One of the aspects of the Color Management in the digital photography workflow is to how to setup working place. Most importantly how the working place must be ‘neutral’ (dull grey/white) and properly lit. When working place is set then one can calibrate display and set its lightness.
Recently when I scanned this forum I spotted @anon41087856 screenshot in which he had his darktable theme changed so that it is as I guess neutral grey (#777777). I did the same and have noticed that my perception of photos changed. I have almost everything set to #777777. It’s dull I admit but I like it.
The question is whether such neutral (dull grey) theme should be set as default? Isn’t it better (more neutral)? Does the too dark theme gives illusive perception of photo’s brightens?
I’m asking because one of the hints when setting display lightness is that: “display #777777 in fullscreen. Take a photo of the display and wall behind. Desaturate the photo. If lightness of your display is the same as background then the lightness of the display is correct”. While it may be oversimplification it’s still a good hint.
that’s exactly why I use neutral grey as the UI color. When I began printing, I noticed that the prints were always darker than what I had in mind. The grey in the UI gives a visual reference to assess the contrast of an image because, after all, contrast is all we see.
I find that the main difference is when previewing the image in fullscreen mode when no other colorful distractions are at view (like window frame, desktop theme and so on).
I prepare images for print so I’m more cautious than where preparing them for web.
It would to be able change theme in darktable
So I have consulted today this issue on the forum where experts on calibration and printing can be found (mva.pl but it’s in polish. Haven’t asked this on LuLa forum).
The response was clear and the message is that UI is as important as any other aspect of the color management. The UI should be neutral grey. Dark theme changes ones perception of shadows by lighten them up which may lead to too dark prints.
It’s a knowledge I have now and will apply it however I am not going to convince anybody to change it’s desktop to dull grey
It would be nice to have a dedicated theme for the OS for photo editing or any color critical related work.
@maf Thanks very much for posting your css modifications. I’ve adjusted my css accordingly, and the perceived tonality of images is much improved. (I also notice that for me the lower contrast improves the legibility of the UI text.) This really should be an option in Settings, so that anyone unsure about hacking the css file can benefit from the mid-tone grey version.
I’ve been bitten too often by having a nice and dark theme set in my image editors, using a calibrated and profiled screen, only to find that when I upload the image to the internet the whole photo looks underexposed when viewed against a white background. That is why I added an optional CIELAB 50% middle gray background color to RawTherapee’s image preview canvas.
It might not seem like much, but it does make a difference to your overall perception if you’ve been staring at the image on a dark background for a few minutes.
@Jacal it does not quite is what I have. The background on which image is displayed looks darker than #777777.
I usually hide what is not needed so the working area is as large as possible. Especially I don’t want to constantly see the colorful and bright darktable logo which simply distracts me.
Here’s an example:
On the other hand, darktable’s interface is sometime mentioned [citation needed] as one of the best designs in the open source world. Any changes should be made carefully, I believe.
