"dark mode" {suggestion]

[MedBooster]

would there be a way to maybe stop text that is above some shape with some color from becoming white? I would want it to become white if there is no rectangle/shape underneath...

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In the screenshot example it is simply a white/gray shape which makes the white text unreadable... but the same happens when it's a PDF converted from a Word document, text that is highlighted in certain colors becomes unreadable

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[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, MedBooster

In practice, I find that using a full black/white dark mode for pages rarely works out for these exact reasons, if you instead use a dark/light grey for the background and text colors, it will more often be legible in cases like this. Beyond that though, no there is no method of detecting a conflicting background like this and automatically adjusting, or presetting a different value.

Kind regards,

[MedBooster]

Hello, MedBooster

In practice, I find that using a full black/white dark mode for pages rarely works out for these exact reasons, if you instead use a dark/light grey for the background and text colors, it will more often be legible in cases like this. Beyond that though, no there is no method of detecting a conflicting background like this and automatically adjusting, or presetting a different value.

Kind regards,

That's actually good advice, I'll try using a somewhat lighter black color (not gray)
Happy Easter

edit:
if you check out dark mode in Microsoft Word the tone they use for the background is not completely black

[MedBooster]

Update:

there is though still some difference, which shows that changing accessibility settings in PDF-xchange editor isn't a "true" dark-mode.
Check out the difference in how dark/light mode with this yellow highlighted text looks in Microsoft Word vs. PDF-xchange editor
As you can see, the highlighted area slightly changes color/opacity to be more easily readable

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[krstoevan]

my 2 cents here:
viewtopic.php?t=40151

in short, as you said,
pdfxce's dark mode is NOT really a dark mode.
and they, after voting, the whole admin board decided this is the way to go.
so be it.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, all!

Medbooster, I assume that Word is the example you have on the Left, while the editor is the option on the right? is that correct? If so, I would posit that using a different blend mode, and comparing the appearance to the "normal" view of the document would be the best solution.

It is very much worth noting that any "Dark Mode" you can make for the actual page and its content, is a personal display option, and not something that the rest of the world will see. It is not the intended viewing or editing mode of the file and so if you are looking for a color perfect (or even a catch all "good") representation of the file, you will occasionally be disappointed, as there are simply so many possible combinations that it would be nearly impossible for us to make special rules on our end to try and cover everything (and there are much more important tasks we could put our dev team towards). These are primarily designed as a reading assistance feature (to make the files easier on the eyes for those sensitive to light, or high contrast for those with issues distinguishing individual letters) for accessibility purposes.

If you are annotating like this and want to ensure more universal visibility with the highlight tool, choosing another blend mode may help, for example you can see a quick comparison of some of the better options in my blink test gif here, but since others viewing the file will likely not be using your exact dark mode configuration, it is best to keep in mind the appearance outside of dark mode is most important.

PDFXEdit_n6kbfSD09s.gif

On the other hand, if the file itself was specifically designed with a dark colored background, and you are using a light colored text, using these different blend modes will most definitely give you the ability to show highlights and such in a more useful way for everyone viewing the file.

Kind regards,

[MedBooster]

on this note... is there a way to change all background shapes (in a Word document converted to PDF) – which were actually highlighted text in Word to bland? Because bland mode looks pretty good in "dark mode" if you disable line art

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[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, MedBooster

You can assign a blend mode to many object types, including "shapes" which is typically what flattened highlights will be, yes. Simply select the object with the "Edit > Shapes" tool, and then look to the properties to choose which mode to use for that object type.
Do note that blend modes only apply their logic to items which are "behind" the created object, since Shapes and Text and both base content, they may be layered in such a way that changing blend mode has no effect on the text. To fix this, you may need to right click on the highlight "shape" and use Arrange > move to front".

Following this note, please do also remember that comments are always in front of base content, so it will never be possible to use a base content shape with a multiply blend mode, and see it alter the colors of a typewriter comment, for example.

Kind regards,

[MedBooster]

Hello, MedBooster

You can assign a blend mode to many object types, including "shapes" which is typically what flattened highlights will be, yes. Simply select the object with the "Edit > Shapes" tool, and then look to the properties to choose which mode to use for that object type.
Do note that blend modes only apply their logic to items which are "behind" the created object, since Shapes and Text and both base content, they may be layered in such a way that changing blend mode has no effect on the text. To fix this, you may need to right click on the highlight "shape" and use Arrange > move to front".

Following this note, please do also remember that comments are always in front of base content, so it will never be possible to use a base content shape with a multiply blend mode, and see it alter the colors of a typewriter comment, for example.

Kind regards,

hmm, well maybe there is a Javascript or something one can run to do this to all shapes/objects in a PDF in PDF xce?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, MedBooster

I don't know that JS could accomplish this, as it normally cannot affect base content in such ways, but you can select all objects of a certain type, and then change their blend mode in a batch from the format tab as well:

image.png

Kind regards,

[MedBooster]

Hello, MedBooster

I don't know that JS could accomplish this, as it normally cannot affect base content in such ways, but you can select all objects of a certain type, and then change their blend mode in a batch from the format tab as well:
image.png

Kind regards,

Amazing!

Also,
I would suggest changing the lines between pages to be white in "dark mode", because it is still black it is difficult to see where one page ends and another begins.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi Medbooster,

I would suggest changing the lines between pages to be white in "dark mode", because it is still black it is difficult to see where one page ends and another begins.

I passed the suggestion on, no promises on the outcome however...

regards

[MedBooster]

Nevermind, my request on lines between the PDFs doesn't make sense, because it is the same color as the rest of the background.

So I just changed the colors under "customize UI" and now it looks much better.

Luckily you can customize the "dark mode" UI as well as the "light mode" UI.

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Which is great because I am using this AutoHotKey script which basically switches between light and dark mode in the Windows 10 settings (within 5 seconds) – which also affects PDF-xce.
The AHK script is in this other thread:
viewtopic.php?t=40170&hilit=dark+mode

adding a in built keyboard shortcut to just change between dark mode and light in PDF-xce itself however, without changing the whole system dark/light mode would be cool. So consider that a suggestion!

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, MedBooster

It seems that your other post here is relating to your new request, so I am just going to a drop a link to that topic here.
viewtopic.php?t=40421
We are just waiting for the UI dev to review the request there, and will be sure to get back to you once hes looked over the idea.

Kind regards,