Has been some curiosity as to some of the effects I am causing in themes. Below is a few effects along with what these effects cause. Hope this may help others that enjoy creating themes to get things looking as they want!
First effect centers on Gnome Tweak and I started this look in Black Beauty II about accentuating the upper crevice, sides and middle running a selected_fg_color which is light blue. The effect causes a sort of flourescent light effect like light is cascading down Gnome Tweak to illuminate what is being shown. Also adds more dimension to Gnome Tweak to give it more depth instead of a boring flat look. The difference between this and the following is a matter of size and shading. Settings as this are more intense than the following. Takes a few times to get settings correct, so might have to switch in and out of Gnome Tweak theme you are working on to another, just to get it right. Here is that setting:
GtkWindow {
color: @fg_color;
background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 1.5) 1px,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 1.20) 8px,
shade(@bg_color, 4.0));
Now on backdrop we want to get it not be so bright and look faded in the distance so it looks decent. For that this was done. Remember though in my themes text changes color on backdrop. I do not want to bore people with the same old color all the time. In this instance goes from green to amber:
GtkWindow:backdrop {
color: @amb_c;
background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 0.9) 1px,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 0.6) 8px,
shade(@bg_color, 4.0));
Gnome Tweak scroll down menus:
.toolbar .menu,
GtkComboBox .menu {
background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 1.4) 1px,
shade(@selected_fg_color, 0.7) 4px,
shade(@base_color, 0.4));
In this instance above we are looking at a light blue color for selected_fg_color and the base color is blackest black. What this effect causes, is when user scrolls down list of items in menu it gradually gets darker. Now on the rebound or going up it turns light. Nice little effect, that kind of adds to desktop looks along with compiz effects. Also since the frame around Gnome Tweak contains a nice light blue line, it matches that effect. This is the reason instead of using background-color we use background-image, so we can add more coloring. When is only one we then get limited and there goes the looks or effects!
If we can have the above effect in Gnome Tweak menu scroll, then why not in the main menu? Under Applications when one has many programs to go through such as yours truly, or for the greatest OS around "Ultimate" what better way then to do the same effect? So we once again use a background-image to display this effect. Up towards the light, down to the dark!
primary-toolbar .button .menu,
.menu {
background-image: -gtk-gradient (linear, left top, left bottom,
from (shade(@dark_bg_color, 2.1)),
to (shade(@base_color, 0.5)));
Now for a little spruce up on Nemo. This is a nice little effect to make one of the nicest looking file browsers even nicer looking. What it does is brings more body into the coloring brings it from a lighter shade into a darker shade. Yes, you guessed it another image! Background colors in certain areas become boring! So, we then drop that and move to an image we can create. Here is the example and when done creates sort of a rounded effect towards the middle.
.menubar {
-GtkWidget-window-dragging: true;
padding:2px 7px;
background-image: -gtk-gradient (linear, left top, left bottom,
from (shade(@dark_bg_color, 2.5)),
to (shade(@bg_color, 0.8)));
color: @fg_color;
text-shadow: 0 -1px alpha(@selected_fg_color, 0.4);
Now below the menubar background-image you will notice color is fg_color in this instance is green and its text shadow is a lighter light blue but with an alpha adjustment. We do not want to get overbearing on text, but we want to make sure users can see and enjoy what they see! Remember this is not an average theme. Most of those that create themes will not take it to this limit, because of the amount of time it takes. I feel what we see everyday should be something we enjoy immensely. Remember we have to do work and tasks on our computers. Now if what we see on screen makes us feel good, I would say we become more productive! I noticed that fact immediately after using my first copy of Ultimate 3.4! It looked great and to be totally honest worked even better than it looked! That part left me with my jaw wide open and still does. I do not think there is a way to beat an OS of this magnitude! Anyway, I just hope this will be something for those that enjoy theme creation and might spruce the looks up a bit. When time permits will put some more things up. Am also hoping things to smooth out in life and permit me to complete Black Beauty III. We all know good things take time, so will just have to be patient.