Transparent PNGs are unreadable in github Dark theme

[miiichael]

Example:

[PhilterPaper]

Don't hold your breath waiting for someone to fix the examples. Bram hasn't been around in years. I suspect he's lost interest in the project. Maybe someone can ask him if he'd like to transfer it to them? (Don't ask me to take it -- I already own the Perl port Text::KnuthPlass, and that's enough for me, although I would be happy to assist a new owner.)

Of course you can always get the files from GitHub and display them in your own browser. Or, even better, stop using that absurd Dark theme. I can't imagine trying to read white-on-black.

[amcgregor]

@PhilterPaper Sad to hear of the inactivity. Dark themes serve a purpose compensating for certain visual impairments and overall reducing eye strain and blue light exposure. But personal display preferences are an entirely separate issue.

I'm curious why those screenshots aren't SVGs. 🤷‍♀️ Which can be dark-mode aware.

[PhilterPaper]

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=svg+icon+dark+mode there appears to be ways to tell SVG to change its colors (via CSS), but they don't seem to be standardized yet. Too bad -- that would be useful. Are there browsers and PDF Readers that will save a screen in SVG instead of JPEG, or failing that, a reliable converter to make SVG from JPEG? Handling pure text shouldn't be too horrendous, but any non-text graphics mixed in will probably result in a failure, especially if you're starting from a bitmapped image (e.g., JPEG). Text recovery from scanned documents (bitmapped images) has been a Holy Grail for some time, but it's not foolproof yet. Going from PDF (where text is stored separately from graphics commands) to SVG sounds more feasible, but beware of scanning systems that just wrap a PDF wrapper around a bitmapped scan.

I suppose there might be visual infirmities that make Dark themes easier to deal with for some people, but most find white-on-black (and similar) to be a strain on the eyes. There's a reason that paper is white and ink is black (rather than the other way around)! Firefox reduces blue light exposure by "yellowing" whites (reducing blue) during nighttime use.

[amcgregor]

@PhilterPaper There are visual issues, both processing and physical with the retina or other parts of the eye, that can have a dramatic impact on the legibility of dark-on-light vs. light-on-dark text, especially on emissive displays vs. reflective surfaces. In both directions.

My father, for example, can not use dark modes because the light text amplifies the impact of a pair of defects which result in duplicated/ghosted copies of what he sees. Ordinarily not a problem, very high contrast brightness in a sea of dark… a problem! (Ghosting into a light area is less noticeable than ghosting into a dark one, which is essentially unreadable.)

I was trying out CSS manipulation of SVG styles again recently, and only came away frustrated again. The lack of standardization is terrible on this.