FreeCAD Workspace Themes

Professional theme collection for FreeCAD featuring expertly designed color palettes and modern styling optimized for CAD workflows.

🎨 Available Themes

Carbon Designer ⭐ (Featured)

Professional dark theme with carbon-inspired color palette. Features balanced contrast, modern styling, and optimized colors for technical CAD work.

Key Features:

• Carbon-inspired color palette with professional appearance
• Balanced contrast for extended CAD sessions
• Modern interface styling with clean lines
• Optimized for technical precision work

Slate Professional

Expert-designed slate-based color palette with cool undertones. Professional appearance with sophisticated hierarchy and enhanced accessibility.

Key Features:

• Slate-based color palette with cool undertones
• Sophisticated visual hierarchy
• Enhanced accessibility with WCAG AA compliant contrast
• Modern scrollbars and refined interface elements

Graphite Professional 🏆 (Recommended)

Pure gray color palette without blue undertones. Neutral color temperature for technical precision with clean, professional appearance ideal for CAD work.

Key Features:

• Pure gray palette without color temperature bias
• Neutral colors for technical precision
• Clean, professional appearance
• Optimized Sketcher colors for white backgrounds
• Context-aware styling for different interface areas

📦 Installation

Via FreeCAD Add-on Manager (Recommended)

1. Open FreeCAD
2. Go to Tools → Addon Manager
3. Search for "FreeCAD Workspace Themes"
4. Click Install
5. Restart FreeCAD

Manual Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/bcherrington/FreeCAD-Workspace-Themes.git

2. Copy to your FreeCAD user directory:

   # Linux/macOS
   cp -r FreeCAD-Workspace-Themes ~/.local/share/FreeCAD/Preference\ Packs/
   
   # Windows
   copy FreeCAD-Workspace-Themes %APPDATA%\FreeCAD\Preference\ Packs\

🚀 Usage

Method 1: Preference Packs (Recommended)

1. Go to Tools → Preferences → General → Preference packs
2. Select your desired theme from the list:
   • Carbon Designer
   • Slate Professional
   • Graphite Professional
3. Click Apply
4. Restart FreeCAD for full effect

Method 2: Manual Configuration

1. Go to Tools → Preferences → Display → UI
2. Set StyleSheet to your chosen theme .qss file
3. Set OverlayActiveStyleSheet to the corresponding Overlay.qss file
4. Click Apply and OK

🎯 Theme Comparison

Feature	Carbon Designer	Slate Professional	Graphite Professional
Color Temperature	Neutral-warm	Cool	Neutral
Primary Use	General CAD	Professional design	Technical precision
Contrast Level	Balanced	High	Moderate-high
Accessibility	WCAG AA	WCAG AA+	WCAG AA+
Sketcher Colors	Optimized	Enhanced	Premium
Best For	Daily CAD work	Design presentations	Technical drawings

🛠️ Customization

Each theme includes:

• Main stylesheet (.qss) - Core interface styling
• Overlay stylesheet (.qss) - Context-specific overrides
• Preference configuration (.cfg) - Color settings and preferences

To customize a theme:

1. Copy the theme files to a new name
2. Edit the .qss and .cfg files as needed
3. Apply using the manual configuration method

📋 Requirements

• FreeCAD Version: 0.20.0 or later
• Operating Systems: Linux, Windows, macOS
• Python: 3.8+ (included with FreeCAD)

🔧 Technical Details

File Structure

FreeCAD-Workspace-Themes/
├── package.xml                           # Add-on metadata
├── Carbon Designer/
│   ├── Carbon Designer.cfg               # Theme preferences
│   ├── Carbon Designer.qss               # Main stylesheet
│   └── overlay/
│       └── Carbon Designer Overlay.qss   # Overlay stylesheet
├── Slate Professional/
│   ├── Slate Professional.cfg
│   ├── Slate Professional.qss
│   └── overlay/
│       └── Slate Professional Overlay.qss
├── Graphite Professional/
│   ├── Graphite Professional.cfg
│   ├── Graphite Professional.qss
│   └── overlay/
│       └── Graphite Professional Overlay.qss
└── scripts/
    └── install_themes.py                 # Manual installation script

Color Philosophy

Carbon Designer: Inspired by carbon fiber materials, featuring deep grays with subtle warm undertones for a professional yet approachable interface.

Slate Professional: Based on natural slate colors with cool undertones, designed for sophisticated professional environments requiring visual hierarchy.

Graphite Professional: Pure grayscale palette eliminating color temperature bias, ideal for technical work requiring color-neutral precision.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test with multiple FreeCAD versions
5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• FreeCAD development team for the excellent CAD platform
• Color theory experts who influenced the palette designs
• FreeCAD community for feedback and testing

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Forum: FreeCAD Forum
• Documentation: FreeCAD Wiki

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Made with ❤️ for the FreeCAD community