How to Set Color and Saturation Level of Apps on Linux

Wondering how to set color saturation level of apps on Linux? Don’t worry, we have got you covered!

Linux distributions are proving themselves to be the ideal choice for those working in the field of Information Technology. They also provide an adequate environment for the purposes of software development, networking, etc.

Adding a Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows for an easy and interactable environment, allowing Linux distributions to expand into the systems of an average user.

While the GUI is perfect for displaying most applications on Linux, you might want to adjust the color saturation of certain apps for better visibility.

Although the general color saturation is adjusted to match the majority preference, changing it can prove to be a game changer. This read will help you learn how to set the color saturation level of apps and games on Linux.

That being said, let’s step right in!

Step 1: Find the Relevant Display ID.

First and foremost, you’ll also need to find the display ID you’re using.

This ID is crucial to confirm that the saturation is being changed on the correct monitor.

Note that this method won’t just impact an individual app, but rather the entire display. The method shouldn’t differ for any Linux distribution.

Use the following steps to find the relevant display ID of your screen:

1. Start by opening the Command Terminal. The shortcut is Ctrl + Alt + T.
2. Once the Terminal is open, type the following command:

$ xrandr

You should see an output similar to the one in the image below.

If you followed the steps correctly, then you would now have the display ID of your system’s screen. With this, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Adjust System Vibrance.

Now that you’ve acquired your display ID, it is time to use it to adjust the vibrance.

You can obtain this with the help of the “Vibrant CLI”. It is a third-party software that’s responsible for adjusting the color vibrance of a system’s display.

You should remember that the Vibrant CLI package isn’t directly available as an apt repository. Rather, you must download and install it from the main GitHub page. The instructions for installation are also available on the main page.

Once you’re complete with the installation, follow these instructions to adjust the color saturation using the Terminal:

1. First, open the Command Terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard.
2. Once it launches, proceed to type the following command to adjust the vibrance

$ vibrant-cli <Display ID> <value>

Here the “Display ID” represents the display ID that you found in the previous step. The “value” governs the saturation intensity and is governed by any number between 0 to 4.0.

If you followed the steps correctly, then congratulations, you’ve successfully learned how to set the color saturation level of apps and games on Linux. If you wish to be more specific by changing saturation for only certain apps, then you can proceed to learn about the next method.

Alternative Method: Adjust Saturation using the GUI.

You can also easily adjust the color saturation with the help of the VibrantLinux software.

The software can not only be used to adjust the vibrance for the entire system but for each app individually as well. 

You can install VibrantLinux from the main GitHub page or from Flathub as a Flatpak package by following these steps:

1. Start by opening the Command Terminal. The shortcut is Ctrl + Alt + T.
2. Once the Terminal is open, type the following command:

$ flatpak install flathub io.github.libvibrant.vibrantLinux

With the steps followed correctly, you should now have VibrantLinux on your system. The next step is to change the color saturation levels using it.

Follow these steps to Adjust saturation using the VibrantLinux package:

1. Start by clicking on the “Show Applications” button.

2. Next, navigate to the search bar and type “VibrantLinux”.

3. Click on the first result.
4. In the VibrantLinux window, you should see a tab with the name of your display/ display ID. Click on the display tab whose saturation you wish to adjust.
5. In the display tab, adjust the slider according to your need. You can adjust the values anywhere between 0 to 400.

If you followed these steps correctly, you should now have adjusted the saturation of your system.

The color saturation can be adjusted for specific applications as well. To change the saturation of an application, follow these steps:

1. Start by navigating to the desktop and clicking on the “Show Applications” button.

2. Next, go to the search bar and type “VibrantLinux”.

3. Click on the first result. This should open a window, as shown in the image below:

4. Below the display tab, you should see an “Add program” button. Click on the application whose saturation you wish to adjust. A new window should appear.
5. Adjust the slider according to your needs.

If you followed the steps correctly, congratulations; you have learned how to set the saturation for individual applications.

Additional Information.

A setting that you can use to manage color saturation is “Set vibrance only when program is in focus”. As the name suggests, the option adjusts the saturation only for the selected application. Background applications are unaffected by the effects of saturation.

Additionally, VibrantLinux can be set to run at startup automatically. To achieve this, click on the Settings option → Run Vibrant Linux on Startup, and you’re good to go.

While adjusting the color saturation levels can benefit the user, it won’t eliminate all kinds of issues you can encounter on Linux. For example, when using dark mode on the gedit text editor, oftentimes, the highlighted text isn’t visible, which can’t be fixed by adjusting saturation levels.

This is why learning how to fix highlighted text in gedit dark mode may be useful.

This concludes our guide on how to set the color saturation level of apps and games on Linux. For any questions, comments, or suggestions, let us know in the comment section down below.

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