I noticed in a recent screen shot someone posted that they had altered their setting from the standard off-white Renderosity background and changed it to black. I am curious, how many of you have customized your background settings? There are a number of photographers, myself included, that like to use the off-white in our final image to make a photo blend seamlessly into the browser background. If people are changing their backgrounds, it is going to look kind of wierd and loose it's effectiveness. The above image is an example. If you have the default settings still active, the image should seem to float above the background with a shadow beneath. If you've changed them, it will have a light border around it...not at nice. I'm just trying to get an idea of how many people still use the default settings and how many have something else. Thanks.

at one time the default background was black.. i like the black.. so that's what i have :] my daughter has her's set to a vivid dark blue with pink writing!!! o.O! yikes!!!

Message edited on: 10/13/2005 10:34

Oh, my that is scarey. It takes me back to the early days of computing...heheh.

I use the default setting, but there is a border around the photo above that is off-white. I never changed my settings, so I'm certainly assuming I'm using the default. Above is an example of what your image looks like on my system.

Ahh, so even if I have it on my defaults, it can look different. Interesting, thanks.

Mine is grey! To me, it's the best background to view images. I add a white border to my images on purpose, hoping it's actually visible! O_o Never thought that people with a white background don't actually see them! :(

I turned my background into "black", because with many images that really helps to make the colours "shine". As the background in my PSP is light (BTW: Does anyone know how to change THAT???) I'm often surprised about the difference it makes... I really prefer the black one!

I know what you mean...it changes the whole look of the image. At least there is a lot of space around the image in that case. My black borders follow the same suit with people that use the black backgrounds. I hope we get some more feedback with what people actually see. I know that Punaguy sometimes uses the same trick I do, mistakenly thinking that the backgrounds are off-white. (R: 241 G: 240 B: 237) (web color# F1F0ED)

no, sure don't.. my backgd in PSP is light grey.. is that what you have Drea?

Andrea, when you are working on an image, it is probably better to have a light or 50% grey background around your image so you can get the best idea of the image's dynamic range. Sorry, I don't know how to change it in PSP.

Message edited on: 10/13/2005 11:55

interesting thread. i've never changed mine; it's still on the default. interesting that i see Kort's image differently than the way waldomac does. Kort, when i look at your image, yeah, it DOES seem to float above with a shadow below. very nice. i see what you're saying. that way that waldomac sees it on his screen...you're right...i don't find it a very attractive presentation. Pascale, i CAN see your white borders that you put around your images. :)

@ Cyn: Yes, and I'd love to change that. It's either grey or nearly white (depends on whether I put the image to "full size" or not). Of course there's always the "trick" to use a larger black image as a background, but I just can't imagine no-one has asked for the possibility of changing the background-colour yet... Well, as I have no idea where the manual is, I might as well start "google-ing" the problem???

I'm using the default settings because I didn't know you could change it and I don't see a border.

when i get to a certain stage.. i go to View>Full Screen Preview & the image appears on black without the PSP showing at all..

U can Sheila??? Woohoo! Neat! :D

I see them too Pascalou.

Duh!! So....r u saying that my "white" borders aren't really white or is it ur background that aren't really white!? o_o

if anyone would like to change their background color..

go to

Member Options -side panel, top dropdown box
My Profile- & it's down there at the bottom of the pg
submit ;]

& pascale.. the default of RR is an off-white eggshell, so your white does show there

Message edited on: 10/13/2005 12:40

Ooooooh!!! Thx Cyn! :) I thought it was weird cos I use FFFFFF for my whites!! So it should be....well....white!! o_O

i tried changing the color and it got too wierd for me and messed with my head lol. back to white ... haha

Kort... my settings are #333333 for BG. #CCCCCC for text. #F8F8F8 for links, and #405160 for visited links..... I was so used to the black background that when they changed the defaults I was NOT happy..... This almost black color seems to work well for my eyes....

I use black for all my image viewing when possible. I thought about this when seeing images while being in as a visitor. My white bordered images looked odd.I thought adding a small dark border around the white ,but then have sort of not concerned myself with it. I change the workspace in photoshop to be black too, as it does aid in seeing the images better. Reading white font on black however is not so good for your eyes. Learning the do's and don't of website design, you learn this.

never gave it a thought kort always on default.. now changed to black..so much easier on the eye... never realised you could ty... for the tip..;)

When R'osity changed the settings I immediately changed mine bg color back to black. I use white or black 'frames' for my images on purpose, depending on which color I think they look better. That's why if the frame's black, I make a 1 pxl rim for the frame to stand out from the black bg some people might have set.

Intresting... I'm still on default colours, works OK for me. But in PSP I work with a grey background. Steve

i'm on the old black background as well :)

Me too, I'm still using the black background. Got back right away when they changed the default. A black background still works the best for me to view images. In the past I never gave it a thought which settings others may use... was really shocked when RR changed the default and I had a look at my old postings with frames in various colours I had picked out of the image LOL that's why I'm now using black or white frames depending on the image. A white frame fits better for a "soft" image but if I want to enhance the brightness of the colours in the image I go for a black frame.

yeah.. the change kinda messed up some of my older ideas.. that were suppose to blend on a entirely black background :P

i have customized colour settings.... :) @drea71 and @cyn: concerning the PSP settings - the background colour can't be changed as far as i know - as PSP does use the standard windows settings here - you could browse your display properties -> advanced and search for the setting for "application background" - you can set this to black e.g. and then PSP has a black background... :)

What a neat thread. I didn't realize this color option was available for the site nor that i could get black backgrounds in "application background" for psp and ps. I will see if i can follow up on these. I do most of my image manipulations at night and as probably noted, i use black backgrounds a lot, lol. I never thought my images were displayed at their best (and they need all the help they can get) during the day or on white or offwhite screens. When i first started posting at Renderosity, my first impulse was to do the trick of adding a large black border around the frame to isolate the pic from the light colors, then I realized each persons style and subject and artistic temperment will dictate what they prefer, so i just decided to accept what was there and do what pleases me and hope someone else will like it also. Lee

Mine's black as well.Interesting thread.

Well no luck so far with changing anything in psp or ps but i did change site colors. If anyone is interested i am now using Background-(7C7C7C) Text- (DBDBDB) link- (2C2C2C) visited- (FFCCCC) I tell you this only because they seem to be very soft and soothing and yet still show up well against submitted pics and all else as well, lol. Thanks for the tip.

I opted for hacker black and green. :) Here's a quick screen grab...

As soon as the site went to shitty brown and almond, I switched my colors to a reasonable set of purples on navy-almost black. At least part of the screen was pretty and easy on the eyes. I just changed again for Hallowe'en and like my mixed greens on pure black. It reminds me of this site back around '99 or so. Colors look brighter and cleaner on black. Colored text on black is easy to read, too. Carolly

I changed my default lately with most of my posts as I was just lazy at making frames for them...A little drop shadow and the image looks like yours. Aloha!

I have my background set to approx an 18% gray, so I see all the subtle nuances of a frame...very rarely does any frame blend into my background.

I can't stand a long time with a light background, so I changed mine in RR to #A0A0A0 that is grey, with default black text - it's a neutral color with less contrast, thus more relaxing than white or black. I usually do the same with pc desktop, and with all software that allows to customize colors. about frames, I must admit I don't like it so much, I never use it - a photo is a photo, just like a print on a table. anyway the thread is interesting =) claudio