[nbzso]

Funny, my primary work is UI and front-end, I was Apple user for 20 years and now I am in Linux Desktop land without any problem what so ever.

Finally after long years of fiddling with chaos of markdown files I invested the time and switched to Emacs and org-mode. Affinity Designer is running fine under VM, Figma-linux is delight to work with, KDE with middle gray color palette ( as all professional software must be, not dark-themed /check the pinnacle of professional UI design - Soundtrack Pro for reference/) and ARCH.

Gnome is to childish for my taste, Sway is to minimal. Running old version of Plasma without KUserFeedback and for the first time in many years feeling in full control of my desktop. I got tired from configuring Little Snitch and recent Apple move towards scanning macOS was the tipping point.

Sadly there is no replacement for Capture One, RawTherapee is very good, but lacks some essential tools. For this case I will build a monster air-gaped Hackintosh and call it a day.

[_pgu]

I'm really interested what you mean by middle-gray color palette. Do you use one of the downloadable color schemes or do you fine-tune it yourself?

Usually i find the default/light options too bright and the dark options too dark.

[nbzso]

Basic info : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_gray Apple Soundtrack Pro manual for visual reference: https://usermanual.wiki/Apple/SoundtrackPro30.691501040/view

I fine tune it my self, there is a room for interpretation over basic middle gray as lightness value, you can colorize it with subtle bluish, greenish or warm colors.

Soundtrack Pro example is well balanced implementation. When they released it I thought that this will be the default pro UI theme in MacOS.

But iPhone came around and Apple left all Pro Software and Audience behind.

[scns]

Thanks, gave me the inspiration to tweak KDEs breeze theme. Might make switching color schemes at sunrise and -set a thing of the past.

[_pgu]

Thanks, seems indeed very balanced. I´d prefer a warmer touch like going a bit in the direction of solarized light. Maybe i should try and tweek it.

[nbzso]

I have started KDE color transfer of Soundtrack Pro. It is low contrast and takes some time to adjust but I find it useful for long hours of work. I prefer most of the contrast to stay in active working area/canvas etc. It is WIP and needs some polish but is a start. May be I will do more neutral version, Soundtrack is more towards blue/violet gamma. https://we.tl/t-v5SjRKTjRM Combine this with Inter or SF Display and you will have clean and professional interface.

[nbzso]

You can preview Soundtrack Pro color scheme with stylish icon pack Nordic Darker. https://ibb.co/ZgkBtGW The idea behind this solution is to keep you eyes focused on textual representation of the interface and active work area. Soundtrack Pro is more complete because of the depth derived from skeumorphic elements.

[elcritch]

That does look pleasing. Hopefully you'll make a theme on the kde store one day!

[nbzso]

Thanks. I plan to stay in KDE land for the foreseeable future and when I have a spare time I will release a more refined combination/theme.

The idea of middle gray as a starting point for UI is well established but not popular nowadays in the world of high contrast and saturated color palettes.

For the moment the combination is to apply Breeze Dark default workspace theme, Nordic-Darker icon pack, SF Pro Display Medium and this color theme.

https://ibb.co/nPmHYfg

[Topgamer7]

I like Darktable more than rawtherapee. And its GPU accelerated which RT is not.