[GUI plugin] Palette Switcher

[BetterRed]

Which version of calibre, my tests were 9.3 and 9.3.1

I'll try 8.16.2 - Nope didn't work there either.

BR

[Zebedi]

Works well for me, and thank you for your hard work.

You have to click the appropriate palette a couple of times before it takes effect and sometimes when I click apply it stays on the last palette selected.

Not sure about the auto though, or what it’s meant to do.

The rest is good and I love being able to change and edit my palettes.

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

So what am I supposed to make of this popup from Toggle Light & Dark

Attachment 221294

BR

That's exactly it if you've selected light or dark mode in your color palette. Sometimes it's not enough to just press a button; you need to understand what you're doing.

[BetterRed]

I understand exactly what I am doing.

I am pressing a now similarly named button in two calibre plugins that change the same calibre setting that is ordinarily accessed via this:



Which is stored in the calibre configurations, here:



If software was object oriented we wouldn't be having this exchange, because the 'button' in all three places would be instantiations of the same UI element operating on the same data item - but that holy grail of the 1970s has long flown the coop… coffee and pasta won the game

BR

[dunhill]

If you don't check the red box, the light mode palette won't be applied, and if it's not checked in the dark mode tab, it also won't be applied.

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by Zebedi

Works well for me, and thank you for your hard work.

You have to click the appropriate palette a couple of times before it takes effect and sometimes when I click apply it stays on the last palette selected.

Not sure about the auto though, or what it’s meant to do.

The rest is good and I love being able to change and edit my palettes.

Thank you so much for your feedback; it's been very helpful in refining the plugin's functionality. I've uploaded a new version.

[BetterRed]

The previous version of palette switcher did all that for me.

I thought the plugin's raison d'etre was to make it easy for people like me — who do not want to create colour palettes, or find them difficult to create due to disability — to leverage off the work of those that can and do create them… such as yourself.

Having to pre-condition the very thing I want to avoid (the Adjust colours box-of-tricks) in order to use the latest version of this plugin means I'll stick with previous version.

BR

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The previous version of palette switcher did all that for me.

I thought the plugin's raison d'etre was to make it easy for people like me — who do not want to create colour palettes, or find them difficult to create due to disability — to leverage off the work of those that can and do create them… such as yourself.

Having to pre-condition the very thing I want to avoid (the Adjust colours box-of-tricks) in order to use the latest version of this plugin means I'll stick with previous version.

BR

If you want, you can send me the version you have and I'll put it in thread 2 so we have both versions. I'll also include the palette files that comfy.n shared.

[BetterRed]

It's version 1.0.700, here's what's in the zip:



If you want to post older versions somewhere that's up to you. I won't be encouraging multiple versions of plugins be made available at MR. We went down that rabbit hole with variant's of a couple of kw's plugins (no fault of his I hasten to add).

BR

[Martinoptic]

I like this but the settings do not persist after closing calibre. Using 9.7. Am I missing something?

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

I like this but the settings do not persist after closing calibre. Using 9.7. Am I missing something?

I can't reproduce your error; the settings are working for me. Did you try clicking "Apply" before leaving the screen?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

I like this but the settings do not persist after closing calibre. Using 9.7. Am I missing something?

Try the current version of calibre. You should always run the latest version possible before reporting any problems.

[Hououin Kyouma]

Originally Posted by dunhill

Palette Switcher is a Calibre interface plugin that lets you manage and apply custom color palettes to the Calibre GUI. It provides a modular and reproducible way to change the look and feel of Calibre

Features
Adds a toolbar icon to access the palette manager.
Automatically detects .calibre-palette files.
Lets you select and apply a palette from a popup window.
Supports importing and exporting palettes for easy sharing.
The plugin's title bar indicates which palette is in use.

File Structure
Files must use the .calibre-palette extension.

Compatibility
Requires Calibre 6.25 or later.
Should work on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Tested primarily on Linux — feedback from macOS and Windows users is welcome.

License
This plugin is released under the GNU GPL v3 license.

Credits
Special thanks to Comfy.n for their help in making the plugin work.

Release notes:

Spoiler:

05/03/26 v-1.1.1 Stability & Resource Management Update
This version introduces critical safeguards to prevent crashes and optimizes the theme preview mechanism.
RCC Lock Protection: Added a robust error handling system (OSError/PermissionError) for UI refreshes. This prevents Calibre from crashing if the icons-any.rcc file is momentarily locked by the OS during a palette change.
Icon Theme Notice: If you are using a custom Calibre icon set, please note that while colors update instantly, a restart of Calibre is required for the icon set to fully refresh and match the new visual mode (e.g., switching between Light and Dark icons).
Smooth Preview: The 300ms preview delay ensures stable file I/O operations while scrolling through the palette list.

23/02/26 v1.0.96 Minor error corrections

22/02/26
v1.0.92-93-94: System Intelligence and Full Accessibility
This update is a significant milestone in the plugin's development, incorporating suggestions from our community to achieve a perfect balance between new features and ease of use.
Main New Features:
Intelligent Mode Detection (System): The plugin now includes a luminance algorithm that automatically detects whether your operating system is in light or dark mode. The mode button now allows you to cycle through: Light / Dark / Auto (System)
Hands-on Keyboard Accessibility: We've optimized the workflow for keyboard users:
Immediate Focus: When you open the plugin, the palette list automatically takes focus. Use the arrow keys (↑/↓) for instant previews.
Logical Tab Order: Pressing Tab simplifies the cursor's movement: List -> Apply -> Cancel -> Exit. Fewer keystrokes, more speed.
Execution with Enter: Confirming and applying your changes is now as simple as pressing Enter.

21/02/26
Version 1.0.91
Navigation restored: The plugin now opens with the list in focus. You can navigate the palettes with ↑/↓, quickly jump to the main buttons with Tab, and confirm with Enter. I've optimized the tab order to be as short and logical as possible.
Bug fixed: The UnboundLocalError when exporting is now a thing of the past.

v1.0.9 - Secure Editing and Dynamic Preview
New workflow: Apply, Cancel, and Exit buttons have been added. Changes are now only permanent if confirmed by the user.
Live preview: Themes are temporarily applied when selected from the list for easier selection.
Automatic backup: The plugin remembers Calibre's initial state and allows changes to be reverted if the user is not satisfied.
Live export: Ability to generate .calibre-palette files from the user's currently active color configuration.
UX improvements: Tooltips have been added to all buttons and mode indicators (Light/Dark).

14/02/26
Version 1.0.7 Remembers the plugin window size.
Added exit button.

Version 1.0.6 Displays the palette applied in the plugin title

09/02/26 Version 1.0.5: Removed the confirmation dialogs for palette deletion.

8/02/26 Version 1.0.4: Added a button to delete the selected color palette

Version 1.0.3:
A button has been added to reset Calibre's default color palette settings. This was requested by JSWolf.

Version 1.0.2:
Instantly switch (with a simple selection) between palette files, supports importing from zip files, and skips duplicate palettes.
Comfy.n Update

Version 1.0.0
Thanks to the help of Comfy.n, this plugin was released.
Translation support added
Internal fixes

Hello,

First of all, thank you for developing and maintaining this exceptional plugin; it has made customizing Calibre's GUI seamless.

I would like to propose a new feature or enhancement regarding automatic palette synchronization. I currently use Linux along with a dynamic color generation tool called Matugen, which extracts and updates color schemes directly from my desktop wallpaper.

Would it be possible to implement a background monitoring feature that automatically detects changes to the active .calibre-palette file? If the file is modified externally by a tool like Matugen, the plugin could automatically apply the updated palette to Calibre's GUI in real time without requiring manual intervention or button clicks.

This addition would greatly streamline workflows for users utilizing dynamic theming environments on Linux. Any thoughts or guidance on implementing this would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by Hououin Kyouma

Hello,

First of all, thank you for developing and maintaining this exceptional plugin; it has made customizing Calibre's GUI seamless.

I would like to propose a new feature or enhancement regarding automatic palette synchronization. I currently use Linux along with a dynamic color generation tool called Matugen, which extracts and updates color schemes directly from my desktop wallpaper.

Would it be possible to implement a background monitoring feature that automatically detects changes to the active .calibre-palette file? If the file is modified externally by a tool like Matugen, the plugin could automatically apply the updated palette to Calibre's GUI in real time without requiring manual intervention or button clicks.

This addition would greatly streamline workflows for users utilizing dynamic theming environments on Linux. Any thoughts or guidance on implementing this would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

I'm glad you like the plugin. I also use Linux, but I've never used Matugen. I'll have to try it out and see how it works to test the plugin. I'm not promising anything.