unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jonathan French <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If you want to get it the exact same way Unity does, look at the code in
unity-shared/BGHash.cpp in the Unity source. It uses the
_GNOME_BACKGROUND_REPRESENTATIVE_COLORS X window property from the root
window, which presumably gets updated by Gnome when the wallpaper changes.

I've attached a quick Python script which outputs that property in CSS hex
format, which looks like the format you use.

On 24 May 2012 19:12, Matt Richardson <m.richardson.1990@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

>  OK so I have created a proof of concept using ImageMagick to get the
> average colour and bash and sed to then replace the specific values in the
> gtk.css, gtk-widgets.css, gtkrc and metacity-theme-1.xml files.
>
> You can download it <http://ubuntuone.com/0CXq4H6R10xHgMaDFMejbP>here<http://ubuntuone.com/6oslxzNUw5GOGCq4Wzqhup>
>
> 1) Extract the files to ~/.themes
> 2) Copy the "Chameleon Script.sh" file to somewhere more easy to access
> 3) You will need to use MyUnity (or similar) to change the theme to
> 'Chameleon', since the 'Appearances' settings panel doesn't display it.
> 4) Run "Chameleon Script.sh"
> 5) Most applications will simply need closing and reopening to update.
> 6) I'm not entirely sure why but programs with workaround css files
> (including nautilus and unity) won't update until you log out and back in.
> Until you do this Nautilus and the top panel (as well as menus thereof)
> will not change.
>
> ImageMagick came installed by default I think (I don't recall installing
> it), but if it's not a default tool then you can install it from the
> software center. In the long run, this script would hopefully be
> incorporated into Unity
>
> Known issues:
> 1) Does not update automatically when the wallpaper is changed. You have
> to run the script each time you change wallpaper.
> 2) Nautilus, Unity and potentially some others do not update until log
> out/in
> 3) Colour matching is not quite the same as Unity. Most of the time the
> theme produces a closer match to the wallpaper than Unity (IMO) but it can
> be affected by a small presence of a very bright colour. It would also be
> better if it could match Unity perfectly to provide seamless aesthetics.
> 4) Cannot handle xml files, as used by wallpapers that change during the
> day.
> 5) The currently highlighted button (not in toolbars) displays dark text
> on a dark background (with some wallpapers). I can't find the value which
> changes that at the moment.
>
> Hopefully, were this integrated into the same code that updates Unity's
> chameleonic elements, issues 1 to 4 would all be solved. Issue 5 is just a
> matter of time, but I decided to see what people think before continuing.
>
> Feedback would be appreciated
> Matt
>
>
>
> On 22/05/12 12:09, Matt Richardson wrote:
>
> I would really like to see a chameleonic theme land in 12.10.
> Not a transparent theme. Instead simply the ambiance theme (light to dark
> vertical gradient) but where the base colour is taken as the average colour
> of the wallpaper.
> I also think this would help the top-left corner issue, as the launcher,
> panel and window would blend a lot better.
> Also, this wouldn't prevent the user from selecting non-chameleonic
> themes, as some people would prefer the contrast.
>
> Thoughts?
> Matt
>
>
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