kmcintyre Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Hello I have been using Cakewalk since the mid '90s. My last time really using Sonar Platinum was in 2017, before Cakewalk was sold. (Yea, I bought the lifetime license...) I have R.P and my eyes have been getting worse over time. A few years back I tried using Paint.net to create my own High Contrast theme for Sonar. I made progress but never mastered the art of theme creation. What I need to use CBB is a theme that is black on white (like 0x000000 on 0xFFFFFF). An the fancy track coloring and shades of gray are lost on me. They only make it difficult to see. (I actually use ZoomText to smart invert all colors, so when I ask for black on white, I am really going to see white on black. But that is an aside...) Are there any super high contrast Light themes out there? (Probably not...) Are any of you guys or gals willing to take on a freelance project to create me a theme? I have USD. I don't have 20/400 vision... If not, I will need to try to build one myself again. (But that is a rat hole I would rather avoid...) Please let me know. I will share the end product with the world via this site. There are plenty of us old folk losing our site as we age, but not losing our love of music. Thanks for your consideration. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Give FLAT WHITE a try. It's not extreme contrast but might be close to what you need. Now I have this urge to create an extreme contrast - but usable - theme. I wish I had more time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 (edited) Since this is really a request by one person for a Black & White theme, off-topic content related to other high-contrast possibilities has been removed. Edited June 10, 2023 by User 905133 high-contrast possibilities related to color removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 2 hours ago, User 905133 said: FWIW, some colorizing experiments I have tried based on my aging eyesight. Those are like Easter on steroids ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted May 3, 2023 Share Posted May 3, 2023 On 5/1/2023 at 10:32 PM, kmcintyre said: What I need to use CBB is a theme that is black on white (like 0x000000 on 0xFFFFFF). An the fancy track coloring and shades of gray are lost on me I get that you're looking for Black Text on White Background.. does this mean that the default Tungsten theme doesn't work for you? It is pretty good high-contrast, the only "problem" is that it is Bright-On-Dark. Is that out of the question for your visual impediment? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) I've started working on a high contrast theme. It's not finished, but you can already see the Control Bar (top of the screen) is ready, as well as most icons (like Mute/Solo/Record) on the tracks and buses. Would something like that be readable enough? Edited June 8, 2023 by Grebz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 Very nice, Grebz. I would make the SOLO and MUTE button icons to be less similar - frankly M and S are pretty good and distinct. Also the "off" state could be even less bright, the green in particular. Otherwise, nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 7 hours ago, Grebz said: I've started working on a high contrast theme. It's not finished, but you can already see the Control Bar (top of the screen) is ready, as well as most icons (like Mute/Solo/Record) on the tracks and buses. Would something like that be readable enough? Great initiative! The OP hasn’t been logged on here since he created this thread, but as he is the only one who can say for sure, let’s hope he notices your post. Otherwise I would recommend you to send him a PM which most likely will result in him getting an email. One thing I noticed is that the OP specifically said that he needed a theme that was “black on white”. I don’t know if it matters, but to me your theme looks to be white on black. But of course, only the OP can say for sure. I also agree with Colin; for Mute and Solo the letters M and S are probably much more distinctive than a recurrent circle with different colours. I don’t know about the OP, but other users who suffer from colour blindness and also would prefer a high contrast theme might have a hard time to distinguish between red, green and yellow if the icons otherwise are identical. Because of that I would also stay away from having multi-coloured icons like the Erase tool in your screenshot. I think that contrast is king. But once again, great initiative! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 Thanks Colin Nicholls and Canopus. Suggestions well noted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 (edited) Since this is really a request by one person for a Black & White theme, off-topic content related to other high-contrast possibilities has been removed. Edited June 10, 2023 by User 905133 comment related to non-black & white high-contrast possibilities removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 @Noel Borthwick This is a consideration that should be taken into account in the new Sonar build to make it as accessible as possible - hopefully you already have it covered ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 (edited) Today's version Edited June 10, 2023 by Grebz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 (edited) Console view Edited June 10, 2023 by Grebz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 (edited) Since this is really a request by one person for a Black & White theme, off-topic content related to other high-contrast possibilities has been removed. Edited June 10, 2023 by User 905133 high-contrast possibilities related to color removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canopus Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 7 hours ago, Grebz said: Today's version You’re getting there! However, I would suggest that the Arm and Arm All Tracks buttons are also turned simply black and white. To me, that dark red on black doesn’t give much contrast. Also, the disabled Freeze and Archive buttons are using shades of gray. I guess all disabled buttons follow the same colour scheme. But to quote the OP: “And the fancy track coloring and shades of gray are lost on me. They only make it difficult to see.” To get away from different shades of gray, maybe all disabled buttons can be made with say a 45° slash or some other visual cue that they’re disabled? Just to play around with the idea, I made a go with the Arm button, displaying the states Not Armed, Armed and Disabled. I think it might work, but as the OP isn't around, it's anyone's guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 This is really great work! At the risk of sounding like I'm contradicting myself, I recommend adding a touch of color back: Pastel shades of Yellow, Green, and pink for the Mute/Solo/RecArm etc. You'll retain the high contrast but you can also help distinguish the buttons from each other. It's a fine balance. Or, feel free to ignore me. It's your work and you have a vision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 2 minutes ago, Colin Nicholls said: This is really great work! At the risk of sounding like I'm contradicting myself, I recommend adding a touch of color back: Pastel shades of Yellow, Green, and pink for the Mute/Solo/RecArm etc. You'll retain the high contrast but you can also help distinguish the buttons from each other. It's a fine balance. Or, feel free to ignore me. It's your work and you have a vision. Well, I thought about it (for good looks), but he said "fancy track coloring and shades of gray are lost on me". Yes, he's talking about track coloring, but I assumed he may have difficulties discerning colors and nuances. So I'm sticking to black and white. You can't go more contrasted that this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grebz Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Arm button modified... You may download it here if you want to try it: Cakewalk theme - High Contrast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Laser 84 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 On 6/10/2023 at 1:07 AM, Grebz said: Today's version Like this but make everything that's gray white, and everything that's white black. I think that's what OP meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Nicholls Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Recreating our themes using the forthcoming theming tools for New Sonar is a gonna be so fun... (engaging the power of positive thinking here). Oh, and Welcome, @Neon Laser 84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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