I think this is less likely to occur, however. If MP looks like Lightroom by default ("dark"), then the "common" man may be intimidated, thinking (by association) that MP is a professional tool and too hard to use.OTOH the public at large might be more easily attracted. Perhaps if MP looks like Picasa by default ("light"), then professionals may not give it a chance (since, of course, no "professionals" would ever use a free tool like Picasa ha ha).I would also opt for a "gamma" neutral theme (not too dark, not too light).As long as the default theme is attractive, chromatically neutral (see above), AND (very important) MP exposes a UI surface control for changing the theme, it seems to me that a default theme ("dark" or "light") should be chosen based on the anticipated audience for the software.From personal experience I tend to slightly over-contrast and over-saturate images edited in Picasa.Ĭonversely, if the interface is too dark ("black"), then gamma-neutrality is compromised as well and the user might tend to under-contrast/under-saturate images. Images tend to look duller and less colorful in contrast to the white. It is also a chromatic-neutral UI, but is not (what I refer to as) "gamma" neutral, in that the predominance of white surfaces displayed by the UI tend to suppress/compete-with photo light/dark balances. in deference to the neutral-gray exposure-reference cards employed by professional photographers everywhere.Ģ.) The "light" approach originated in the distant past of DOS graphics programs and is currently championed primarily by Picasa and a few others. One might think of the benefit as the "gray card" or "zone" effect. In particular, adjustments for photographic color/exposure are more accurately compared/estimated in chromatically neutral UIs. One benefit to professionals for the dark themes currently popular is their chromatic neutrality. Apparently other developers thought so as well. I remember when Light wave (3d modeler) switched to a dark theme many, many years ago, how attractive and functional it was compared to the M$ UI designs. There are essentially two flavors of chromatically neutral UIs:ġ.) The "dark" approach has been employed by almost all so-called "professional" software (Aperture, Lightroom, et al) for several years now. If one role of the tool is to adjust/edit photographs, then in that interaction mode, at least, the UI should be chromatically neutral. IMO the appearance of a software tool should enhance (or at the very least not impair) the utility of the software for its chosen task domain.
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