Active Pane Color

Post by **nikos** » 2004 Aug 10, 07:09

i'll make it no secret, i'm not a fan for colors
so it gives me great pleasure to take on the devil's advocate role here

the obvious counter=argument is, why don't you use icons to tell types apart?

and if the icons themselves look the same, there are plenty of programs that color or tweak icons. Since you'd have to sort out the coloration of file types -- had there been such a feature -- there doesn't seem to be much more setup work involved

windinthew · Post by **windinthew** » 2004 Aug 10, 10:27

Hi Nicos, I like to use the details view , hence colouring the text is far easier to see. I would just like to see more use of colour as an option for freakies like me.

Ken Curtis · Post by **Ken Curtis** » 2004 Aug 10, 12:09

Nikos said:

i'll make it no secret, i'm not a fan for colors
so it gives me great pleasure to take on the devil's advocate role here
the obvious counter=argument is, why don't you use icons to tell types apart?

I don't think it's necessary to color lines with different extensions either, but this is what your customers are requesting. You should give it consideration.

I've seen a program from Roxio (Easy CD Creator (version 5.3.5.10) that does use colors for each new music song that is added to the CD burn list. There are a limited number of colors, probably less than 10, but it looks pretty neat. The designers chose pastel colors so they don't become the main focus, just subtle information differentiators.

For reference, here are some pastel colors to look at:
#define COLOR_PASTEL_MAUVE (RGB(0xFA, 0xE1, 0xFF))
#define COLOR_PASTEL_AQUA (RGB(0xE1, 0xFF, 0xFF))
#define COLOR_PASTEL_PALE_GREEN (RGB(0xE9, 0xFF, 0xE1))
#define COLOR_PASTEL_PALE_BLUE (RGB(0xE1, 0xEA, 0xFF))
#define COLOR_PASTEL_PALE_PINK (RGB(0xFF, 0xE1, 0xE4))
#define COLOR_LT_CREAM (RGB(0xFC, 0xFE, 0xE2))
#define COLOR_LT_GREEN_CREAM (RGB(0xEE, 0xF9, 0xE3))
#define COLOR_PEACH_CREAM (RGB(0xF6, 0xE3, 0xA9))
#define COLOR_OFF_WHITE (RGB(0xF2, 0xEC, 0xDF))
#define COLOR_VERY_LT_GRAY (RGB(0xF0, 0xF0, 0xF0))
#define COLOR_WASHED_LT_YELLOW (RGB(0xFF, 0xFF, 0xD8))
#define COLOR_WASHED_LT_PEACH (RGB(0xFB, 0xEF, 0xCF))

My two cents worth

longfellow · Post by **longfellow** » 2004 Aug 10, 13:12

nikos wrote:...why don't you use icons to tell types apart?

Yes, this is what I do...

Like derailer, I end up working with a number of files that have the same name, but different extensions. I use a set of color-coded icons to easily differentiate these filetypes. Just a glance at the icon (even in Details view) and I know what's what.

Still -- not being a big fan of color either -- you have to be careful not to get carried away with color-coding, or your windows end up looking like the grab bag at a candy store.