schemar / solarc-theme

A flat theme with transparent elements. Based on the Arc theme: https://github.com/jnsh/arc-theme

SolArc Theme

SolArc is a flat theme with transparent elements for GTK 3, GTK 2 and GNOME Shell which supports GTK 3 and GTK 2 based desktop environments like GNOME, Unity, Pantheon, Xfce, MATE, Cinnamon (>=3.4), Budgie Desktop (10.4 for GTK+3.22) etc.

SolArc is a fork of the Arc theme: https://github.com/jnsh/arc-theme

Colours are based on the Solarized colour scheme by Ethan Schoonover: https://github.com/altercation/solarized

Most of the work is done inside solarize.sh, which replaces various Arc colours with matching Solarized colours.

⚠️ Help Wanted

If you like SolArc and want to help improve it, please get in touch! I don't have the time anymore to maintain this properly.

SolArc is available in three variants

SolArc

SolArc-Darker

SolArc-Dark

Installation

Arch Linux

You can install the AUR package: gtk-theme-solarc-git

Manual Installation

Important: Remove all older versions of the theme from your system before you proceed any further.

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/themes/{SolArc,SolArc-Darker,SolArc-Dark}
rm -rf ~/.local/share/themes/{SolArc,SolArc-Darker,SolArc-Dark}
rm -rf ~/.themes/{SolArc,SolArc-Darker,SolArc-Dark}

To build the theme the following packages are required

• autoconf
• automake
• wget for pulling the Arc source
• sassc for GTK 3, Cinnamon, or GNOME Shell
• pkg-config or pkgconfig for Fedora
• git to clone the source directory
• optipng for GTK 2, GTK 3, or XFWM
• inkscape for GTK 2, GTK 3, or XFWM

The following packages are optionally required

• gnome-shellfor auto-detecting the GNOME Shell version
• libgtk-3-dev for Debian based distros or gtk3-devel for RPM based distros, for auto-detecting the GTK3 version

Note: For distributions which don't ship separate development packages, just the GTK 3 package is needed instead of the -dev packages.

For the theme to function properly, install the following

• GNOME Shell 3.18 - 3.32, GTK 3.18 - 3.24
• The gnome-themes-extra package
• The murrine engine. This has different names depending on the distro.
  • gtk-engine-murrine (Arch Linux)
  • gtk2-engines-murrine (Debian, Ubuntu, elementary OS)
  • gtk-murrine-engine (Fedora)
  • gtk2-engine-murrine (openSUSE)
  • gtk-engines-murrine (Gentoo)

Install the theme with the following commands

1. Get the source

If you want to install the latest version from git, clone the repository with

git clone https://github.com/schemar/solarc-theme --depth 1 && cd solarc-theme

2. Download & patch the Arc theme source

./solarize.sh

3. Build and install the patched theme

cd arc-theme-[version]
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
sudo make install

Other options to pass to autogen.sh are

--disable-transparency         disable transparency in the GTK3 theme
--disable-light                disable Arc Light support
--disable-darker               disable Arc Darker support
--disable-dark                 disable Arc Dark support
--disable-cinnamon             disable Cinnamon support
--disable-gnome-shell          disable GNOME Shell support
--disable-gtk2                 disable GTK2 support
--disable-gtk3                 disable GTK3 support
--disable-metacity             disable Metacity support
--disable-unity                disable Unity support
--disable-xfwm                 disable XFWM support
--disable-plank                disable Plank theme support
--disable-openbox              disable Openbox support

--with-gnome-shell=<version>   build the gnome-shell theme for a specific version
--with-gtk3=<version>          build the GTK3 theme for a specific version
                               Note: Normally the correct version is detected automatically
                               and these options should not be needed.

After the installation is complete the theme can be activated with gnome-tweak-tool or a similar program by selecting SolArc, SolArc-Darker or SolArc-Dark as Window/GTK+ theme and SolArc or SolArc-Dark as GNOME Shell/Cinnamon theme.

If the --disable-transparency option was used, the theme will be installed as SolArc-solid, SolArc-Darker-solid and SolArc-Dark-solid.

Uninstall the theme

Run

sudo make uninstall

from the patched Arc source directory, or

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/themes/{SolArc,SolArc-Darker,SolArc-Dark}

Contributing

Every contribution is very welcome! Please create an issue and/or a pull request.

Troubleshooting

If you have Ubuntu with a newer GTK/Gnome version than the one included by default (i.e Ubuntu 14.04 with GTK 3.14 or Ubuntu 15.04 with GTK 3.16, etc.) the prebuilt packages won't work properly and you have to install the theme manually as described above. This is also true for other distros with a different GTK/Gnome version than the one included by default

--

If you get artifacts like black or invisible backgrounds under Unity, disable overlay scrollbars with

gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal

Bug reporting

If you find a bug, please report it at https://github.com/schemar/solarc-theme/issues

License

SolArc is available under the terms of the GPL-3.0. See COPYING for details.

Full Preview

_{Screenshot Details: Icons: Arc Icon Theme | Wallpaper: Jason Levesque | Font: DejaVu Sans}

solarc-theme's Issues

Borders should have a solarized colour

gtk-2.0 only.

The borders inside the window should not be dark grey, but instead a light colour, e.g. Base00.

Wide Gamut

Would it be possible to provide a fork of the theme for wide gamut monitors? Since the OS can not apply icc profiles to the GUI, the theme could provide a widegamut version?

Gnome shell theme dropdown colors incorrect

• Distribution: Debian
• Desktop environment: Gnome 3.14
• GTK+ 3 version: 3.14
• Arc version (commit): 573

As shown here:

https://imgur.com/a/pnLBk

The color of the gnome shell theme drop downs remains dark gray instead of the usual solarized base ( how the taskbar is colored)

Repo description should point to new upstream

It's currently still linking the horst3180 repo, instead of the NicoHood one.

Solarc interferes with Arc. Solution inside.

• Distribution: Solus
• Desktop environment: Budgie
• GTK+ 3 version: 3.18
• Arc version (commit):

The file arc-theme-upgrade is incompatible if you have the Arc theme installed because the two files use the same name. The arc-theme-upgrade file needs to be looked at. Looks like it hasn't been touched as of yet which is understandable since this a new theme. I looked at the file and I think I corrected everything. I don't use git so I don't know how to commit but here is the file:

solarc-theme-upgrade.zip

GNOME sliders missing in Shell theme

I'm currently running GNOME 3 on Manjaro and I've installed the SolArc themes. While the application theme works great, setting the shell theme to either SolArc theme makes the sliders (such as the volume and screen brightness sliders) disappear completely.

Bump major or minor version number?

The 20190917 branch will be changing the upstream version that is patched over when it is merged into master, so when that is done and a release is made, the question is is that a major or minor version bump?

GTK2 theme matching GTK3

I've reworked the GTK2 theme to match the GTK3 theme (as best as seems possible) in my fork:

...however to make things easier to work with I replaced the ARC_COLORS & SOLARIZED_COLORS arrays with a single associative array (this would make BASH 4.0+ a hard dependency). I don't know if this is acceptable to you upstream, but if it is I can try and put together a PR.

Colour contrast in windows

Don't know if this is intentional in the sense that the colour choice just follows the solarized theme or something else, but sometimes texts in lighter foreground colour are a little bit hard to distinguish from the background. On the screenshot the title and menubars require extra effort to read because they are quite greyish. If this isn't going to be changed, I guess that's fine, but I wanted to point this out.

Menu bar should have solarized colours

gtk-2.0 only.

The menu bar at the top of the preview window should be Base03 (File, Edit, Help).

merge upstream?

READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SUBMITTING

This list is for avoiding duplicated issues, if your issue isn't listed, you should remove this and continue.

• The theme doesn't work in a distribution that have a GTK+ 3 version lower than 3.14.
  • Arc only supports versions since 3.14, you should update to latest versions.
• The theme is broken after a major GTK+ 3 update (i.e. 3.18 to 3.20 or 3.20 to 3.22).
  • Update the package or install from sources.
• The theme is broken after installing from sources.
  • Possibly a bug on GTK+ 3 version checking, use --with-gnome=<version> flag with ./autogen.sh.
• Theme isn't transparent on GNOME applications without CSD (i.e. Ubuntu's applications).
  • Transparency isn't supported for non-CSD applications.
• Theme doesn't build from AUR in Arch/Manjaro and others.
  • Ensure you have the base-devel group installed.

Checks

Ensure you...

• Really read the list above and checked if your issue is or not duplicated.
• Really read the README and there is nothing about your issue.
• Really checked if the theme is installed or built specifically for the GTK+ 3/distribution version you're using.

Details

• Distribution (with version):
  • Base distribution (if have, with version):
• Desktop environment (with version):
• Arc version/commit (don't put "latest"):
• GTK+ 3 version:
  • Murrine engine version:
  • gnome-themes-standard version:
• Installation method (package or source):

Please support Ubuntu 22.04 with gnome-shell

Hello!

Currently I am trying to configure full solarized dark Ubuntu 22.04, which is shipped with unsupported by solarc-theme GNOME Shell version (>=40 https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/jammy/+source/gnome-shell). I would be grateful if somebody could give me a hint how I could install this cool theme on Ubuntu 22.04. Here is part, that I am stuck with:

$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --disable-gtk3
autoreconf: export WARNINGS=
autoreconf: Entering directory '.'
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
autoreconf: running: aclocal --force -I m4
autoreconf: configure.ac: tracing
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Libtool
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Intltool
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gtkdoc
autoreconf: running: /usr/bin/autoconf --force
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Autoheader
autoreconf: running: automake --add-missing --copy --force-missing
autoreconf: Leaving directory '.'
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a race-free mkdir -p... /usr/bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... yes
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking for gnome-shell... yes
Detected GNOME Shell 42.5
configure: error: Invalid GNOME Shell version: 42.5

Hovering buttons should have solarized colour

gtk-2.0 only.

When hovering over a button, it should not change colour to an Arc grey, but instead it should highlight in a colour appropriate to solarized, e.g. Cyan.

Tooltip text difficult to read

I'm using SolArc-Dark theme on Arch Linux with Cinnamon DE. The only issue I've found is with tooltips as the tooltip texts are quite difficult to read. I've attached a screenshot of a tooltip in Nemo for reference, but it's the same in other applications too.

Is there a way to change the tooltip text color to make them more readable everywhere?

Check components of 20190917 branch

Branch re-bases onto the 20190917 release of the upstream Arc theme.
Must check components:

• GTK2
• GTK3
• xfwm
• Gnome shell
• Cinnamon
• Metacity
• Unity
• Plank
• Openbox

Won't build on Solus

• Distribution: Solus
• Desktop environment: Budgie
• GTK+ 3 version: 3.20
• Arc version (commit):

The theme won't build correctly at the autogen part. I receive these lines after attempting to run the code.

autoreconf: Entering directory `.'
autoreconf: configure.ac: not using Gettext
autoreconf: running: aclocal --force -I m4
autom4te: need GNU m4 1.4 or later: /usr/bin/m4
aclocal: error: echo failed with exit status: 1
autoreconf: aclocal failed with exit status: 1

I'm fairly certain that I have all the prerequisites installed

Included PKGBUILD doesn't work

autogen prefix is incorrectly set, possibly other issues.

Gnome panel should have solarized colours

The gnome panel should not be dark grey, but instead a dark blue (Base03).

Cinnamon theme issues

The latest cinnamon updates broke the cinnamon theme. Some screenshots attached show what I mean.

“Close” button; contrast

In the Solarc-dark and Solarc-darker theme, the window-closing button has a white cross (like in the light Solarc and Arc themes). It should have a dark cross (like in the Arc-dark and Arc-darker themes).

Also, it might be good if there were more contrast between the text and background colors (especially in the dark themes). Currently, I find the text somewhat harder to read than in the Arc themes.

Thanks.

Windows items glitchy, window controls not displaying - eOS

On elementary (Gnome 3.18) items within windows don't display until moused-over. Also window controls are not displayed. They when clicked but do not appear.

concerning directory names

it installs files as Arc instead of SolArc

Dropdown should have solarized colours

gtk-2.0 only.

The dropdown in the preview window should not be dark grey, but instead a light colour, e.g. Base00, or dark blue (Base03).

Firefox theme

Similar to the themes that exist for the normal arc gtk theme, firefox themes should be considered as firefox still doesn't look quite at home without it. Such a theme would hopefully be compatible back to firefox 45 ESR as the normal arc firefox theme is.

Zim plaintext is hardly readable

I use solar-theme version 800c997-1 on Ubuntu using Regolith.
I use Zim desktop wiki, which has the option of plaintext preformatted text.
Normally this is a lighter grey compared to the regular black. Now it is also a slightly different color, but hardly readable against the background:

I noticed the recent update to GTK2 theme #24 which might be helpful here.
How could I identify the color in use here, to propose a change?

Thanks for developing this theme!