Color schemes in VIM

To change color scheme you need to use command :colo, for example

:color slate

RHEL provides the following set of color schemes

ll /usr/share/vim/vim*/colors*
 
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2588 Mar  5  2011 blue.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2809 Mar  5  2011 darkblue.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  548 Mar  5  2011 default.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2399 Mar  5  2011 delek.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2812 Mar  5  2011 desert.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1666 Mar  5  2011 elflord.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2476 Mar  5  2011 evening.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 3238 Mar  5  2011 koehler.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2460 Mar  5  2011 morning.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2006 Mar  5  2011 murphy.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1037 Mar  5  2011 pablo.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2673 Mar  5  2011 peachpuff.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1239 Mar  5  2011 ron.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2720 Mar  5  2011 shine.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2419 Mar  5  2011 slate.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1627 Mar  5  2011 torte.vim
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1840 Mar  5  2011 zellner.vim

• blue.vim -- not very good but sometimes help if some elements of the test are cfolored in such a way that they are not visible.
• darkblue.vim -- better then blue.vim

• default.vim -- bad on light background but you should not change it.

• evening.vim -- similar to darkblue.
• morning.vim -- nice scheme with light grey background.
• murphy.vim  -- black with green letters
• shine.vim
• slate -- nice scheme for light background. Requires some modification
• torte.vim similar as darkblue, evening and murphy

Vim documentation syntax

*:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
:colo[rscheme] Output the name of the currently active color scheme.
This is basically the same as
:echo g:colors_name
  In case g:colors_name has not been defined :colo will
output "default".  When compiled without the |+eval|
feature it will output "unknown".

:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}.  This searches 'runtimepath'
for the file "colors/{name}.vim.  The first one that
is found is loaded.
To see the name of the currently active color scheme:
:colo
  The name is also stored in the g:colors_name variable.
Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
After the color scheme has been loaded the
|ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
For info about writing a colorscheme file:
:edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt

:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
attributes set.

:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
List one highlight group.

:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults.  Removes all
highlighting for groups added by the user!
Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
default colors to use.

For vi open the file .vimrc (notice the dot!). For gvim open .gvimrc. Both files are in your home directory (if they are not, just create them). In .vimrc put the line:

colo slate

NEWS CONTENTS

• 190313 : vim - make gvim 7.2 background black - Stack Overflow ( vim - make gvim 7.2 background black - Stack Overflow, )
• 190313 : Vim color scheme Wombat " Lars H. Nielsen's Blog ( Vim color scheme Wombat " Lars H. Nielsen's Blog, )

Old News ;-)

vim - make gvim 7.2 background black - Stack Overflow

1

down vote favorite I am sick and tired of the white background when I edit c/c++/etc code. I want the black backround. that is what I currently have in my .vimrc file in regard to coloring. Please help me change it:

if !has('gui_running') set t_Co=8 t_md=

highlight NORMAL ctermbg=black ctermfg=white thanks vim vi share|improve this question edited Oct 11 '09 at 20:34 Bill the Lizard♦ 90.1k53237456 asked Oct 8 '09 at 19:04 vehomzzz 3,90294191

92% accept rate

Was this post useful to you? 2 Answersactive oldest votes up vote 6

down vote accepted :help colorscheme For example:

:colorscheme torte Or, find a color scheme you like at vim.org. share|improve this answer answered Oct 8 '09 at 19:06 Sinan Ünür 62.6k676184

Also, look into the Color Sampler Pack in the vim script catalog. My personal favorite is vividchalk. – Ball Oct 8 '09 at 19:12 @Ball the 'Color Sampler Pack' happens to be the first result for the search I linked above. – Sinan Ünür Oct 8 '09 at 19:17 feedback

up vote 0

down vote Depending on your colorscheme, the following command might work (it does depend on the colorscheme).

:set background=dark share|improve this answer

Vim color scheme Wombat " Lars H. Nielsen's Blog

[...] February 25th, 2007 - foldlr Wombat Theme with high contrast, for light environment. http://dengmao.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/vim-color-scheme-wombat/ zenburn Them with low contrast, for dim environment. http://slinky.imukuppi.org/zenburn/ Posted [...]

The font is called Consolas. It is a Microsoft font intended for use with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, but you can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=22e69ae4-7e40-4807-8a86-b3d36fab68d3&displaylang=en

David Liang Says:

December 5, 2008 at 11:01 pm

A slightly modified version of this colorscheme that works with 88 and 256-color xterms as well as the GUI is available at http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2465

Reply

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Last modified: March, 12, 2019