Ugh...Color Scheme of Version 6. Can I change it?

[WVFreebyrd]

I just upgraded from Elements 5 to Elements 6. Ugh, who's bright idea was this to go to a "black on gray" color scheme. You can barely see the selection arrows on the drop down dialog boxes and the scroll bars on the selection tools are virtually impossible to locate with the black "slider" being on the dark gray background.

Is there anyway to change the overall color scheme? Honestly, I'll probably drop back to version 5 if there isn't a solution to this.

I love this product but I must say to "anyone at Adobe who is listening" the new color scheme REALLY, REEEEALLY makes this product difficult to use. You need to fix it if the user can't modify it.:mad:

[Inspeqtor]

Hello WVFreebyrd,

Welcome to the Village!

I have to tell you that no it is not possible to change the looks of PSE6. There were a lot of people here on this forum that complained about the dark interface when it first came out.

I for one do like it. I have PSE4, PSE5 and PSE6. I liked 5 better than 4 on the color of the interface. But I really like 5 and 6 about the same. The more I use 6 the more I like the darker interface.

[originalstarlite]

I have read that the updating to the darker palette was to provide a more professional appearance. This may be true and I have become accustomed to the color scheme with one glaring exception.

When in Organizer Mode and choosing an option for editing a picture, I cannot tolerate the shift in color that transpires when choosing one of the Auto Buttons. It is inexcusable that the background shifts to a lighter mode when presenting the fixed edition, and back to a darker hue for the original.

All I see changing is the background, instead of seeing the actual changes to my work. It would have been far more useful to just have an edited icon appear off to the side. As a audio comparison, you would never audition speakers in a demo room at different settings. A vs B can only be relevant to the ear with identical settings, especially volume. The ear would always prefer the louder setting even if it was not of a better quality. Likewise, the eye prefers the lighter background even if it is not an improvement.

As a result of this engineering blunder, I only use the Quick Fix area for minor editing. Besides, it shows side by side which is very useful.

[kevq]

When I started to use 6 I hated the colour scheme but now I like it.
At my age my eyes are not 20/20 but I find that it doesn't cause me too much trouble.
Kev.

[johnrellis]

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question of PSE 6. Adobe has (unfortunately) chosen a dark, low contrast color scheme that makes many elements of the user interface hard to read in many situations:

- On uncalibrated displays.
- On older laptop screens and displays and on projectors.
- By older users (like myself) whose eyes are often less sensitive to darker shades.
- In bright rooms, e.g. next to a window.

The problem areas include the selection tool’s brush palette, the grey-on-black fonts used for dimmed menu options, and the text for tags in the Keyword Tags pane. For many people, this is more than a simple “matter of taste” or “getting used to it”.

Some people have found they can improve the readability by adjusting the brightness and contrast, or by calibrating with a device (which includes adjustments to brightness and contrast). These adjustments have the effect of increasing the relative contrast between the darker shades of grey, improving their readability.

For example, with the default settings on my monitor, it’s hard for me to distinguish the brushes and brush sizes of the Small Thumbnail option for the brush tool. But after I calibrated the display with a Spyder2, they were much easier to read -- the darker shades, rather than all appearing almost-black, were spread out from a lighter grey to a darker black, with higher contrast between them.

There are many resources on the Web about adjusting displays, but a quick test is to view a grey-scale test chart on your display and see if you can distinguish all the shades of black, grey, and white. Here are a couple of such charts:

http://www.jasc.com/support/kb/articles/monitor.asp (http://www.jasc.com/support/kb/articles/monitor.asp)
http://home.comcast.net/~morrised2006/tips/monitor.htm (http://home.comcast.net/~morrised2006/tips/monitor.htm)

If you can’t distinguish the shades in these test charts, then your monitor brightness and contrast need adjustment.

[mustang]

[quote=WVFreebyrd;383073]I just upgraded from Elements 5 to Elements 6. Ugh, who's bright idea was this to go to a "black on gray" color scheme. You can barely see the selection arrows on the drop down dialog boxes and the scroll bars on the selection tools are virtually impossible to locate with the black "slider" being on the dark gray background.

Join the club. I keep hoping Adobe would issue a patch to change the color. They probably don't care - they already have our money!

FYI. I posted the following info yesterday but it is not displayed. Don't know why.
I reinstalled PSE 6 after a hard drive format. Re-calibrated the monitor using Monaco EZ Color and Optix colorimeter. To my surprise and delight the dark grey was replaced by a much lighter grey, almost seem to have a slight brown tinge, which makes it substantially easier to see the menus, symbols, etc. I don't have an explanation for the change. The monitor was calibrated with the same equipment on the original install of PSE 6. Other might wish to try recalibrating their monitors to see if they get the same result.

[WVFreebyrd]

I spoke to a customer rep who indicated the following to me:

(1) They have had a number of users comment on this issue and the difficulty that the color scheme causes.

(2) The representative told me the "best" course to take at this time is to log on to the Adobe website www.adobe.com (http://www.adobe.com) , go to the SEARCH box in top right corner and type in "Feature Request". You will then get a link to a "Feature Request/Bug Report" form. Complete the form indicating you would like the color scheme changed or to give the user the power to change the scheme. The rep stated if enough feedback on this issue is received, then the development team will consider a change.

So, obviously, that's a long way from seeing this resolved but I guess if enough people "complain" maybe something will change in the future.

In the meantime, I'm dropping back to Version 5 because my tired ol' peepers can't take this.

[mustang]

I did it. Informed Adobe that PSE 6 has the worst interface I've ever seen on any software & I will not buy another version of PSE until it is changed to a more readable color.

[ljameso1]

i did it, too. Squeaky wheel gets the grease right?