Missing sufficiently dark grey color

[misova]

I found there is missing color, that is sufficiently dark.

Example:
1. You want to have black charts with BLACK background.
2. You want to have grild lines (hor + vertical) with very dark gray color, that is clearly visible, but not attracting you focus.

Currently this simple basic color scheme is not possible to achieve.
The darkest gray I found is DImGray - but this color is too much visible and attracting focus,
so it is not suitable for grid lines color on black chart.

See attachment from NT7, what I need to achieve.
This basic color scheme is not possible in NT8.





Below is best scheme in NT8 -- see how inapriopriate is color of the grid lines = it attracts too much attention and needs to be much darker.
This is not possible to achieve in NT8 and this is the main problem of this thread.

[NinjaTrader_Brandon]

Hello misova,

Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps Gradient Brush will fit your needs for a darker color.

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

We have plans to allow users to easily add custom colors to the standard brush picker in NinjaTrader 8.

In the meantime, you can add more colors via the skin you're using.

Some basic information on editing a skin is here:

http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/en-us/creating_your_own_skin.htm

Per the note in the Help Guide you should not edit our standard skins, but rather copy a skin you wish to work from and edit from there.

For example, if you're using the "Light" skin, you can navigate to Documents\NinjaTrader 8\templates\skins folder

Within the skins folder, right click on the "Light" folder and select Copy and then Paste (CTRL + V). This should create a copy of the Light folder. You can rename this folder to a name you wish to use. After it is copied and renamed, you will now find this option under Tools-> Options

Once you're using your own custom skin, you can go into your custom skin folder and look for the "Blue Print.xaml" file. You can open this file with any sort of text editor.

Within the skin file, look for the key called "customColorPickerList". Within this arraylist you can then define your own colors. For example, the below will add more shades of gray to your custom colors

<collections:ArrayList x:Key="customColorPickerList">
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#080808" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#101010" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#181818" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#202020" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#282828" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#303030" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#383838" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#404040" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#484848" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#505050" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#585858" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#606060" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#686868" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#707070" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#787878" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#888888" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#909090" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#989898" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#A0A0A0" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#A8A8A8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#B0B0B0" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#B8B8B8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#C8C8C8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#D0D0D0" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#D8D8D8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#E0E0E0" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#E8E8E8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#F0F0F0" 	po:Freeze="true" />
	<SolidColorBrush	Color="#F8F8F8" 	po:Freeze="true" />
</collections:ArrayList>

After restart, you should see your new colors on from the color picker.

Note: Edits to these skin files are syntax sensitive, make sure to check the Log tab of the Control Center for any errors generated loading the skin should you make a mistake when editing the file.

[misova]

Thank you,
it is a little bit better. It looks better on your screen, because there are small count of lines.

This is how it looks on our standard charts:
It is a little bit better, but still the grid lines attract the attention in an unacceptable way. It is pain of distraction to look at black chart.

I would say - that new platform built from the ground should handle this
basic use case of using black charts. We need to provide some very dark gray color - otherwise NT8 will be the first platform, that cannot display black charts in a convenient way.

Do we have any other option? I can't see any, because:

• Remove the grid lines is not an option.
• Look at the strong lines that inapropriately attract attention is also not an option.
• Force traders to change their chart color scheme is also not an option.

This really needs fix during BETA phase.

[NinjaTrader_Brandon]

Hello misova,

Thanks for your reply.

Development is currently working at changing this.

[misova]

Great Matthew,
thank you very much for the solution.

I can handle this without any problems, but there will be need for more user-friendly solution in the future, as you already mentioned.

Anyway, thank you for useful help.

[misova]

I copied skin and updated the file with all the shades of gray.
Everything works like a charm now.

Thank you!

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

I'm glad to hear that worked for you. Thanks for letting us know!