Provided by: afterstep_2.2.12-15build1_amd64 bug

NAME

       ColorScheme - defines color values for standard set of internal color names, to be used in
       other configuration files

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

       Active

              Color that will be used for  background  of  different  focused  elemets,  such  as
              focused   window's  titlebar,  selected  menu  item,  etc.  This  color  should  be
              contrasting with Base, Inactive1 and Inactive2 in hue, but similar in saturation.

       ActiveDark

              This color should have slightly lesser value then Active (be 5-10% darker). This is
              useful when background of focused titlebar is a gradient.

       ActiveLight

              This  color  should have slightly higher value then Active (be 5-10% lighter). This
              is useful when background of focused titlebar is a gradient.

       ActiveText

              Color of the text on focused titlebars. It should be in high  value  contrast  with
              Active color.

       Angle

              Defines  angle  on  the  hue circle between Inactive1, Base and Inactive2 colors in
              color schemes, that are automagically calculated by AfterStep. Default angle is  30
              degrees. Use smaller angle to make Inactive and Base colors more similar.

       Base

              This  color  is  defining  color  of  the color scheme. It will be used for desktop
              background. When AfterStep is allowed to calculate color scheme automagically -  it
              will use this color in conjunction with the Angle value as base of calculations.

       BaseDark

              Color that should be about 10% darker then the Base color, but have similar hue and
              saturation. Useful for drawing gradiented desktop background.

       BaseLight

              Color that should be about 10% lighter then the Base color, but  have  similar  hue
              and saturation. Useful for drawing gradiented desktop background.

       Cursor

              This  color will be used for pmouse pointer, and it should be in high contrast with
              all the other colors.

       DisabledText

              Color of the text of disabled menu items. Should be very  similar  to  menu  item's
              background color.

       HighActive

              Used for focused menus. Should be similar to Active color, but somewhat lighter.

       HighActiveBack

              Used  for  current menu item's background. Should be similar, but somewhat brighter
              them Active color.

       HighActiveBackDark

              Should be 10% darker then HighActiveBack color. Useful for gradiented background of
              selected menu item.

       HighActiveBackLight

              Should  be  10% lighter then HighActiveBack color. Useful for gradiented background
              of selected menu item.

       HighActiveDark

              Should be 10% darker then HighActive color. Useful  for  gradiented  background  of
              focused menu titlebar.

       HighActiveLight

              Should  be  10%  lighter then HighActive color. Useful for gradiented background of
              focused menu titlebar.

       HighActiveText

              Color to be used for drawing text on focused  menu  titlebar.  Should  be  in  high
              contrast with HighActive color.

       HighInactive

              Used  for  unfocused  menus.  Should  be  similar  to Inactive1 color, but somewhat
              lighter.

       HighInactiveBack

              Used for inactive menu item's background. Should be similar, but somewhat  brighter
              them HighInactive color.

       HighInactiveBackDark

              Should  be 10% darker then HighInactiveBack color. Useful for gradiented background
              of inactive menu item.

       HighInactiveBackLight

              Should be 10% lighter then HighInactiveBack color. Useful for gradiented background
              of inactive menu item.

       HighInactiveDark

              Should  be  10% darker then HighInactive color. Useful for gradiented background of
              inactive menu titlebars.

       HighInactiveLight

              Should be 10% lighter then HighInactive color. Useful for gradiented background  of
              inactive menu titlebars.

       HighInactiveText

              Color  of  the  text  on unfocused menu titlebar. Should be highly contrasting with
              HighInactive color.

       Inactive1

              Primary color used for unfocused window titlebar's background.

       Inactive1Dark

              Should be 10% darker then Inactive1. Useful for gradiented background of  unfocused
              windows.

       Inactive1Light

              Should be 10% lighter then Inactive1. Useful for gradiented background of unfocused
              windows.

       Inactive2

              Secondary color used for unfocused window titlebar's background. Should be used for
              unfocused sticky windows.

       Inactive2Dark

              Should  be  10%  darker  then Inactive2. Useful for gradiented background of sticky
              windows.

       Inactive2Light

              Should be 10% lighter then Inactive2. Useful for gradiented  background  of  sticky
              windows.

       InactiveText1

              Color  of  the  text  on  unfocused  titlebars.  Should  be highly contrasting with
              Inactive1.

       InactiveText2

              Color of the text on sticky titlebars. Should be highly contrasting with Inactive2.

DESCRIPTION

       AfterStep color schemes are supposed to ease the pain of assembling set of colors that  go
       well  with  each  other,  while  providing  additional  flexibility while designing custom
       looks/themes.

       AfterStep Colorscheme is a standard set of color names,  that  may  have  different  color
       values  assigned to them. This color names are used in defining Look and in XML images. By
       assigning different color values to the same color  names  it  is  possible  to  instantly
       change colors throughout entire Look, without altering any images or configuration files.

       Not  all  of  the Colorscheme colors have to be explicitly defined. Only the Base color is
       important. AfterStep is capable of autogeneration of good-looking colorscheme,  from  this
       single  color.  Explicit  color definition in colorscheme file will override any automatic
       choice. Example of  this  is  the  NeXTish  colorscheme,  where  all  of  the  colors  are
       customized.  If  grayscale  color  is  chosen  for  Base  -  it  will  generate  grayscale
       colorscheme, where different shades of gray are used for different colors.

       Selected colorscheme file is loaded by all modules  and  afterstep  proper.  Whenever  new
       colorscheme is selected - it triggers reloading of the Look file and all image files.

       All  of  the  supplied  Look  files  had  been  written to take advantage of the AfterStep
       colorschemes.

       Please  read  below  for  more  details  on  how  colorschemes  are  generated  and  other
       color-related topics :

       HARMONIOUS  COLORS  Task of selecting a set of matching colors is a serious matter, and it
       was studied by artists and designers for centuries. AS the result there are certain  rules
       developed to simplify this task.

       Firstly,  instead of selecting colors in Red/Green/Blue colorspace, matching colors should
       be selected using Hue/Saturation/Value (HSV) colorspace. Color hues are the most important
       characteristic  of the color, and is measured in degrees from 0(red hue) to 60(yellow hue)
       to 120(green hue) to 180(cyan hue) to 240(blue hue) to 300(purple hue)  and  then  to  360
       which is the same hue as 0 - red. Hues could be placed on a so called color circle, making
       it easier to choose matching colors.

       There are two main approaches to selecting color scheme - single hue, or several hues.

       Single hue colors differ in its saturation, and  usually  allow  for  a  soothing,  simple
       theme.  Such  theme could be pleasant to look at, but it lacks in excitement, and makes it
       difficult to distinguish between different elements.

       Using several hues makes theme a bit more exciting, and  adds  more  visual  cues  to  the
       screen,  providing for easier operation, and allowing user to relax eye muscles, resulting
       in better ergonomics. Accordingly this is the  approach  that  should  be  used  for  user
       interface  colors.  Now  how to select hues that compose harmonious theme? The rule of the
       thumb is that hues that are close to each other on color circle go well with  each  other,
       while those, located on opposing sides of the circle, create contrasting effect.

       AfterStep addresses the task of selecting harmonious colors, by generating a set of colors
       from a single color using designer rules.  IMAGE HUES Look  of  the  screen  (aka  Theme),
       includes  numerous images, such as icons, backgrounds, bars, etc. Each such image may have
       one or several dominating hues, which brings us back to the  task  of  matching  hues,  in
       order to achieve harmonious look.

       The  rule  of  the  thumb  to  follow here is that, each image on any particular interface
       element, such as titlebar, should have at least one dominating hue to be the same  as  the
       hue of the background of this element.

       There are several way to make sure that hue of the image matches that of the background :

       tinting
              If  an image has single dominating hue, it could be converted to grayscale and then
              tinted with the color of the background.

       hue rotation
              If an image has several hues, or a hue and some grayscale parts - its hues could be
              rotated,  by converting image into HSV colorspace, changing range of hues, and then
              converting image back into RGB colorspace.

       superimposition
              Also image hues may be altered by superimposing it over the background image  using
              allanon  composition  method,  where  each pixel is substituted with the average of
              image's pixel value and background's pixel value.

              AfterStep addresses the task of changing hues of images using XML image  scripting.
              See  asimagexml  for  more  on that.  COLOR NAMES AfterStep Colorscheme color names
              could be separated in several categories :

       Foreground and Background
              Foreground colors are used to render  text,  while  background  colors  make  up  a
              backdrop  for  that  text. Now there are several constraints on foreground colors -
              they should be contrasting with backgrounds, and it is always better  to  constrain
              foreground  colors  to  black  and  white,  as  colored text tends to "bleed" ontop
              background, making it less eligible. Another problem with foreground being colorful
              is  that  it  increases  strain  on  user's eyes, forcing them to adapt to too many
              different contrasting colors.

       Base, Active and Inactive
              General color theme of the screen is determined by background. Accordingly we  term
              it a Base color, and determine the rest of the colors as relation to it. Now at any
              given time there could be one element that is focused and active, while  other  are
              off  focus  and  should assume lower visibility. We define Active colors to be used
              with focused items (should be contrasting with the  Base  color).  We  also  define
              Inactive  colors  to  be  used  with  off-focus items (its a good idea to make them
              analogues to the Base color). Now as we may  have  2  kinds  of  off-focus  windows
              (sticky  and  non-sticky  ),  we  actually  define 2 Inactive colors: Inactive1 and
              Inactive2.

       Gradient colors
              Gradients create very appealing  look  when  used  to  color  titlebars  and  other
              interface  elements.  Generally  its a good idea to use colors of the same hue, but
              having different intensity. To  denote  colors  designated  for  gradients  we  add
              Dark/Light  postfix  to  color  names.   COLOR  VALUES AfterStep supports extremely
              flexible and extensive ways to define color value.  Standard  approach  is  to  use
              #RRGGBB notation. In addition to that, AfterStep supports the following notations :

       #RGB   Same  as  #RRGGBB,  only  using 4bit values for components. For example #F84 is the
              same as #F08040.

       #ARGB  This is the same as #RGB plus Alpha value is added (Alpha value defines opacity  of
              the color).

       #AARRGGBB
              This is the same as #RRGGBB plus 8-bit Alpha value is added.

       hsv(hue,saturation,value)
              Defines  color  using  HSV  colorspace  hue  is  measured  from  0  to 360 degrees,
              saturation and value are measured from 0 to 100.

       rgb(red,green,blue)
              Defines color in RGB colorspace. Similar to #RRGGBB form, but  values  are  not  in
              hex,  but  in decimals (from 0 to 255). It also allows for nested expressions, such
              as : rgb(128,128,blue(Base)).

       ahsv(alpha,hue,saturation,value)
              Same as hsv(), but also adds Alpha channel.

       argb(alpha,red,green,blue)
              Same as argb(), but also adds Alpha channel.

       hue(hue,color)
              Alters hue of the given predefined color, preserving its saturation and value.

       sat(saturation,color)
              Alters saturation of the given predefined color.

       val(value,color)
              Alters value of the given predefined color.

       alpha(alpha,color)
              Alters alpha of the given predefined color. This is  useful  to  make  colors  from
              colorscheme semi-transparent.

       red(red,color)
              Alters red channel value of the given predefined color.

       green(green,color)
              Alters green channel value of the given predefined color.

       blue(blue,color)
              Alters blue channel value of the given predefined color.

              Example :
              #This could be used in colorscheme definition :

              Inactive1 #FF5C5B66           # or ahsv(255,245,10,40) or argb(255,92,91,102)

              #This could be used in MyStyle definition in the look.  #That makes Sticky window's
              titlebar semi-transparent:

              BackMultiGradient   6 alpha(50,Inactive2Dark) 0.0 alpha(50,Inactive2Light) 1.0

              Actuall usage of colors is defined in AfterStep look file, in MyStyle  definitions.
              Also  all  ColorScheme  colors  could be used in AfterStep XML images, similarly to
              standard X color aliases. It is also possible to  use  different  aspects  of  each
              color - red, green, blue and alpha, hue, saturation and value individualy. For each
              color    there    are    6    variables    defined    using    following     sytax:
              $ascs.colorname.component  .  For  example  $ascs.Active.hue  represents hue of the
              Active color. This is useful while doing transformations (tinting, hsv,  etc  )  in
              AfterStep XML images.