Is there a way to change Pd's default background to something other than retina-burning white? My eyes can't take it anymore and I don't see any sort of preference or anything...

I know you can use a canvas, but is there an easy way to resize a canvas as your patch grows; apart from right-click-->Properties-->fiddling with numbers to get the right size. Ideally if there's no straightup preference, then something like an abstraction with a canvas in it that knows how to resize to the Pd window dimensions?

I should clarify... The way I'm doing it now is basically everytime I create a new Pd file I immedately create a 1000x1000 canvas of my chosen background colour and add it to the patch. If the patch grows/shrinks from that size, then I have to resize it, but 1000x1000 is usually ok. Then I have to do the same thing anytime I create a subpatch. I've tried with an abstraction to eliminate steps from the process, but the abstraction is only created in a new patch window when you click the object box in your main patch window.

http://forum.pdpatchrepo.info/topic/7052/setting-up-a-puredata-default-canvas/6

and

http://puredata.info/docs/guiplugins/GUIPlugins/

colorscheme-plugin.tcl

Just in case you were interested, here's my GUI plugin.

(Edit: can't seem to get the file upload to work.)

@llorona indeed there's an issue with the forum, when starting with [c...] = buggy. will try to fix that asap. in the meantime here's the download:

upload-1cd6f1eb-a086-482d-bab1-8b50d244e9e3.tcl

@llorona Thanks! I had high hopes when seeing the info in those links, but unfortunately it doesn't work for me . I tried using the Tcl prompt and entered

set canvas_fill "grey"

That did nothing.

There was no ~/Library/Pd or /Library/Pd directories so I created them and added file 'canvasgrey-plugin.tcl" containing the line:

set ::canvas_fill "grey"

and that didn't work either.

I'm using OS X Mavericks. I'm also using Pd Vanilla, could that be the reason? According to the GUIPlugins link, these paths should be valid for Pd Vanilla 0.43, I'm running 0.44 so maybe they've changed? No ../Pd directories by default on my machine means no pd-gui.tcl either... Or does Pd keep it's stuff somewhere else on OS X Mavericks?

On UNIX i usually try "locate $file" (after an updatedb) to find files really quick. In Linux there is one folder for a lot of .tcl files. I guess my default installation points to: /usr/lib/pd-extended/tcl/pd-gui.tcl

Once i changed the values directly in there to give PD a dark theme and it worked quite well, but i changed back because i only went half the way and ended up with too much black elements on a dark gray bg...

So, it's loading the plugin, the plugin just isn't doing anything. So it's looking in the right place for it. I get the message:

'canvasgrey-plugin.tcl' already loaded, ignoring: '/Library/Pd/canvasgrey-plugin.tcl'

It's seeing the one in my home dir first.

I have the same problem.

So far,I had successfully done the "set canvas_fill grey" trick with Pd extended 0.43 but I can't do the same with Pd vanilla 0.45.

Pd-extended, for whatever reason, is not really usable and crashes every time I connect an MPD32. That's why I need Pd vanilla.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Pd-extended, for whatever reason, is not really usable and crashes every time I connect an MPD32. That's why I need Pd vanilla.

Hey, my MPD24 does that too! Really weird, none of my other controllers have caused this behavior. I get around it with MIDI cables, and a USB power adapter, but its kind of a hassle.

@petervh said:
"I get around it with MIDI cables, and a USB power adapter, but its kind of a hassle."

I gave up Pd. I went back to Max...

Nobody knows when Pd-extended will come. If it only comes...

And Pd vanilla is too often limited...

...and I don't have to take my sunglasses to work with Max