Appearance Preferences

A theme is a group of coordinated settings that specifies the visual appearance of a part of the GNOME Desktop. You can choose themes to change the appearance of the GNOME Desktop. Use the Theme tabbed section to select a theme. You can choose from a list of available themes. The list of available themes includes several themes for users with accessibility requirements.

A theme contains settings that affect different parts of the GNOME Desktop, as follows:

Controls: The controls setting for a theme determines the visual appearance of windows, panels, and applets. The controls setting also determines the visual appearance of the GNOME-compliant interface items that appear on windows, panels, and applets, such as menus, icons, and buttons. Some of the controls setting options that are available are designed for special accessibility needs. You can choose an option for the controls setting from the Controls tabbed section in the Customize Theme window.
Colors: The color setting for a theme determines the color of various user interface elements. You can choose several pairs of colors from the Colors tabbed section in the Customize Theme window.

It is important to choose pairs of colors that have a good contrast with each other, otherwise text may become hard to read.
Window frame: The window frame setting for a theme determines the appearance of the frames around windows only. You can choose an option for the window frame setting from the Window Border tabbed section in the Customize Theme window.
Icons: The icon setting for a theme determines the appearance of the icons on panels and the desktop background. You can choose an option for the icon setting from the Icons tabbed section in the Customize Theme window.
Pointer: The pointer setting for a theme determines the appearance of and sice of the mouse pointer. You can choose an options for the pointer setting fromthe Pointer tabbed section in the Customize Theme window.

The themes that are listed in the Theme tabbed section are different combinations of controls options, window frame options, and icon options. You can create a custom theme that uses different combinations of controls options, window frame options, and icon options.

To create a custom theme, perform the following steps:

Start the Appearance preference tool. Open the Theme tabbed section.
Select a theme in the list of themes.
Click on the Customize button. A Customize Theme dialog is displayed.
Select the controls option that you want to use in the custom theme from the list in the Controls tabbed section. The list of available controls options includes several options for users with accessibility requirements.
Click on the Window Border tab to display the Window Border tabbed section. Select the window frame option that you want to use in the custom theme from the list of available options. The list of available window frame options includes several options for users with accessibility requirements.
Click on the Icons tab to display the Icons tabbed section. Select the icons option that you want to use in the custom theme from the list of available options. The list of available icons options includes several options for users with accessibility requirements.
Click Close to close the Customize Theme dialog.
On the Appearance preferences tool, click on the Save As button. A Save Theme As dialog is displayed.
Type a name and a short description for the custom theme in the dialog, then click Save. The custom theme now appears in your list of available themes.

You can add a theme to the list of available themes. The new theme must be an archive file that is tarred and zipped. That is, the new theme must be a .tar.gz file.

To install a new theme, perform the following steps:

Start the Appearance preference tool. Open the Theme tabbed section.
Click on the Install button. A file chooser dialog is displayed.
Enter the location of the theme archive file in the location entry. Alternatively, select the theme archive file in the file list. When you have selected the file, click Open.
Click on the Install button to install the new theme.

You can delete controls options, window frame options, or icons options.

To delete a controls option, window frame option, or icons option, perform the following steps:

Start the Appearance preference tool. Open the Theme tabbed section.
Click on the Customize button. A Customize Theme dialog is displayed.
Click on the tab for the type of option that you want to delete.
Select the theme option you want to delete.
Use the Delete button to delete the selected option. Note that you can not delete system-wide theme options.

The desktop background is the image or color that is applied to your desktop. You can open Background tabbed section in the Appearance preference tool by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Change Desktop Background, as well as from the System ▸ Preferences menu.

You can customize the desktop background in the following ways:

Select an image for the desktop background. The image is superimposed on the desktop background color. The desktop background color is visible if you select a transparent image, or if the image does not cover the entire desktop.
Select a color for the desktop background. You can select a solid color, or create a gradient effect with two colors. A gradient effect is a visual effect where one color blends gradually into another color.

You can also drag a color or a pattern to the desktop from the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog in the Nautilus file manager.

Table 8-3 lists the background preferences that you can modify.

Table 8-3 Desktop Background Preferences

Dialog Element	Description
Desktop Background	Choose an image from the list. Alternately, you can use the Add button to choose any image on your computer.
Style	To specify how to display the image, select one of the following options from the Style drop-down list: Centered: Displays the image in the middle of the desktop, respecting the image's original size. Fill Screen: Enlarges the image to cover the desktop, altering its proportions if needed. Scaled: Enlarges the image until the image meets the screen edges, and maintains the proportions of the image. Zoom: Enlarges the smaller dimension of the image until it meets the screen edges; the image may be cropped in the other dimension. Tiled: Duplicates the original-sized image as often as necessary and print the images next to another so as they entirely cover the desktop.
Add	Click on the Add to browse for an image on your computer. A standard file selector will be presented. Choose the image you want and click Open.
Remove	Choose the image that you want to remove, then click Remove. This removes the image from the list of available wallpapers; however, it does not delete the image from your computer.
Colors	To specify a color scheme, use the options in the Style drop-down list, and the color selector buttons. You can specify a color scheme in one of the following ways: Choose Solid color from the Background Style drop-down list to specify a single color for the desktop background. To choose the color that you require, click on the Color button. The Pick a Color dialog is displayed. Choose a color, then click OK. Choose Horizontal gradient from the Background Style drop-down list. This option creates a gradient effect from the left screen edge to the right screen edge. Click on the Left Color button to display the Pick a Color dialog. Choose the color that you want to appear at the left edge. Click on the Right Color button. Choose the color that you want to appear at the right edge. Choose Vertical gradient from the Background Style drop-down list. This creates a gradient effect from the top screen edge to the bottom screen edge. Click on the Top Color button to display the Pick a Color dialog. Choose the color that you want to appear at the top edge. Click on the Bottom Color button. Choose the color that you want to appear at the bottom edge.

Use the Fonts tabbed section in the Appearance preference tool to choose which fonts are used in different parts of the desktop, and the way in which fonts are displayed on the screen.

8.2.1.3.1. Choosing Fonts
8.2.1.3.2. Font Rendering

The font selector button shows the name of the font and its point size. The name is also shown in bold, italic, or regular type.

To change the font, click the font selector button. The font picker dialog opens. Select the font family, style, and point size from the lists. The preview area shows your current choice. Click OK to accept the change and update the desktop.

You can choose fonts for the following parts of the desktop:

Application font: This font is used in the menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes of applications.
Document font: This font is used to display documents in applications.

In some applications, you can override this choice in the application's preferences dialog.
Desktop font: This font is used in icon labels on the desktop.
Window title font: This font is used in the titlebars of windows.
Fixed width font: This font is used in the Terminal application and applications to do with programming.

You can set the following options relating to how fonts are displayed on the screen:

Rendering

To specify how to render fonts on your screen, select one of the following options:

Monochrome: Renders fonts in black and white only. The edges of characters might appear jagged in some cases because the characters are not antialiased. Antialiasing is an effect that is applied to the edges of characters to make the characters look smoother.
Best shapes: Antialiases fonts where possible. Use this option for standard Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors.
Best contrast: Adjusts fonts to give the sharpest possible contrast, and also antialiases fonts, so that characters have smooth edges. This option might enhance the accessibility of the GNOME Desktop to users with visual impairments.
Subpixel smoothing (LCDs): Uses techniques that exploit the shape of individual Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) pixels to render fonts smoothly. Use this option for LCD or flat-screen displays.

Details

Click on this button to specify further details of how to render fonts on your screen.

Resolution (dots per inch): Use the spin box to specify the resolution to use when your screen renders fonts.
Smoothing: Select one of the options to specify how to antialias fonts.
Hinting: Hinting is a font-rendering technique that improves the quality of fonts at small sizes and an at low screen resolutions. Select one of the options to specify how to apply hinting your fonts.
Subpixel order: Select one of the options to specify the subpixel color order for your fonts. Use this option for LCD or flat-screen displays.

You can use the Interface tabbed section in the Appearance preference tool to customize the appearance of menus, menubars, and toolbars for applications that are part of GNOME.

As you make changes to the settings, the preview display in the window updates. This allows you to see the changes if no application windows are currently open.

Show icons in menus

Select this option to display an icon beside items in application menus and the panel menu. Not all menu items have an icon.

Editable menu shortcut keys

Selecting this option allows you to define new keyboard shortcuts for menu items.

To change an application shortcut key, open the menu, and with the mouse pointer on the menu item you wish to change, press the new combination of keys. To remove a shortcut key, press Backspace or Delete.

When using this feature, you will not be warned if assigning a new shortcut key to a command also removes it from another command.

There is no way to restore the original, default keyboard shortcut for a command.

This feature does not maintain shortcuts that are normally common to all applications, such as Ctrl+C for Copy. This may lead to inconsistencies in your GNOME applications.

Toolbar button labels

Choose one of the following options to specify what to display on the toolbars in your GNOME-compliant applications:

Text Below Icons: Select this option to display toolbars with text as well as an icon on each button.
Text Beside Icons: Select this option to display toolbars with an icon only on each button, and with text on the most important buttons.
Icons Only: Select this option to display toolbars with an icon only on each button.
Text Only: Select this option to display toolbars with text only on each button.

Appearance Preferences

8.2.1.1. Theme Preferences

8.2.1.1.1. To Create a Custom Theme

8.2.1.1.2. To Install a New Theme

8.2.1.1.3. To Delete a Theme Option

8.2.1.2. Desktop Background Preferences

8.2.1.3. Font Preferences

8.2.1.3.1. Choosing Fonts

8.2.1.3.2. Font Rendering

8.2.1.4. Interface Preferences