Re: Relative colors in CSS?

I'm mostly a lurker in this list, but on this one I want to put in my two
cents. Specifically, I think the concept of relative colors is a WONDERFUL
idea, and one that would make my life as a designer MUCH easier. PLEASE
give serious consideration to implementing this! Or share your browser code
with me and I'll give implementing it a shot. This just plain NEEDS to be 
done!

Rick Johnson
firespring@nfx.net

"Manos M. Batsis" wrote:
> 
> I do share your point of view but consider these cases.
> 
> I usually make pages with a small number of colors while I find myself using colors that
> could be defined "relatively" the way Miki suggested. So, imagine a portal with many
> subject areas. You could drop the multiple CSS files just by stating the base color in the
> <head> part, changing all the scheme while the color *relationships* remain the same so the
> "feel" stays the same and the code drops to minimum.
> 
> Or (ok I'm going too far here but...) you could use this in case of  "color blindness" if
> my English are right, by giving the user the option to change dynamically the whole scheme
> by changing one rule. Not bad for accessibility considerations.
> 
> So I should rephrase to "It would be extremely useful to have this choice".
> 
> Regards,
> Manos
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: www-style-request@w3.org [mailto:www-style-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of Ben Morris
> Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 3:06 PM
> To: Manos M. Batsis; www-style@w3.org
> Cc: Miki. Wiik@Linuxsupport. To
> Subject: RE: Relative colors in CSS?
> 
> As a developer, I don't think that this is where the solution should be.
> This would be best done (in my view) by a style sheet editor application or
> a css generating script.  I have recently made a page that will create a
> stylesheet based on several variables.  So now I can specify a font face,
> base font size, and several colors; and the .css file will be generated.
> 
> Besides, even if you have to change 100 lines on a .css file, that is OK
> considering that you can have 100% control over the colors that will be
> chosen, instead of the browser picking a color.  Colors are a pretty
> delicate balance when it comes to matching each other.
> 
> Just my thoughts,
> - Ben Morris
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: www-style-request@w3.org [mailto:www-style-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of
> Manos M. Batsis
> Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 6:43 PM
> To: www-style@w3.org
> Cc: Miki. Wiik@Linuxsupport. To
> Subject: RE: Relative colors in CSS?
> 
> I think this would be extremely useful. This would actually drop a style's
> developing period by 50% for me since I usually start from one of my
> templates.
> VERY developer-friendly idea ;-)
> 
> Manos
> -----Original Message-----
> From: www-style-request@w3.org [mailto:www-style-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of
> miki.wiik@linuxsupport.to
> Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 11:28 PM
> To: w3.org mailing Style
> Subject: Relative colors in CSS?
> 
> Hi.
> 
> Do existing CSS standards, or ones being planned, include a way to define
> colors relatively to their parents?
> 
> Example:
> 
> BODY {color : #CCCC99}
> 
> P {color : darker}
> 
> The reason I'm looking for this sort of solution is that quite often when
> designing pages I use a set of colors that are more or less variations of
> the same basic color. The background is a light tone, the following layer
> (div) a bit darker, the following even darker plus a bit more red, etc.
> 
> Since almost all other values in CSS can be either absolute or relative (to
> their parent), it seems only natural that colors would also.
> 
> A suggestion for different values:
> Brighter, decreases all RGB values by, say 5%.
> Darker, increases all RGB values by 5%.
> +red, increase Red value by 5%.
> -red, decrease Red value by 5%
> ++ by 10%.
> +++ by 15%...
> and combinations (or shorthand) +red --green +++blue
> 
> Having a way to define relative colors would IMO improve scalability (the
> author would only have to define one starting colour, that could easily be
> replaced by User stylesheets) and thus increase overall flexibility.
> 
> Regards, Miki Wiik

Received on Tuesday, 19 December 2000 05:17:44 UTC