Paint Tool Sai 2 Dark | Theme
Set WindowBrightness=0 and ControlTabBackground=0 . The second setting controls the tab bar where your files sit; matching them prevents a "two-tone" disaster. 3. The Advanced "Matrix" Theme (User Config) Beyond simple brightness, you can edit the color values of specific UI elements under [Color] in the same sai2.ini file.
[Color] Background=30,30,35 # Main canvas surround (Dark slate) ControlFace=40,40,45 # Tool panels (Gunmetal) ControlText=220,220,230 # Tool names (Off-white) ControlDark=20,20,25 # Scrollbar troughs ControlLight=60,60,70 # 3D button highlights Highlight=0,120,215 # Selection borders (Classic Windows blue) HighlightText=255,255,255 # Selected tool text Window=35,35,40 # Menu bar background WindowText=210,210,210 # Menu text A fully functional dark IDE aesthetic that looks like Visual Studio Code for artists. 4. The "Hidden" Canvas Border Fix The biggest complaint about SAI 2’s native dark theme is the white border that remains around the actual drawing canvas. This is a separate setting. paint tool sai 2 dark theme
White panels, black text. Dark theme hack: Dark gray panels, neon text. Set WindowBrightness=0 and ControlTabBackground=0
| Glitch | Solution | | :--- | :--- | | (White text on white panel) | Increase ControlText brightness to 240+. Avoid pure black (0,0,0) for ControlFace . | | Invisible selection marquee | The marching ants use Highlight color. Set Highlight=0,200,200 (cyan) for visibility. | | Canvas flickering | Set WindowBrightness=1 instead of 0. Pure black causes redraw errors on some GPUs. | | Layer panel hard to read | Increase system scaling to 125% in Windows Display Settings. SAI 2’s layer text doesn't anti-alias in dark mode. | 8. The Verdict: Is It Worth It? Yes, but with caveats. The Advanced "Matrix" Theme (User Config) Beyond simple
Add this block to your sai2.ini for a Cyberpunk/Synthwave dark theme:
