Color Schemes

Customize Klassy’s color schemes and apply them to your desktop environment

Klassy includes carefully crafted color schemes designed to work seamlessly with the window decorations and application style. These color schemes provide optimized contrast and visual harmony across your entire desktop.

Available Color Schemes

Klassy provides several built-in color schemes:

Klassy Dark

A refined dark theme with carefully balanced colors for comfortable long-term use.

Window Colors

[Colors:Window]
BackgroundNormal=42,46,50
BackgroundAlternate=49,54,59
ForegroundNormal=252,252,252
ForegroundInactive=161,169,177

Titlebar Colors

[WM]
activeBackground=70,75,81,191
activeForeground=252,252,252
inactiveBackground=42,46,50
inactiveForeground=161,169,177

The active titlebar includes an alpha value (191) for transparency by default.

Klassy Light

A clean light theme optimized for daylight viewing conditions.

Window Colors

[Colors:Window]
BackgroundNormal=240,240,240
BackgroundAlternate=227,229,231
ForegroundNormal=35,38,41
ForegroundInactive=112,125,138

Titlebar Colors

[WM]
activeBackground=42,46,50,191
activeForeground=252,252,252
inactiveBackground=239,240,241
inactiveForeground=112,125,138

Opal Fruits Dark

A vibrant dark theme with enhanced saturation and modern aesthetics.

[Colors:Header]
BackgroundNormal=41,44,48
BackgroundAlternate=32,35,38
ForegroundNormal=252,252,252
DecorationFocus=61,174,233
DecorationHover=61,174,233

[Colors:Header][Inactive]
BackgroundNormal=32,35,38
BackgroundAlternate=41,44,48
ForegroundNormal=252,252,252

Opal Fruits schemes include a separate [Colors:Header] section for enhanced titlebar customization.

Opal Fruits Light

The light variant of the Opal Fruits theme.

Accent Colors

All Klassy color schemes support KDE’s system accent color feature:

1. Accent Color Properties

   Accent colors are defined in the color scheme through:

   • DecorationFocus - Used for focused elements and window decorations
   • DecorationHover - Used for hover states (Klassy automatically adjusts if same as Focus)
2. Button Integration

   Window buttons can inherit accent colors through the Button Colors settings:

   • Accent - Use system accent color for buttons
   • AccentNegativeClose - Accent for regular buttons, red for close
   • AccentTrafficLights - Different colors per button type (red/yellow/green)

Color Scheme Sections

Klassy color schemes support all KDE color sections:

Section	Purpose	Example Usage
Colors:Window	Main window backgrounds	Application windows
Colors:View	Content viewing areas	List views, text editors
Colors:Button	Interactive elements	Buttons, controls
Colors:Selection	Selected items	Highlighted text, selected files
Colors:Tooltip	Tooltip popups	Hover information
Colors:Complementary	Panels and docks	System panels
Colors:Header	Window titlebars	Window decorations

Semantic Colors

Klassy uses semantic color definitions for consistent theming:

Negative (Red)

ForegroundNegative=218,68,83

Used for destructive actions like the close button and error states.

Neutral (Orange)

ForegroundNeutral=246,116,0

Used for warning states and the minimize button in traffic light mode.

Positive (Green)

ForegroundPositive=39,174,96

Used for success states and the maximize button in traffic light mode.

Creating Custom Color Schemes

You can create custom color schemes compatible with Klassy:

1. Create the file

   Create a new .colors file in ~/.local/share/color-schemes/:

   [General]
   ColorScheme=MyCustomScheme
   Name=My Custom Scheme
   shadeSortColumn=true
   
   [KDE]
   contrast=4
   
2. Define color sections

   Add all required color sections (Window, View, Button, Selection, etc.):

   [Colors:Window]
   BackgroundNormal=40,40,40
   ForegroundNormal=255,255,255
   # ... other colors
   
3. Configure titlebar colors

   Set the window manager colors with optional transparency:

   [WM]
   activeBackground=50,50,50,200
   activeForeground=255,255,255
   inactiveBackground=40,40,40
   inactiveForeground=180,180,180
   

   The fourth value in activeBackground is the alpha channel (0-255). Use 255 for fully opaque.

4. Apply the color scheme

   Select your custom color scheme in System Settings → Colors & Themes → Colors.

Color Scheme Integration

Klassy’s window decorations automatically read colors from the active color scheme:

// From decorationcolors.cpp
void DecorationColors::readSystemTitleBarColors(
    KSharedConfig::Ptr kdeGlobalConfig,
    QColor &systemBaseActive,
    QColor &systemBaseInactive,
    QColor &systemTextActive,
    QColor &systemTextInactive)
{
    // Reads from [Colors:Header] if available,
    // otherwise falls back to [WM] section
}

Use the [Colors:Header] section for better titlebar color control, especially with transparency.

Contrast and Accessibility

Klassy includes automatic contrast enhancement:

• Minimum contrast ratio: 1.5:1 for titlebar text
• Poor contrast detection: Automatically adjusts text color to black or white when needed
• Configurable thresholds: Can be adjusted in Klassy Settings

When creating custom color schemes, ensure adequate contrast between background and foreground colors for accessibility.

Testing Your Color Scheme

1. Test with different states

   Check your colors with:

   • Active and inactive windows
   • Hovered and pressed buttons
   • Maximized and floating windows
2. Verify transparency

   If using transparent titlebars, test against different wallpapers to ensure readability.

3. Check semantic colors

   Ensure negative (red), neutral (orange), and positive (green) colors are clearly distinguishable.