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https://github.com/alezost/alect-themes

Configurable custom themes for GNU Emacs
https://github.com/alezost/alect-themes

emacs themes

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Configurable custom themes for GNU Emacs

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README 

        
[![License GPL 3](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-GPL_3-orange.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)

[![MELPA](https://melpa.org/packages/alect-themes-badge.svg)](https://melpa.org/#/alect-themes)

[![MELPA Stable](https://stable.melpa.org/packages/alect-themes-badge.svg)](https://stable.melpa.org/#/alect-themes)



## About



Alect is a package that provides (rather low contrast but colourful

enough) **configurable** light, dark and black color themes for GNU

Emacs 24 or later.  The themes are intended to be used with GUI (see

[Class of terminals](#class-of-terminals)).



## Table of Contents



* [Supported modes](#supported-modes)

* [Installation](#installation)

  * [Manual](#manual)

  * [MELPA](#melpa)

* [Usage](#usage)

* [Configuration](#configuration)

  * [Class of terminals](#class-of-terminals)

  * [Modifying palette](#modifying-palette)

  * [Ignoring faces and variables](#ignoring-faces-and-variables)

  * [Overriding faces](#overriding-faces)

  * [Alternative themes](#alternative-themes)

  * [Other variables](#other-variables)

  * [Emacs 24.3.1 and earlier](#emacs-2431-and-earlier)

  * [Emacs bug in themed variables](#emacs-bug-in-themed-variables)

* [Screenshots](#screenshots)

* [History](#history)

* [Contributors](#contributors)



## Supported modes



Along with the general basic faces, the following modes and packages are

supported (themed):



- Built-in packages (part of Emacs):

  + isearch

  + ido

  + help, apropos, info, man

  + mode-line (including vc faces)

  + calendar, diary

  + changelog

  + comint, eshell, term

  + compilation

  + widget, customization

  + diff, ediff

  + dired

  + erc

  + epa

  + ert

  + [Org](https://orgmode.org/)

  + message

  + gnus (also see a note about Gnus [here](#other-variables))

  + flyspell

  + makefile

  + ruler

  + whitespace

  + linum

  + package

  + show-paren

  + speedbar

- [aurel](https://github.com/alezost/aurel)

- [auto-complete](https://github.com/auto-complete/auto-complete)

- Caml packages: [tuareg](https://github.com/ocaml/tuareg),

  [merlin](https://github.com/the-lambda-church/merlin),

  [utop](https://github.com/diml/utop)

- [company](https://company-mode.github.io/)

- [cperl](https://github.com/jrockway/cperl-mode)

- [debbugs](https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/debbugs.html)

- [diff-hl](https://github.com/dgutov/diff-hl)

- [dictem](https://github.com/cheusov/dictem)

- [EMMS](https://www.gnu.org/software/emms/)

- [Geiser](https://github.com/jaor/geiser)

- [google-translate](https://github.com/atykhonov/google-translate)

- [Emacs-Guix](https://github.com/alezost/guix.el)

- [Helm](https://emacs-helm.github.io/helm/) (partial support)

- [Hydra](https://github.com/abo-abo/hydra)

- [indent-guide](https://github.com/zk-phi/indent-guide)

- [ivy](https://github.com/abo-abo/swiper)

- [Magit](https://magit.vc/)

- [markdown](https://jblevins.org/projects/markdown-mode/)

- [mu4e](https://github.com/djcb/mu)

- [org-transclusion](https://github.com/nobiot/org-transclusion)

- [powerline](https://github.com/milkypostman/powerline)

- [realgud](https://github.com/realgud/realgud)

- [rubik](https://github.com/Kurvivor19/rubik-mode)

- [sauron](https://github.com/djcb/sauron)

- [slime](https://common-lisp.net/project/slime/)

- [sunrise-commander](https://github.com/escherdragon/sunrise-commander)

- [syslog](https://github.com/vapniks/syslog-mode)

- [tabbar](https://github.com/dholm/tabbar)

- [transient](https://github.com/magit/transient)

- [w3m](http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/)

- [which-key](https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key)

- [winum](https://github.com/deb0ch/emacs-winum)



The other packages are not supported yet even if there are some

customized faces (these faces left from [other themes](#history)).  So

if you see some ugly faces or if you would like some mode to be

supported, you may mail me or

[open an issue](https://github.com/alezost/alect-themes/issues/new).



## Installation



### Manual



Add this to your init file (`~/.emacs.d/init.el` or `~/.emacs`):



```elisp

(add-to-list 'load-path              "/path/to/alect-themes")

(add-to-list 'custom-theme-load-path "/path/to/alect-themes")

```



### MELPA



The package can be installed from [MELPA](https://melpa.org) (with `M-x

package-install` or `M-x list-packages`).



If you want to enable (see [Usage section](#usage)) **any** theme

installed with a package system on Emacs start, you should know the

following: Emacs loads packages **after** processing the init file, so

loading a theme will fail because the path to a theme is not known

yet.  That's why you need to initialize the package system before

loading the theme:



```elisp

(setq package-enable-at-startup nil)

(package-initialize)

...

(load-theme ...)

```



For further details, see `(info "(emacs) Package Installation")`.



## Usage



To activate a theme interactively use `customize-themes` or `load-theme`:



`M-x load-theme RET alect-light`



To load a theme on Emacs start, add this to your init file:



```elisp

(load-theme 'alect-light t)

```



*Note:* For quick switching between themes (with unloading the previous

one), I use `al/load-theme` command from my

[emacs-config](https://github.com/alezost/emacs-config/blob/master/utils/al-color.el).



## Configuration



You can find the names and values of all colors used by alect-themes in

`alect-colors` variable.  Also you can open

[colors](https://github.com/alezost/alect-themes/blob/master/colors)

file **in Emacs** to get an idea about the used color palette.



There are several ways for configuring the themes:

- modifying palette (`alect-colors` variable);

- ignoring faces and variables;

- overriding face specifications;

- configuring other alect variables.



### Class of terminals



By default only graphical terminals are supported, i.e. if you enable a

theme, you will see themed faces in GUI and default faces in text-only

terminals.  So if you use `emacs --daemon`, you will not be disturbed by

the ugly colors when you are in a non-graphical terminal.



You can add support for other terminals by setting `alect-display-class`

variable.  For example, if you want to enable alect-themes in 256-colors

terminals, use the following:



```elisp

(setq alect-display-class '((class color) (min-colors 256)))

```



See `(info "(elisp) Defining Faces")` for how a class of terminals

should be specified.



### Modifying palette



If you don't like how some colors look, you can change `alect-colors`

variable by customizing it or by using `alect-generate-colors` function

(see how the variable is defined in the code).



However those methods redefine the whole variable, so if the palette

will be changed in future (it happens sometimes) or a new theme will be

added, you may not notice that.  So you can use another approach if you

want to modify only some colors.



Let's say, you don't like `cyan-2` color for the light theme as it's too

light and `bg-1` color for the dark theme as you prefer black color for

the background.  You can change those colors by putting this into your

`.emacs` (before loading an alect-theme if you use it on Emacs start):



```elisp

(with-eval-after-load 'alect-themes

  (alect-set-color 'light 'cyan-2 "#00a8a8")

  (alect-set-color 'dark 'bg-1 "black"))

```



The function `alect-set-color` is just a convenient way for modifying

`alect-colors` variable, so if you are playing with it, don't forget to

reload an alect-theme for the changes to take effect.



### Ignoring faces and variables



By default along with a lot of faces, an `alect-theme` customizes

several variables that contain color information,

e.g. `ansi-color-names-vector` (see also

[Emacs bug in themed variables](#emacs-bug-in-themed-variables)).  You

can disable theming of faces and variables with `alect-ignored-faces`

and `alect-ignored-variables` variables.



For example, if you prefer the default appearance of the titles in

`Info-mode` and of the minibuffer prompt, and if you want to disable

modifying the variables at all, use the following:



```elisp

(setq alect-ignored-variables t

      alect-ignored-faces

      '(minibuffer-prompt

        info-title-1 info-title-2

        info-title-3 info-title-4))

```



### Overriding faces



If you don't like how particular faces look, you can change those by

modifying `alect-overriding-faces` variable.  The real power here is

that you can use themed color names from `alect-colors` along with the

usual strings with hex values or defined color names (available with

``M-x list-colors-display``).



Let's say, you want green strings, gray comments, more distinguishable

mode-line, and of course you don't like those pink (`magenta-1`) prompts

everywhere (minibuffer, comint, ...).  Just set that variable like this:



```elisp

(setq

 alect-overriding-faces

 '((alect-prompt           ((t :foreground blue :weight bold)))

   (font-lock-string-face  ((t :foreground green-1)))

   (font-lock-doc-face     ((t :inherit font-lock-string-face)))

   (font-lock-comment-face ((t :foreground gray)))

   (mode-line-buffer-id    ((t :foreground "yellow" :weight bold)))

   (mode-line              ((((background light))

                             :foreground fg+1 :background "#ffaaaa"

                             :box (:line-width 2 :color bg-2 :style nil))

                            (((background dark))

                             :foreground fg+1 :background "firebrick3"

                             :box (:line-width 2 :color bg-2 :style nil))))))

```



See [these screenshots](#elisp-ido) to compare the original and modified

themes.



### Alternative themes



Along with 3 original light, dark and black themes, the package provides

inverted (alternative) themes (`alect-light-alt` and `alect-dark-alt`).

They use the same color palettes, so they look very similar to the

original ones.  The difference (by default) is that dark and bright

colors are reversed.



There is an additional way of configuring alternative themes: with

`alect-inverted-color-regexp` variable (for details, see docstrings of

this variable and `alect-get-color` function).  For example, you may set

this variable to invert background colors:



```elisp

(setq alect-inverted-color-regexp "^\\(bg\\)\\([-+]\\)\\([012]\\)$")

```



See [these screenshots](#dired-elisp) for the result.



### Other variables



Many headers and titles are themed and you may not like their height.

The following 3 variables may be useful:

- `alect-header-height`

- `alect-single-title-height`

- `alect-multiple-titles-height`



For example, if you want to have a normal height for `org` and

`markdown` titles, use this (put it in `.emacs` before loading an

alect-theme):



```elisp

(setq alect-multiple-titles-height 1.0)

```



*Note:* `1.0` and `1` are different values.  You can play with `Height`

in Custom buffer (`M-x customize-face RET `) to see how

integers and floats are treated.



There are other settings that may affect a visual appearance.  For

example GNUS uses widgets in article buffers.  And `widget-button` face

looks like a real button in `alect-themes`.  I find such buttons not

very attractive in articles but I also don't want to modify

`widget-button` face, so I use the following to get rid of button faces

only in GNUS articles:



```elisp

(add-hook 'gnus-article-mode-hook

          (lambda () (setq-local widget-button-face nil)))

```



### Emacs 24.3.1 and earlier



While using **any** theme (not only from this package), you may meet

faces that do not look how they should (intended by the theme).  For

example, if you enable `alect-light` theme, you can see ugly gray

buttons and other faces in the `Custom-mode` (the left picture)

instead of the themed colored buttons (the right picture):












This happens because Emacs applies default face settings even for a

themed face.  This behaviour is changed in the new versions of Emacs:

since 24.4 you will always get pure themes without unintended face

settings.  If you use a previous version, you can try the following

workaround to achieve the new behaviour:



```elisp

(when (version< emacs-version "24.3.50")

  (defun face-spec-recalc-new (face frame)

    "Improved version of `face-spec-recalc'."

    (while (get face 'face-alias)

      (setq face (get face 'face-alias)))

    (face-spec-reset-face face frame)

    ;; If FACE is customized or themed, set the custom spec from

    ;; `theme-face' records, which completely replace the defface spec

    ;; rather than inheriting from it.

    (let ((theme-faces (get face 'theme-face)))

      (if theme-faces

          (dolist (spec (reverse theme-faces))

            (face-spec-set-2 face frame (cadr spec)))

        (face-spec-set-2 face frame (face-default-spec face))))

    (face-spec-set-2 face frame (get face 'face-override-spec)))



  (defadvice face-spec-recalc (around new-recalc (face frame) activate)

    "Use `face-spec-recalc-new' instead."

    (face-spec-recalc-new face frame)))

```



That version of `face-spec-recalc` (wrapped with advice) is one of the

development variants from 24.3.50.1.  It works good except of one

particular case: if you try to use that workaround and enable a theme in

an unsupported (by the theme) terminal (e.g. alect-theme in a text

terminal), your monitor may suddenly explode.  Currently

[faces.el](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/lisp/faces.el)

is changed a lot (comparing to 24.3) and I don't know a better

workaround.



*Summary:* `alect-themes` use inheriting a lot and because of the nature

of faces in Emacs 24.3, **many** of them look ugly.  With Emacs 24.4 or

with the above workaround (use it only with GUI), the themes look how

they should.



### Emacs bug in themed variables



Emacs has a bug

([#16266](https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=16266)) that

doesn't allow to set undefined variables.  For example, if a theme

customizes a color for emms icon and you load the theme before emms,

then emms icon will use a default color instead of the themed one.  This

bug takes effect only on `defvar`-ed variables, `defcustom`-ed variables

are safe.



The range of such variables (effected by the bug) suitable for

colorizing is very limited.  For alect themes, the following variables

are themed: `emms-mode-line-icon-image-cache`,

`gnus-mode-line-image-cache` and `gnus-logo-colors`.



You can use this workaround to avoid the bug:



```elisp

(defadvice custom-theme-set-variables

    (around fix-inhibit-bug activate)

  "Allow setting of undefined variables in themes."

  (let (custom--inhibit-theme-enable)

    ad-do-it))

```



## Screenshots



You can see the following and other screenshots in

[this imgur album](https://imgur.com/a/eBx96).



### C, shell, linum, ido



**Themes:** *alect-light*, *alect-dark*



**Font:** *Terminus-12*












### Org, markdown



**Themes:** *alect-light*, *alect-black*



**Font:** *DejaVu Sans Mono-12*












### Magit



**Themes:** *alect-light*, *alect-dark*



**Font:** *Anonymous Pro-13*












### Elisp, ido



**Themes:** *alect-dark* (default), *alect-dark* (modified) – the

original dark theme and a dark theme with some changed faces (see

[overriding faces](#overriding-faces))



**Font:** *Liberation Mono-12*












### Dired, elisp



**Themes:** *alect-light-alt* (modified), *alect-dark-alt* (modified) –

alternative themes, configured to invert background (see

[configuring alternative themes](#alternative-themes))



**Font:** *Anonymous Pro-13*












## History



At first I had only a light theme – it was just a set of customized

faces.  Then I realized that at night it's better for eyes to use a

dark theme (it was derived from zenburn-theme initially, but then the

colors were modified a lot).  The idea of creating two themes with

different colors and the same code base came from solarized-theme.

The code of solarized and zenburn themes was used hardly.  Many thanks

to their authors.



## Contributors



The following people helped to improve the themes:



- Davor Rotim

- Rocky Bernstein

- Thomas S. Dye