Does anyoneone else find the colour scheme of the properties panel challenging?
Maybe for young eyes it’s perfect, but grey print on a gray background is severely restricting if you’re over 50!
Add to that the small size of the type, especially compared to other aspects in Dorico, and it isn’t very helpful.
The explanations in the engraving rules dialogue are blue on blue background. No better.
I know it’s very pretty, but any chance can we have a higher contrast version and scalable text down the road? (unless it’s already there, but I cant find it).
Many thanks,
Michael
I’m well over 50 (and recently started wearing glasses) but I don’t have any problems reading it. For me, there is plenty of contrast between the light gray text and the dark gray background.
My only quibble would be that the blue for “selected” controls in the panel and the icons is a bit bright compared with the text, but that’s not such a big issue that I’m asking for the color to be changed!
I find the “light” color scheme (Edit / Preferences menu) is much harder to read, but YMMV.
Thanks for the feedback. I do always aim to adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines regarding color contrast (How to Meet WCAG (Quickref Reference)). The actual contrast can of course vary from monitor to monitor, so I shall continue to review any particular areas people have problems with.
Thanks,
Anthony
Can I support Michael Hedley in this. It’s possible to read the properties panel, but it’s a strain. Brightening the monitor isn’t an option, given there is no alternative to stark white for the main window. Adding alternatives in the preferences box would be greatly appreciated.
My 2 cents:
I think when it comes to color, contrast, and other user interface issues, we have to realize that each of us has different preferences and requirements.
It is wonderful (no sarcasm intended) that the contrast and color schemes are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and that they work for most people. However, there will always be some subset of users who would prefer or require that colors and contrasts be customizable.
These colors and contrasts are a great starting point as defaults. However, as Dorico matures, I feel that the UX should allow customization in these areas so that all users can use the software in a comfortable and productive manner. For myself, I find the light blue background rather unpleasant and would love to be able to change it, but I know that the majority of people are probably fine with it. 
Having said this, I know that the Dorico team has been working incredibly hard and that there are admittedly more important priorities. Thanks for all of the good work!
My request in this regard isn’t so much the color scheme so much as I wish the UI was a little bigger. I have a 27" iMac and sit a few feet away as a result. Sometimes the properties bar at the bottom of engrave mode is a tad small to read. I imagine it is even worse for people on the 5k iMac. Maybe there’s a way to scale this and I just don’t know.
Bigger… 
wow. I need it smaller. But I said that before. 
EDIT: Seems like big screen/hi-res > bigger and smaller screen/low-res > smaller
I use 24" in HD and need it smaller…
Benji
[Sorry, I don’t mean the panel itself, just the text and little “handles” within it.]
Not exactly sure what you mean there. (not quite clear the way you typed it) but I think you mean that on bigger screens that are high res, people could use a larger interface whereas on smaller screens that are lower resolution, they need a smaller interface since the scaling makes it larger proportionally. To that I agree to some extent. The interface is nice and “large” on my laptop (almost too large) but when you have plenty of screen real estate like on a 27" iMac, I can still have all the panels open and have 2-3 pages displayed no problem, so making the panels a touch bigger wouldn’t bother me in the slightest there. By contrast, I wouldn’t want them any larger on my laptop. Just bigger text within the existing panels. That’s what I meant.
[footnote: I find it perfectly livable the way it is now. I’m just voicing my opinion since I know the Dorico team is so wonderful about incorporating user input and wishes. That is plainly evident with the new preview! ]
As described on another thread, the problem is acute with small (13.3") screens on modern laptops that have 1920x1080 resolution (so-called Full HD). On these computers, the palettes and other panels in Dorico can be much too large and rob too much workspace from the actual score. I think the only answers to this problem are either automatic detection of these conditions, or the ability in Preferences to scale the panels.
I just wanted to thank the Dorico team for the updates to change the Dorico background from a solid color to a gradient. It looks wonderful!