# vim-colors-pencil > A light (and dark) color scheme for Vim inspired by iA Writer ![markdown-example](http://i.imgur.com/BYLMdx5.jpg) ## Features The _pencil_ color scheme takes its inspiration from iA Writer, an elegant word processor available on the iOS and OSX platforms. This Vim color scheme features: * Subtle indicators of changes in the gutter for Signify, git-gutter, etc. * Use for both code and prose, though it’s definitely geared towards the latter * Light and dark background variants * iTerm color scheme [available][it] for using this color scheme with terminal-based Vim * Support for [tpope/vim-markdown][tm], [plasticboy/vim-markdown][pm], and [gabrielelana/vim-markdown][gm] * Support for the [bling/vim-airline][ba] status bar plugin * Support for Vim’s Conceal feature to hide `_` and `*` markup for \_*italic*\_, \*\*__bold__\*\* and \*\*\*___bold italic___\*\*\* styled text in Markdown [tm]: http://github.com/tpope/vim-markdown [pm]: http://github.com/plasticboy/vim-markdown [ba]: https://github.com/bling/vim-airline [gm]: https://github.com/gabrielelana/vim-markdown ## Requirements Currently requires vim >= 7.0 ## Installation For a basic install simply copy the color scheme file to your `~/.vim/colors` directory. For full support in which the airline theme is available, install using Pathogen, Vundle, Neobundle, or your favorite Vim package manager. ## Configuration ### Contrast If you’re looking for greater contrast, set the following in your `.vimrc`: ``` let g:pencil_higher_contrast_ui = 0 " 0=low (def), 1=high ``` It currently only affects the blacks and grays. ### Headings color When using a filetype of markdown, the ‘#’ heading text is shaded dark blue by default. This compensates for the lack of a visual cue found in iA Writer where the heading indicators are inside the left margin. If you’re looking for neutral heading colors, set the following in your `.vimrc`: ``` let g:pencil_neutral_headings = 1 " 0=blue (def), 1=normal ``` ### Terminal Italics If you're using Vim in the terminal and your terminal supports italics, you can opt-in to italic support for some syntax highlighting, such as comments, by setting the following in your `.vimrc`: ``` let g:pencil_terminal_italics = 1 ``` ### Airline Theme ![airline-example](http://i.imgur.com/V39pwZq.png) A matching theme for the [Airline][al] status bar plugin is available. Enable by adding to your `.vimrc`: ``` let g:airline_theme = 'pencil' ``` [al]: https://github.com/bling/vim-airline ### Concealing \_\_styling markup\_\_ in Markdown The _pencil_ color scheme supports the highlighting groups in the [tpope/vim-markdown][tm] syntax plugin, to take advantage of Vim’s Conceal feature to hide `_` and `*` markup for \_*italic*\_, \*\*__bold__\*\* and \*\*\*___bold italic___\*\*\* styled text in Markdown See the [vim-pencil][pn] plugin for details on automatically enabling this feature. For more details on Vim’s Conceal feature, see: ```vim :help conceallevel :help concealcursor ``` [tm]: http://github.com/tpope/vim-markdown ## Usage Just like any other color scheme: ```vim :colorscheme pencil ``` You can toggle between the light and dark variants: ```vim :set background=dark :set background=light ``` Like any other color scheme, you can add these commands to your `.vimrc`. ## Font choices iA Writer uses a typeface called ‘Nitti Light’ by Blue Monday. ($) Free alternatives with **bold** and _italic_ support include: * [Anonymous Pro](https://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Anonymous+Pro) (serif) * [Courier Prime](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/courierprime/) (serif) * [Cousine](http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Cousine) * [DejaVu Sans Mono](http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/Download) * [Fantasque Sans Mono](http://openfontlibrary.org/en/font/fantasque-sans-mono) * [Liberation](https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/) * [Luxi Mono Regular](http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Luxi-Mono) (serif) * [Ubuntu Mono](https://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Ubuntu+Mono) Cousine is a good match for Nitti Light. ## See also * [mattly/iterm-colors-pencil][it] - terminal support for mutt, tmux and iTerm * [gummesson/term-colors-pencil][tcp] - terminal support for urxvt and termite * [mattly/atom-colors-pencil-light][ap] - Atom verson of the pencil color scheme [it]: https://github.com/mattly/iterm-colors-pencil [tcp]: https://github.com/gummesson/term-colors-pencil [ap]: https://github.com/mattly/atom-colors-pencil-light If you find this colorscheme useful, you may want to check out these plugins by [@reedes][re]: * [vim-lexical][lx] - building on Vim’s spell-check and thesaurus/dictionary completion * [vim-litecorrect][lc] - lightweight auto-correction for Vim * [vim-one][vo] - make use of Vim’s _+clientserver_ capabilities * [vim-pencil][pn] - rethinking Vim as a tool for writers * [vim-textobj-quote][qu] - extends Vim to support typographic (‘curly’) quotes * [vim-textobj-sentence][ts] - improving on Vim's native sentence motion command * [vim-thematic][th] - modify Vim’s appearance to suit your task and environment * [vim-wheel][wh] - screen-anchored cursor movement for Vim * [vim-wordy][wo] - uncovering usage problems in writing [re]: https://github.com/reedes [lx]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-lexical [lc]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-litecorrect [vo]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-one [pn]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-pencil [ts]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-textobj-sentence [qu]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-textobj-quote [th]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-thematic [wh]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-wheel [wo]: http://github.com/reedes/vim-wordy The [README](https://github.com/reedes/vim-thematic) in _thematic_ has more details on setting up emulation of iA Writer. ## Contributors Thanks to those who have helped improve the _pencil_ color scheme: * [@mattly](https://github.com/mattly) * [@tamagokun](https://github.com/tamagokun) * [@gorodinskiy](https://github.com/gorodinskiy) ## Future development If you’ve spotted a problem or have an idea on improving this color scheme, please post it to the github project issue page.