Changing desktop icon font color from white to black (SOLVED)

Forum rules
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
blueredgreen
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:14 am

Changing desktop icon font color from white to black (SOLVED)

Post by blueredgreen »

Linuxmint 17.1 mate with mint-x theme uses a white font for the desktop icons (I think it is actually white with kind of a greyish shadow to help you to see it with lighter desktop backgrounds).

I would like to change the color to black, with no "shadow" if possible. I think I need to change a css file in usr - share - themes - mint-x - gtk-3.0 but can't figure out which part(s) of which css file need changing.

Does anyone know if there are any linuxmint distros or themes that use black icon font instead of white? I find the popular dark desktops just hurt my eyes with the white font.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Image
ibbill

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by ibbill »

Woodman on this url seems to have the solution good luck

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 6&t=167304
blueredgreen
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:14 am

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by blueredgreen »

Woodman's solution is for lmde, i've seen his thread before and was not able to make it work on linuxmint mate ... configuration files etc just don't seem to be the same, still hoping someone knows how to do this for linuxmint mate.

Looks like he is saying that with lmde if you use a solid color, you get black font and white font if you use an image for desktop. Does anyone know if that is still the case? That's mostly what I am looking for, but probably not worth changing operating systems just for desktop font.

Linuxmint mate seems to stay white no matter which color or picture you put on the desktop, even a pure white desktop has white font.
Image
midtempo
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:50 pm

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by midtempo »

I would like to resurrect this thread because I am having the same problem. I just want to change the color of my desktop icon text from white to black. While I've seen some advice on how to do this in Cinnamon, I have seen no advice in MATE.

I couldn't figure out how to do it through Gnome Color Chooser. Changing the Desktop > Icon Labels > Text did nothing.
User avatar
roblm
Level 15
Level 15
Posts: 5939
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by roblm »

midtempo,

Open the File Manager and be sure Hidden Files are visible. Then go to /home/your-user-name/.config/gtk-3.0. Right click in the empty space and select Create Document > Empty File. Name it gtk.css. Open the file and add these lines:

Code: Select all

.caja-desktop.caja-canvas-item {
color: #000000;
}
Logout and back in.
midtempo
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:50 pm

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by midtempo »

Yes this works! I have used this a few times since changing desktop backgrounds. For most desktop backgrounds, the white letters outlined in black work fine. But not for all.
blueredgreen
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:14 am

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by blueredgreen »

Yes it works!

The font is a little bit fuzzy though, like the shadow I noted in op. Notice it a lot more with the black than the white, you can see on screensnip, almost as if the characters are doubled up and slightly offset.

I'm using mate 19.1 and the default font is noto sans regular .. I tried a whole bunch of different fonts and a couple different settings and they all looked much worse.

In my screensnip, I have rite clicked on my home folder and you can see that gives a nice clean, crisp font, that is what I would like to see.

As soon as I clic something else, the font reverts back to fuzzy.

Anyone know how to make the font crisp and clean? I am amazed how many different font types and font settings there are.
Attachments
black desktop font fuzzy.png
black desktop font fuzzy.png (7.56 KiB) Viewed 3193 times
Image
User avatar
smurphos
Level 18
Level 18
Posts: 8501
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:18 am
Location: Irish Brit in Portugal
Contact:

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by smurphos »

blueredgreen wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 3:31 pm Anyone know how to make the font crisp and clean?
Try in ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css

Code: Select all

.caja-desktop.caja-canvas-item {
color: #000000;
text-shadow: none;
}
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.
blueredgreen
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:14 am

Re: Changing desktop icon font color from white to black

Post by blueredgreen »

.caja-desktop.caja-canvas-item {
color: #000000;
text-shadow: none;
}

Thanks Smurphos .. looks great now.
Attachments
black desktop font no shadow.png
black desktop font no shadow.png (6.94 KiB) Viewed 3127 times
Image
Locked

Return to “MATE”