Recently, I rediscovered a little feature on my iMac that lets you change the appearance of your computer screen. It's not an overwhelming change but it can be a little fun and break the monotony. The fun happens in the General section of the Systems Preferences window.

Just click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen and choose System Preferences from the pop-up menu. In the System Preferences window, click the General tab.

Appearance - Color Mode

You have the choice between the Light, Dark and Auto color modes.

One of the most popular color modes is the Dark color mode, which turns the text white and the windows, menus, Dock and other controls to a very dark or black color. This color mode is popular for graphic programs, such as Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Designer, because the dark colored areas recede and the graphic that you are creating becomes more prominent. You can see this difference in the light and dark interfaces of the Affinity Designer software, in the featured image at the top of the article.

The Light color mode is the default for the iMac, with its dark text and off white to light gray colors. Both the Dark and Light color modes are continuous, meaning that they don't change.

The Auto color mode changes from Light to Dark throughout the day. As I work nights while everybody else is sleeping, I was surprised that you didn't have control over this, such as a specific time to make the switch.

Accent and Highlight Color

There are several other controls in the General tab, but next we are going to take a look at the Accent and Highlight color options. Under the Appearance section are the Accent color radio buttons. The default is blue.

Click each button and you will notice the arrows for each of the drop-down menus change to that color. But it's not only that selection arrow, but several other UI controls will change also.

Just below the buttons, notice that the Highlight color box changes to the same color. The color is less opaque, as it will be used to highlight text. However, you can change this color independently from the Accent color. Just click on the color box and choose a color from the pop-up menu.

The Other Controls

• Sidebar Icon Size: Small, medium or large icons in the Finder Sidebar


• Scroll Bars and Tabs: Set how you want the scroll bar and tabs to function


• Default Web Browser: Safari is default, but you can set your favorite web browser as the default


• Closing App Windows: Set what happens when you close a window, such as saving changes


• Recent Items: Set how many recently opened documents are listed in the File - Open Recent menu

Screenshots used by permission of Serif (Europe) Ltd. This article is not endorsed by Serif Ltd.