Custom Colour Schemes

This post has been archived. It's probably out of date or shameful in some other way.

The Opera browser is gaining more and more prominence, these days, and for good reason - it is currently, by far and away, the best tool available for browsing the internet (and if you are a web designer, it offers a host of [url=http://www.camaban.co.uk/operadev.php]other features[/url] that will make your life much easier). If you don't use it yet, go and [url=http://www.opera.com]download the free trial[/url] - you won't look back.

[Aside: Opera fans will be very used to mouse gestures by now, but it can be very frustrating being unable to use them in other applications. Allow me to introduce the amazing [url=http://www.tcbmi.com/strokeit/]StrokeIt[/url], which gives you mouse gestures capabilities in every application - and it's even free for personal use.]

There are plenty of ways to customize Opera, from skinning to full control over menus, that add to its appeal. Once you have added a skin, the use of alpha-faded PNGs means you can then apply a colour scheme to any skin, giving you far more options than the standard colours chosen by the creator of the skin. Unfortunately, Opera only comes with 9 colour scheme presets, a somewhat limited choice. Fortunately, all it takes is Notepad and two minutes spare to add a couple of hundred more options to the list. All you need to do is follow the following simple instructions:

1. Save this text into any text editor.
2. Close Opera.
3. Open Menu.ini with any text editor.
4. Search for "[Color Scheme Menu]".

You should now see a short list of the colours already included with Opera, along with their colour schemes, looking very much like the below:

Item, "Gold" = Set skin coloring, #803C00 Item, "Sand" = Set skin coloring, #BD9431 Item, "Jungle" = Set skin coloring, #2FB35E Item, "Sea" = Set skin coloring, #2F83B3 Item, "Blue" = Set skin coloring, #001E80 Item, "Indigo" = Set skin coloring, #606090 Item, "Purple" = Set skin coloring, #4B0082 Item, "Crimson" = Set skin coloring, #DC143C Item, "Red" = Set skin coloring, #900000

Now, replace that list with the following one. Please note that colours in the new list whose names are the same as colours in the list above have had a 2 appended to them. You may well wish to just delete them - they have been included for the sake of completeness.

Once you have done that, save Menu.ini, and restart Opera. Go to View > Colour Schemes to see the new list, and toy with your newly-enhanced browser to your heart's content. You can actually preview the colours listed here at http://members.tripod.com/rebbekka/colour.htm if you feel the need.

Item, "Gold" = Set skin coloring, #803C00 Item, "Sand" = Set skin coloring, #BD9431 Item, "Jungle" = Set skin coloring, #2FB35E Item, "Sea" = Set skin coloring, #2F83B3 Item, "Blue" = Set skin coloring, #001E80 Item, "Indigo" = Set skin coloring, #606090 Item, "Purple" = Set skin coloring, #4B0082 Item, "Crimson" = Set skin coloring, #DC143C Item, "Red" = Set skin coloring, #900000 --------------------2 Item, "Aliceblue" = Set skin coloring, #F0F8FF Item, "Antiquewhite" = Set skin coloring, #FAEBD7 Item, "Aqua" = Set skin coloring, #00FFFF Item, "Aquamarine" = Set skin coloring, #7FFFD4 Item, "Azure" = Set skin coloring, #F0FFFF Item, "Beige" = Set skin coloring, #F5F5DC Item, "Bisque" = Set skin coloring, #FFE4C4 Item, "Black" = Set skin coloring, #000000 Item, "Blanchedalmond" = Set skin coloring, #FFEBCD Item, "Blue2" = Set skin coloring, #0000FF Item, "Blueviolet" = Set skin coloring, #8A2BE2 Item, "Brown" = Set skin coloring, #A52A2A Item, "Burlywood" = Set skin coloring, #DEB887 Item, "Cadetblue" = Set skin coloring, #5F9EA0 Item, "Chartreuse" = Set skin coloring, #7FFF00 Item, "Chocolate" = Set skin coloring, #D2691E Item, "Coral" = Set skin coloring, #FF7F50 Item, "Cornflowerblue" = Set skin coloring, #6495ED Item, "Cornsilk" = Set skin coloring, #FFF8DC Item, "Crimson2" = Set skin coloring, #DC143C Item, "Cyan" = Set skin coloring, #00FFFF Item, "Darkblue" = Set skin coloring, #00008B Item, "Darkcyan" = Set skin coloring, #008B8B Item, "Darkgoldenrod" = Set skin coloring, #B8860B Item, "Darkgray" = Set skin coloring, #A9A9A9 Item, "Darkgreen" = Set skin coloring, #006400 Item, "Darkkhaki" = Set skin coloring, #BDB76B Item, "Darkmagenta" = Set skin coloring, #8B008B Item, "Darkolivegreen" = Set skin coloring, #556B2F Item, "Darkorange" = Set skin coloring, #FF8C00 Item, "Darkorchid" = Set skin coloring, #9932CC Item, "Darkred" = Set skin coloring, #8B0000 Item, "Darksalmon" = Set skin coloring, #E9967A Item, "Darkseagreen" = Set skin coloring, #8FBC8F Item, "Darkslateblue" = Set skin coloring, #483D8B Item, "Darkslategray" = Set skin coloring, #2F4F4F Item, "Darkturquoise" = Set skin coloring, #00CED1 Item, "Darkviolet" = Set skin coloring, #9400D3 Item, "Deeppink" = Set skin coloring, #FF1493 Item, "Deepskyblue" = Set skin coloring, #00BFFF Item, "Dimgray" = Set skin coloring, #696969 Item, "Dodgerblue" = Set skin coloring, #1E90FF Item, "Firebrick" = Set skin coloring, #B22222 Item, "Floralwhite" = Set skin coloring, #FFFAF0 Item, "Forestgreen" = Set skin coloring, #228B22 Item, "Fuchsia" = Set skin coloring, #FF00FF Item, "Gainsboro" = Set skin coloring, #DCDCDC Item, "Ghostwhite" = Set skin coloring, #F8F8FF Item, "Gold2" = Set skin coloring, #FFD700 Item, "Goldenrod" = Set skin coloring, #DAA520 Item, "Gray" = Set skin coloring, #808080 Item, "Green" = Set skin coloring, #008000 Item, "Greenyellow" = Set skin coloring, #ADFF2F Item, "Honeydew" = Set skin coloring, #F0FFF0 Item, "Hotpink" = Set skin coloring, #FF69B4 Item, "Indianred" = Set skin coloring, #CD5C5C Item, "Indigo2" = Set skin coloring, #4B0082 Item, "Ivory" = Set skin coloring, #FFFFF0 Item, "Khaki" = Set skin coloring, #F0E68C Item, "Lavendar" = Set skin coloring, #E6E6FA Item, "Lavenderblush" = Set skin coloring, #FFF0F5 Item, "Lawngreen" = Set skin coloring, #7CFC00 Item, "Lemonchiffon" = Set skin coloring, #FFFACD Item, "Lightblue" = Set skin coloring, #ADD8E6 Item, "Lightcoral" = Set skin coloring, #F08080 Item, "Lightcyan" = Set skin coloring, #E0FFFF Item, "Lightgoldenrodyellow" = Set skin coloring, #FAFAD2 Item, "Lightgreen" = Set skin coloring, #90EE90 Item, "Lightgrey" = Set skin coloring, #D3D3D3 Item, "Lightpink" = Set skin coloring, #FFB6C1 Item, "Lightsalmon" = Set skin coloring, #FFA07A Item, "Lightseagreen" = Set skin coloring, #20B2AA Item, "Lightskyblue" = Set skin coloring, #87CEFA Item, "Lightslategray" = Set skin coloring, #778899 Item, "Lightsteelblue" = Set skin coloring, #B0C4DE Item, "Lightyellow" = Set skin coloring, #FFFFE0 Item, "Lime" = Set skin coloring, #00FF00 Item, "Limegreen" = Set skin coloring, #32CD32 Item, "Linen" = Set skin coloring, #FAF0E6 Item, "Maroon" = Set skin coloring, #800000 Item, "Mediumauqamarine" = Set skin coloring, #66CDAA Item, "Mediumblue" = Set skin coloring, #0000CD Item, "Mediumorchid" = Set skin coloring, #BA55D3 Item, "Mediumpurple" = Set skin coloring, #9370D8 Item, "Mediumseagreen" = Set skin coloring, #3CB371 Item, "Mediumslateblue" = Set skin coloring, #7B68EE Item, "Mediumspringgreen" = Set skin coloring, #00FA9A Item, "Mediumturquoise" = Set skin coloring, #48D1CC Item, "Mediumvioletred" = Set skin coloring, #C71585 Item, "Midnightblue" = Set skin coloring, #191970 Item, "Mintcream" = Set skin coloring, #F5FFFA Item, "Mistyrose" = Set skin coloring, #FFE4E1 Item, "Moccasin" = Set skin coloring, #FFE4B5 Item, "Navajowhite" = Set skin coloring, #FFDEAD Item, "Navy" = Set skin coloring, #000080 Item, "Oldlace" = Set skin coloring, #FDF5E6 Item, "Olive" = Set skin coloring, #808000 Item, "Olivedrab" = Set skin coloring, #688E23 Item, "Orange" = Set skin coloring, #FFA500 Item, "Orangered" = Set skin coloring, #FF4500 Item, "Orchid" = Set skin coloring, #DA70D6 Item, "Palegoldenrod" = Set skin coloring, #EEE8AA Item, "Palegreen" = Set skin coloring, #98FB98 Item, "Paleturquoise" = Set skin coloring, #AFEEEE Item, "Palevioletred" = Set skin coloring, #D87093 Item, "Papayawhip" = Set skin coloring, #FFEFD5 Item, "Peachpuff" = Set skin coloring, #FFDAB9 Item, "Peru" = Set skin coloring, #CD853F Item, "Pink" = Set skin coloring, #FFC0CB Item, "Plum" = Set skin coloring, #DDA0DD Item, "Powderblue" = Set skin coloring, #B0E0E6 Item, "Purple2" = Set skin coloring, #800080 Item, "Red2" = Set skin coloring, #FF0000 Item, "Rosybrown" = Set skin coloring, #BC8F8F Item, "Royalblue" = Set skin coloring, #4169E1 Item, "Saddlebrown" = Set skin coloring, #8B4513 Item, "Salmon" = Set skin coloring, #FA8072 Item, "Sandybrown" = Set skin coloring, #F4A460 Item, "Seagreen" = Set skin coloring, #2E8B57 Item, "Seashell" = Set skin coloring, #FFF5EE Item, "Sienna" = Set skin coloring, #A0522D Item, "Silver" = Set skin coloring, #C0C0C0 Item, "Skyblue" = Set skin coloring, #87CEEB Item, "Slateblue" = Set skin coloring, #6A5ACD Item, "Slategray" = Set skin coloring, #708090 Item, "Snow" = Set skin coloring, #FFFAFA Item, "Springgreen" = Set skin coloring, #00FF7F Item, "Steelblue" = Set skin coloring, #4682B4 Item, "Tan" = Set skin coloring, #D2B48C Item, "Teal" = Set skin coloring, #008080 Item, "Thistle" = Set skin coloring, #D8BFD8 Item, "Tomato" = Set skin coloring, #FF6347 Item, "Turquoise" = Set skin coloring, #40E0D0 Item, "Violet" = Set skin coloring, #EE82EE Item, "Wheat" = Set skin coloring, #F5DEB3 Item, "White" = Set skin coloring, #FFFFFF Item, "Whitesmoke" = Set skin coloring, #F5F5F5 Item, "Yellow" = Set skin coloring, #FFFF00 Item, "YellowGreen" = Set skin coloring, #9ACD32

9 November 2003