I am surprised that no one has answered this. I am having the same issue. I would like to change DIM mode text color.
Me too! I figured a way around this and it might work for you. I am editing a face I made the original way and a I just copied an element that was still working with the correct dim color. I moved it where I wanted it and changed the TAG from Battery level to Temp.
I hope this helps but I am anxious for the “real” solution.
Same issue here…
Have a face I want to add a dim mode to, if I edit the colour on Dim it changes both, so i’ve tried copying the layer and changing the colour that way - it works on images with tint, but changing the colour only seems to affect the main rather than the dimmed
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Hi Justin ~ I’m new to creating watchfaces (just started yesterday), and I’m curious as to what you’re referring to. I checked the watchface you linked to, but I couldn’t figure out how to see it in dim mode without syncing it (which I prefer not to do).
I played around with some settings on the watchface I’m currently creating for myself and was able to “change” the text color of the digital time readout in the design, but after syncing it to my watch, it appears without the color change.
Has anyone else had any luck figuring this out?
UPDATE: So I’ve noticed that very, very briefly when changing from dim mode to active mode, the color I’ve selected for the glow effect in dim mode is shown. I also have the text a different color, but that still appears as white even when the glow color flashes for a micro-second.
This is definitely the most frustrating part of Facer to me. Let me decide what color things are in dim mode please.
Hey guys! Thanks a lot for your input on this - we’re going to look into it ASAP.
Cheers!
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I just created my first watch face today and I ran into the same issue. Thanks for looking into this, Facer team!
Hey everyone,
Right now we don’t allow colored elements in dim mode to save battery. Having full colored watchfaces in dim mode will consume more battery, and this is something we have to avoid. This is also following Google’s recommendation. On some watches colored dim mode could also possibly cause burn-in. We might allow colored dim modes in the future when watchfaces come out with better batteries or without any burn-in risk. In order to protect our users from burn-in and battery drain we’ve decided to enforce Google’s guidelines on this one.
Sorry for the inconvience!
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Thanks @tim_littlelabs
While aesthetically inconvenient, that makes sense. Is there a copy of those guidelines available somewhere? I’d like to be sure that anything I create adheres to them.A quick effort at searching doesn’t seem to provide any guidance.
I’ve noticed that the dim setting allows colored images to be placed on it. Is this a bad idea for the same reason? Are pure white images such as frames ok or should motion be added to those to avoid burn in as well?
Thanks!
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Hey @CompuChip,
You can find Google’s design guidelines for watchfaces here. Specifically the section you’re looking for is under the Ambient mode section.
Ambient mode helps the device conserve power. Your design should make clear to the user that the screen is in ambient mode. The background color scheme is strictly limited to black, white, and grays. Your watch face may use some color elements on screens that support it provided it is unambiguous that the device is in ambient mode. You can use color elements for up to 5 percent of total pixels. In this mode, the screen is only updated once every minute. Only show hours and minutes in ambient mode; do not show seconds. Your watch face is notified when the device switches to ambient mode, and you should thoughtfully design for it.
Since we don’t have a viable way to enforce that 5% rule, we decided to just not allow colors at all.
The colored images is a fault on our side. But at this point we can’t force black and white images because that would break existing faces. My personal advice is to use black and white images in ambient or at least adhere to the 5% rule Google provides.
As far as burn-in goes, most watches that have screens that are prone to burn-in have systems to prevent this. These watchfaces will go into what’s called a ‘low bit’ ambient mode. The Android operation system will shift any pixels on the screen itself after some time, and it will also force colors to converted in such a way that they won’t cause burn-in. So on your side you wouldn’t have to worry about this!
Hope that helps!
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I had stopped using facer months ago since I was finding more faces for watchmaker I liked better, but before with the old version of Facer you could edit everything. Liked in watchmaker. You see I hate ambient modes. I hate having a beautiful watch face turn and ugly. I always edit my faces so ambient mode looked same as regular mode. I get these battery issue. No problem for me. 3 charging docks. External battery packs. I can recharge whenever wherever. Why did Facer take away all editing or am I missing something?
I had a workaround that would create a color outline on the DIM text. I would use the STROKE effect with a setting of 2 or 3 and pick a color. It wouldn’t matter what color the text itself was because it would always show black, but you would get a nice color outline around the time or date or whatever.
I am Beta testing the latest version now and I can tell you that they “broke” that workaround. Everything is all white now.
Well what I did was made another exact element, only made to visible in dim mode (and the other invisible) and just changed the color… I don’t know if that is what you were trying to do…
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@tim_littlelabs - while I understand (and agree with) the Google design guidelines regarding colored ambient (dim) modes… they do indicate black, white, and grey may be used. The current Facer functionality assumes all backgrounds are black, and only allows white text. At the bare minimum this should be changed to allow grey and black text colors.
I’m trying to design a face that has a full color image when active, and a greyscale image when dim, but white text on a light grey background doesn’t work for me. If I could change the dim text to black it would look great, and still comply with Google’s recommendations.
This is my biggest gripe with facer on both of my faces I made have beyond just being white will have random color elements in dim (cloudy icon is green) . Would love to just set the dim colors myself, like I can with my faces in Pujie.
@tim_littlelabs @Facer_Official
Since I was not aware of Tim’s pronouncement from September 2016, I’ve been designing with darkened full color backgrounds in Dim mode.
What’s the current advisory on use of color in Dim mode?
Is there an update on guidelines for Dim Mode? I’ve noticed colored Dim Mode images and colored text on many designs lately.
I’m here for the solution as to having a dimmed watchface brighten when it goes to AOD mode. I figured I’d find my answer to that if I could figure out how to distinguished “dim” mode elements apart from normal display.
I basically have an image, and time text.
Changing their opacity, or color, affects both modes. How do I change one or the other without it changing it for both modes, normal and dim?
I tried duplicating the elements, and on dim mode, only one of each element (with 70% opacity) is displayed. On normal mode, both of each elements are displayed, but it still changed nothing.
I saved, sent to my watch and it’s the same thing. In AOD mode, it’s nice and bright. I wake up my watch, and it dims.
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Yes please someone answer this its so frustrating! How to distinguish dim from regular mode??
@vtae44
The way I did this was created a big black square that covers the whole face. That square is only visible on the “ambient” mode, and the opacity is adjusted to say 40%. Not perfect, but works.