Available for beta testing: Reader appearance popup with theme support

dstillman
edited 15 days ago
In the Zotero 7.1 beta, we've added a new Appearance popup to the reader that provides quick access to view settings and introduces new support for reader themes:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u6/3fdnwzer0wntb6uo88cg.png
The view settings are per-document settings. (We still plan to make it possible to set default view settings.) Themes are applied globally for all documents, including in the attachment preview in the item pane, and apply to PDFs, EPUBs, and webpage snapshots.

We offer a number of built-in themes ("Dark", "Snow", "Sepia"), and you can create custom themes just by specifying a foreground and background color. (Some other theme engines require additional accent colors, but we've tried to make this as simple as possible for users by automatically adjusting other colors based on the foreground and background colors.) You can set a different theme that applies to light mode and dark mode.

The themes replace the previous on-by-default "Use Dark Mode for Content" option, which inverted images in dark mode. We're now simply darkening images a bit when using a dark theme (currently only for PDFs). Images and ink annotations in the reader sidebar and note editor are now only darkened as well (and only when Zotero itself is in dark mode).

When possible, we also try to apply themes to PDF pages containing full-page images (e.g., scanned papers) by replacing whitish/dark colors with theme colors. This is still experimental, and it's only possible when images are of sufficient quality with very few colors. (Otherwise we simply darken the page slightly.)

The PDF theme engine is loosely based on Doq, an add-on for PDF.js, the Firefox PDF viewer on which Zotero's reader is based. Snapshot theming uses Dark Reader. We've borrowed some colors from Doq, Firefox's reader mode, and the Nord theme.

Let us know how these new features work for you. Please create new threads for any specific issues.
  • warguelles
    @dstillman Thank you very much for this new addition. I have been testing it and it is working very well. I especially appreciate the possibility to adjust or create one's own theme.

    For example, I liked the sepia theme, but I was able to darken the foreground a bit for more contrast. Thanks!
  • iagogv
    edited 15 days ago
    Thanks a lot. It must be said it is another great improvement for Zotero.

    But, precisely, it also must be remarked the issues, such as that themes seem to have some glitches yet: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/121699/math-fonts-remain-dark-in-ieee-transactions-with-dark-theme#latest
  • Maxpllanck
    Customizing themes with just foreground and background colors is simple, and the darkening of images in dark mode is a useful improvement. Looking forward to how the full-page image theming develops!
  • aliakhavan89
    I came here to thank you for all the nice things you've done on Zotero 7.0, and then I saw this. I cannot thank you enough! It's working very well!
  • adrienburg
    Thank you ! It works great. A minor issue : highlighted text seems to keep the light theme. For instance in papers, the citations appear very strongly in dark mode (example here: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.077).
  • OsmanHB
    I literally came here to talk about how the old dark mode was making it extremely difficult to read. I saw this and updated Zotero, and boom, there it is. I really appreciate the new dark mode, making life much easier. Thank you!!

    PS: Speaking of colours and legibility, please let us pick different colours for main folders (with the colour of their respective subfolders being synced to them). I would be forever grateful for such a feature.

    Thank you again for making Zotero happen.
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