Helpful programs:
- Meld: very useful program to compare two files side
by side.
- Bluefish: text editor for programming
- medit: text editor for programming
- geany: text editor for programming
- gpick: helps identify and chose colors
- imagemagick: needed for some image manipulation - when
using "convert", for example.
- inkscape: needed for working with .svg images
- Pinta: used for working with .png images. GIMP is an alternative.
Bluefish, geany, and medit all have the capability to
search for text strings in files. Bluefish is probably the
most reliable for that.
I would say that geany has the best overall interface for
editing.
Install those tools with the command:
sudo apt-get install meld
bluefish geany gpick imagemagick inkscape pinta
Meld:
I will add a few tips about Meld. To compare two files with Meld, open it with Menu > Programming > Meld.
Click on "File Comparison", then click on "(None)" to chose your first file. Then click "Compare".
That will open the dual pane view, where you can click on "(None)" again on the right side to select the second file.
Any differences will be high-lighted.
Color choice:
The next step in preparation is color choice. I am thinking
of making a theme with a very light yellow text area (base
color) and a darker golden color for the main background
(bg_color). Mint 18's Mint-X-Sand is the closest choice to
what I want, so I copy that to my $HOME/.themes folder. I
need to distinguish it from the original Mint-X-Sand, so I
rename it Mint-X-Sand-Gold.Now, I head to http://www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm to pick out my colors.
The "Blonde" color listed there might do for the base color, and "Cinnamon" should be good for the background.
I will need the HEX number and the RGB number for each color, so I record those.
Blonde: HEX - #FBF6D9, RGB - 251,246,217
Cinnamon: HEX - #C58917, RGB - 197,137,23
gtk-3.0
In order to see how it will look, I open up the $HOME/.themes/Mint-X-Sand-Gold/gtk-3.0/gtk-main.css file in Bluefish. The reason for using Bluefish is that it is a gtk3 program, whereas medit and geany are gtk2 programs.
The first lines in gtk-main.css are:
/* Default Color Scheme */
@define-color theme_bg_color #d6d6d6;
@define-color theme_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_base_color #f7f7f7;
@define-color theme_text_color #212121;
@define-color theme_selected_bg_color #c8ac69;
@define-color theme_selected_fg_color #f5f5f5;
@define-color theme_tooltip_bg_color #fbeaa0;
@define-color theme_tooltip_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_bg_color #d6d6d6;
@define-color theme_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_base_color #f7f7f7;
@define-color theme_text_color #212121;
@define-color theme_selected_bg_color #c8ac69;
@define-color theme_selected_fg_color #f5f5f5;
@define-color theme_tooltip_bg_color #fbeaa0;
@define-color theme_tooltip_fg_color #212121;
I plug in my base color and background color, and save the changes.
/* Default Color Scheme */
@define-color theme_bg_color #C58917;
@define-color theme_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_base_color #FBF6D9;
@define-color theme_text_color #212121;
@define-color theme_selected_bg_color #c8ac69;
@define-color theme_selected_fg_color #f5f5f5;
@define-color theme_tooltip_bg_color #fbeaa0;
@define-color theme_tooltip_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_bg_color #C58917;
@define-color theme_fg_color #212121;
@define-color theme_base_color #FBF6D9;
@define-color theme_text_color #212121;
@define-color theme_selected_bg_color #c8ac69;
@define-color theme_selected_fg_color #f5f5f5;
@define-color theme_tooltip_bg_color #fbeaa0;
@define-color theme_tooltip_fg_color #212121;
TIP: After making a change to any gtk2 or gtk3
file, open System Settings > Themes and switch to a
different "Controls" (gtk) theme, then switch back to
see the effect
of your change.
When I load the MInt-X-Sand-Gold theme to check it, it is a disappointment. The base color isn't quite good enough and the background color has areas that appear dirty or sooty.
So I return to http://www.color-hex.com/color/c58917 to try some other colors.
The next lighter tint listed on that page works better - #ca942e, RGB - 202,148,46
I will note that I could go to line 104 of gtk-main.css
@define-color toolbar_bg_b
shade(@theme_bg_color, 0.97);
and change the 0.97 to 1.11 or something similar to get a
lighter color, but I would like to keep it simple for now,
and just find a color that works.To find a better base color, at http://www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm I try Parchment, Cream, and Lemon Chiffon, and settle on Parchment - HEX - #FFFFC2, RGB - 255,255,194
So now I have something I think is better:
Then I go to:
http://www.color-hex.com/color/FFFFC2
http://www.color-hex.com/color/ca942e
and bookmark those two pages.
They have useful information on each color.
gtk-2.0
Now that I have my two colors, I can edit those into the gtk2 gtkrc file - $HOME/.themes/Mint-X-Sand-Gold/gtk-2.0/gtkrc, so that my gtk2 programs will have my chosen colors, also.
gtk_color_scheme = "bg_color:#ca942e\nselected_bg_color:#c8ac69\nbase_color:#FFFFC2"
# Background, base.
gtk_color_scheme = "fg_color:#212121\nselected_fg_color:#f5f5f5\ntext_color:#212121" # Foreground, text.
gtk_color_scheme = "tooltip_bg_color:#fbeaa0\ntooltip_fg_color:#212121" # Tooltips.
gtk_color_scheme = "link_color:#08c" # Hyperlinks
gtk_color_scheme = "fg_color:#212121\nselected_fg_color:#f5f5f5\ntext_color:#212121" # Foreground, text.
gtk_color_scheme = "tooltip_bg_color:#fbeaa0\ntooltip_fg_color:#212121" # Tooltips.
gtk_color_scheme = "link_color:#08c" # Hyperlinks
TIP: In order to preserve my edits, I will right-click
on the .themes/Mint-X-Sand-Gold folder > Duplicate.
That creates a backup copy - so if I mess things up, as I am prone to do, I can fall back to this point.
It is good to get into the habit of doing that frequently.
That creates a backup copy - so if I mess things up, as I am prone to do, I can fall back to this point.
It is good to get into the habit of doing that frequently.
Cinnamon
Now I am ready to get serious with the Cinnamon theme in Chapter 3.