Recently, I was asked about the layout of my Obsidian vault and its appearance, as it deviates from the norm. This will not be an exhaustive explanation of all tips and tricks for altering the look and feel of your Obsidian vault, but it should provide some insight into how to achieve this on your own.
On the screen, you can see Obsidian open in a training vault for demonstration purposes. The current theme displayed is the default theme that comes with Obsidian. It is solid and reliable, but if you desire something different, let’s explore what can be done.
Within settings under appearance, you can manage themes and install new ones. I have used several themes during my time with Obsidian, such as Minimal, AnuPpuccin (which I struggle to pronounce), and recently, Prism. In this demonstration, we’ll focus on Prism. Upon selecting Prism, the screen changes according to the chosen theme. I personally prefer the dark theme due to long hours spent in front of computers. In editor view settings, I set editing as default for new tabs and live preview as the default editing mode.To use Prism or AnuPpuccin themes, you need to install a community plugin called Style Settings. This powerful plugin allows easy adjustments to cascading style sheets (CSS) which generate appearances for your entire vault.
Now we will begin changing the theme using Style Settings plugin rather than adjusting the theme itself. Open style settings under Prism theme; first, we’ll look at accent colour schemes and styles. I opt for Raven under dark theme but there are numerous options available. Next, let’s examine editor settings concerning headers. The header font size can be altered using sliders, but I am content with their current size. The headers’ text colours must be altered to suit the dark theme, with default settings adjusted by the theme’s author. We aim to change these text colours from white to blue, as set up in my vault. To determine your desired colours, I suggest obtaining a colour palette for reference and saving it in your file system. This way, you can easily switch between styles if you tire of one.
Headers text color setting area in Style Settings plugin
Now, let us procure our colour palette. I have prepared one earlier, featuring shades of blue in decreasing levels. These are represented by hex codes, essential for changing colours. To adjust our style settings for the dark theme, we will focus on the header text colours. For instance, the H1 text colour preset is set to default; we shall change it to custom and select one from the palette.
Monochromatic Blue colour palette
Copying and pasting the hex code into the custom text colour field will save this change. Repeating this process for each header will yield different coloured themes, as demonstrated by my vault example containing six headers with custom colours.
Blue color palette applied for Prism theme using Style Settings plugin
Bold and italic settings can also be adjusted similarly. With a vast range of options available in style settings, I encourage you to experiment and enjoy creating your personalised colour scheme.
Conclusion
Changing theme colours can add a personalised look to your Obsidian vault. Different themes can be used in different vaults also to distinguish them from each other, particularly with multiple vaults open at once. The process is not difficult with a bit of practice and you can create some very attractive presentations. Feel free to leave any questions or comments below.
