Zotero 8 Dark Mode Blue Hue

rgelz

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u17744540/2r4wf7f40ltrlz4cbk40.png

Hi, is it possible to make dark mode truly dark again? There is this strange blue hue when viewing documents in dark mode.
  • yibinfan
    I am faced with the same issue. Don't know if it is by design or an error.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @rgelz, @yibinfan: It's by design — it's based on a popular color palette used in lots of software — but in Zotero 8.0.1, we've added a "Black" theme that uses a black background and inverted images, mirroring the dark theme in Zotero 7.
  • mmrzik
    To set the theme see here: https://www.zotero.org/blog/zotero-8/#reader-appearance-panel-with-theme-support
  • noah.gordon
    I tried the "Black" theme in Zotero 8, but the colors choices for the inverted figures are clearly different. Would it be possible to add a Zotero 7-like theme option?
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 28 days ago
    @noah.gordon: We'd need to see a specific example. "Black" is obviously meant for people who preferred the Z7 theme.
  • cool_alex
    @dstillman Zotero 8's new dark mode makes images which contain dark text completely unreadable. Attached are screenshots taken in Zotero 8 in both light and dark modes. (Image source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10141-2)

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u7663603/chpbuh847382ni7pgtaf.png
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u7663603/1mdwl4ulsmiow0owq7i1.png
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @cool_alex: You can switch to Black for those or create a custom theme that's similar to the default dark one but that inverts images. Many people complained about inverted images, so there's no one option here that will work for all people and all documents.
  • cool_alex
    edited 5 days ago
    @dstillman I don't see a "black" theme already available, neither in the system settings nor in the theme options when viewing the article.

    Importantly, it feels like a burden to users to fiddle with custom settings when the default settings produce an unusable view. It would be great if the default options "just worked" for dark mode.

    Edit: I upgraded to v8.0.1 and now I see the Black option. I also adjusted my wording. Regardless of my frustration with this issue, I'm very thankful for the great work the Zotero team is doing.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited 5 days ago
    @cool_alex: "Black" was added in Zotero 8.0.1 a month ago, as I say above. Make sure you're running the latest version. If you don't see it, provide a Report ID and a screenshot.
    Importantly, why are you burdening users to fiddle with custom settings when the default settings produce an unusable view? Please fix this.
    I just explained this? Many people complained that the Zotero 7 dark mode inverted images, which is the only real way (short of, like, AI-based image processing) to make dark text embedded in an image visible against a dark background. So since different people have different preferences and read different kinds of content, there are easily accessible options.
  • cool_alex
    @dstillman That's a good point about the inverted images. However, I imagine the new dark mode makes images with dark text unreadable for everyone, which doesn't seem like a step forward.

    I wonder if the default dark mode should only affect text and ignore images, leaving them in their normal light mode state. Perhaps this has its own complications though.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @cool_alex: Looking at this PDF, it isn't actually even what you describe — this text isn't actually part of the images (which is why it's selectable). In fact, for the default Dark theme, we do try to make black lines (including text) white, while darkening the rest of the image a bit, so dark text on a white background should still remain fairly readable.

    This looks like it's just text that's placed on the page, separate from the actual images and body text. I'm not sure why we're not inverting that text, but we'll look into it.
  • cool_alex
    @dstillman Thank you for looking into it!

    In the meantime, I'm finding the Sepia theme to be a nice alternative.
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