. If the device used to look at images and/or the website settings are out of the editors control then the best thing to do is to use the aforementioned gray background.

If you do have your own website or are able to force a background you are correct: You need to edit with that in mind. Then again, I would argue that if you host yourself you need to make sure the background confirms to ISO 12646:2008; it is about the images after all and not the “pretty” website theme…

This, the inability to control how an end result is viewed, is one of the major downsides of the digital age. In the end I don’t have a clue how my hours of meticulous editing is being nullified by looking at it on a very white background and an overly bright and saturated smartphone or an uncalibrated cheap desktop screen :wink: