Over the past few years, almost all photography-related software has taken a turn for the worse. Such software has adopted a dark-coloured user interface along with either reverse type (white text on a dark background), dark text on a dark background, or even grey text on a grey background.
Some software companies don’t seem to understand how our eyes work. Since reading a computer monitor is known to be more difficult than reading a piece of paper, one would think that software companies would take this into consideration.
Most, but not all, print publishers have long known about the evils of reverse type.
Reverse type => higher contrast than non-reversed => readability problems, eye strain, lower comprehension level.
There’s a reason why the eye chart at the doctor’s office is black on white. There’s a reason why many schools switched from black chalkboards to green chalkboards.
Many print publishers also know about the optical illusion caused by reversing type. Reversed text appears smaller, thinner and more difficult to read. But it appears that some software engineers don’t have a clue about this:
Another problem is that user interfaces are not keeping up with monitor resolution. A higher resolution means that everything appears smaller. Since most photo software tries to pack so much information onscreen, the interface text, input boxes, sliders and other tools are tiny to the point of being nearly unreadable.
There’s a reason why photographers using high-res monitors sit so close to their screens. Tiny reverse type and tiny icons on a large screen are impossible to read, especially after several hours of looking through a camera viewfinder.
Some software give the user a choice of interface tone, from light to dark. A very small number of software allow a choice of text size. But most don’t offer any options with regard to the interface size (tool icons, sliders, etc.).
Other photographers seem to agree (and here).
Hopefully, this trend of dark interfaces with small, reverse type will end soon. Or perhaps software companies are just trying to recreate a darkroom effect?
