Interface -dark

Hi all,

Just trialling Scaler 2 with Reaper on my Mac. It looks very interesting; however, it is very, very dark making it very difficult to read. Are there any ways to get this lightened up (and I mean, a lot)?

Cheers

Hi @mikecb, you can change Scaler’s theme via Settings (gear icon top right) then Preferences > Theme. If you find a theme that you find easier to view, you can set it as your default. Hope that helps, cheers.

HI @Steven

You are correct when you say

but IMHO the issue is more about contrast than just colours. Whichever theme you choose there are large areas where there is little contrast which can make it difficult to see all the text in the window for people with slight (or sometimes no) visual impairment. I am sure the interface is fine on a large screen but if you don’t have a large screen it can be difficult to use.

An example of this is the centre of the Home page where there is a description of the mood for each scale . It is grey on a black background (see image below which is the Classic Purple theme). Also the blue text on buttons is not helpful.

I would suggest either yellow (#f4f50a) green (#00ff18), a light blue (#00bcff) or white would be more appropriate for text on a dark background. These offer good contrast to a dark background. It is also necessary to consider colour blind people who may not be able to distinguish between two colours (I believe the most common combination is red and green).

Ideally v3 will include an ability to edit colours on the interface if not a full theme editor, or at least some themes that have other options such as a light theme with dark text.

I would finally suggest that when objects are selected the object background and text should be inverted (i.e. black to white and white to black).

Just some thoughts on the issue.

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Very eloquently put - those are, precisely the issues.

Cheers

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One other thought for consideration for the theme designers: please include one or more themes where the background is light (say cream or pale yellow) with black or dark text. I believe this may be ergonomically better than a dark background - car instrument panels are often white text on black background, but I believe that in fact black text on white background may be more restful on the eyes (less straining to read the text) even if it is retro in style.

It would appear that these sorts of comments have been made for quite a few years. The developers seem not to be listening. The options are next to useless. You can change one theme for another dark theme. Quite a few controls are nearly invisible. For instance, when using binding there is, apparently, a control under the keyboard icon - you can’t, actually, see but it’s there. I have attached a screenshot of the lightest it gets. By the way this is on a 32" screen.

I have just paid for this. Frankly it is a nightmare to use. A simpe, very light theme, would put that right. Buyer beware.

This is not correct
Actually, they said the version 3 will have a better interface, and it’s expected in the last quarter this year

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Really? People on these forums over 4 - 5 years have been giving the same feedback…

Wait is @cbmike and @mikecb related? Either way I agree! The interface has never been ideal, nor the UX! Unfortunately good things take time and we have been working very hard on both of the aforementioned. Hopefully you will agree! Will have something to share in the new year…

Yup, same user (had to re-register). My point is, for paying customers, it is rather disingenuous to keep repeating the same promises, year in, year out.

I assume, IF, when an update that fixes the interface issues is available, customers will get this as a free update?

BTW, it is funny that when most users of every piece of modern software, browsers included, ask for dark themes, there are a few that rant against dark themes :thinking:

And I am one that dislike the current themes, but not because the background is dark; I dislike it because the lacking contrast, due to the dark fonts

For example, the screen-shot below shows a dark theme with a white font that is perfect to me

YMMV

Last comment on this from me. I am not ‘ranting’, just, simply requesting that ‘themes’ make it easy to see all text and controls. Simple.

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No, you are noy the only one, I too dislike dark themes for exactly the same reason. To be more exact, it is not teh dark theme that I dislike but the lack of contrast in the themes that are designed (see my post above).

1 Like

No, you are not the only one, I too dislike dark themes for exactly the same reason. To be more exact, it is not teh dark theme that I dislike but the lack of contrast in the themes that are designed (see my post above).