Overview

CrystalClear Interface (CCI) is a powerful system add-on that lets you customize certain aspects of the Mac OS X "Aqua" interface. The changes made possible by CCI fall within six distinct group:

• The Frame (or style) of various window types.
• Transparency of foreground windows compared with those in the background or in other, inactive applications.
• Color of windows and some text fields.
• The overall "Theme" of the Mac OS X interface (i.e., the style of buttons and other widgets).
• Miscellaneous Decorative settings, such as animations, shadows, and window "shine."
• Miscellaneous Behavioral settings, such as Single Application Mode (SAM), window resizability, and toolbar customizability.

All of these features are accessed using the CCI Preferences Panel, which you can summon using the keyboard shortcut ⌘-' (command-apostrophe) or by accessing the CCI Global Menu. The global menu appears as a small, round icon in the menubar of any application in which CCI is loaded. The accompanying screenshot shows where CCI's menu appears in TextEdit.

What's New in CrystalClear Interface 2.5.8?

This is a major release that introduces a new architecture for the software and drops support for Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"). It includes a variety of new features, though many are a bit subtle. In addition, the update introduces numerous enhancements to performance and usability.

With the release of version 2.5.8, CrystalClear Interface now offers decent support for Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion"). However, one annoying problem is that Lion's aggressive caching of windows and graphics can make it appear that CCI is not working after installation, or that it is still in effect after uninstall. Both appearances are deceiving. You can minimize the long delay that can occur in theming Lion by declining Lion's offer to restore your windows when you log back in. Once you prevent Lion from re-opening files/windows on login, it seems you can re-enable the option without enduring the annoying delay. You may also encounter bugs on Lion that do not affect Snow Leopard (see the Known Bugs page for details).

In addition to this issues, CCI's button theme isn't yet as fully realized as on Snow Leopard. For more information about the differences between CCI on Lion and Snow Leopard, see "Differences Between Snow Leopard and Lion" at the end of this section.

• CCI 2.5.8 can only be installed on Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) and Mac OS X 10.7.1 or 10.7.2 (“Lion”). Support for Lion, while not as extensive as that for Snow Leopard, is much improved over 2.5.7.2.
• CCI no longer requires SIMBL, and it no longer uses the InputManager plugin.
• CCI is now installed as part of the MarsThemes folder, where it runs as a plugin for the new MarsThemes Loader software.
• A new MarsThemes Agent program watches application launch events and automatically loads CCI into applications that can use CCI’s functionality.
• The new architecture allows CCI to eliminate the “ResetFinder” application that launched on login and forced Finder to relaunch to ensure that Finder would load CCI automatically. “ResetFinder” could cause problems with the login process — including generating AppleScript errors — and interfered with use of Finder plugins like TotalFinder.
• With the new MarsThemes Loader software, it will be possible to allow CCI and Crystal Black — as well as any future MarsThemes plugins — to be installed and used simultaneously.

• All applications on both Snow Leopard and Lion can now have their name replaced by their icon in the main menubar.
• CCI now themes the ruler view in RTF editing applications.
• Like Crystal Black, CCI now themes the buttons of the Font Panel.
• Users can now uninstall, as well as install, third-party Crystal Docs icons from the CCI Prefs Panel.
• The Uninstaller now offers to remove any Crystal Docs icon sets the user has installed.
• Users can now choose whether or not to show the CCI global menu as a contextual menu in window titlebars. The option is added to the Extras⇒Other tab in CCI Prefs Panel.
• Users can now hide the Crystal Menubar if they choose. The option is in the Extras⇒Graphics tab.

• This release updates the application graphics installed for Safari and iWork, for compatibility with changes Apple introduced in July 2011.
• Reliability and performance of the Color Panel is improved when used to modify CCI custom colors.
• CCI now automatically loads into the LoginWindow process, as well as other system processes that generate alert windows — including User Notifications and Authentications.
• Previously, CCI could not automatically load into “agent” applications that use 64-bit memory. This type of application runs without a menubar and doesn’t appear in the Dock. Examples of agents that run natively with 64-bit memory are Hazel, CoverSutra, and MenuCalendarClock for iCal.
• CCI now automatically changes the eject button in Finder to provide appropriate contrast color when the outline view background changes.
• This version improves settings for the color of table and outline views — for those that use alternating row colors and those that don’t.
• The set of white Apple menu extras provided now includes the Script and Keychain icons.
• Added a white menu extra for TotalFinder.
• Slightly modified the DarkFire theme (the default CCI theme) to better complement the Dark Fire “frosted crystal” desktop picture.
• Expanded the set of outline and tableviews that can support dark backgrounds with white text. Examples are Activity Monitor and System Preferences.
• Added gradient-style graphics for scrollbars to Lion.

• The Finder’s eject button works again.
• Prevents use of the CCI 2.5.8 uninstaller to uninstall prior versions of the software. Doing so could cause the uninstall process to fail or perform incompletely.
• Version 2.5.8.1 fixes a bug with the Uninstaller that could cause it to fail for new users who installed CCI and then almost immediately tried to uninstall it. It also fixes a related bug that failed to insert the current version number of CCI into the user's preferences property list.
• The license installer program has now been updated for CCI 2.5.8. The earlier license installer cannot be used to install previous purchased licenses.
• CCI now forces users to restart their Mac after installing or uninstalling CCI. This helps overcome a problem on Lion that can make it appear that CCI either hasn't been installed or hasn't been uninstalled.
• Eliminated code for Lion that caused users' custom System Preferences to revert to the Lion defaults.
• Version 2.5.8.2 adds code to preserve users' custom Finder settings when uninstalling CCI.
• Fixes Safari graphics files so that Safari is restored correctly when uninstalling.
• Prevents users on Mac OS X 10.7.2 from installing CCI. This OS update, not yet released from Apple, has new graphics files not compatible with CCI.
• Fixed a bug that could cause difficulty in enabling CCI after installing a license.
• Fixed a setting that could cause white-contrast text to have over-etched shadows on some buttons.
• Fixed a bug that could cause CCI to fail to restore a user's existing license when updating to a new version of CCI.

• The Font Options panel has been removed from the CCI Text Tools, because of an incompatibility with Lion.
• Removed the option to install third-party icons automatically, as this was more confusing than helpful.
• Version 2.5.8.6 adds code to prevent its install or uninstall on Mac OS X 10.7.3, which has yet another incompatible set of system graphics file.
• CCI 2.5.8.6 also adds code to be compatible with the recently released Mars Text Tools.

Differences Between Snow Leopard and Lion

There are a few differences between the way CCI works on Snow Leopard than it does on Lion. Here are the most significant differences:

• Options Not Available On Lion. In addition to Aqua, Lion has only the Gradient button theme, not the Glossy theme that's also part of CCI for Snow Leopard. The option to use recessed buttons is disabled because it doesn't work well. Small scrollbars aren't an option on Lion because small scrollbars are really too small to be usable.
• Lion Bugs. The following are the most significant Lion-specific bugs I’ve noticed while testing CCI 2.5.8:
• Finder sidebar. On Lion, the sidebar text tends to “smear” when you resize the window. The problem corrects itself through various actions, including resizing the sidebar.
• Text Edit For some (at this point unknown) reason, functions that require the user to authenticate (enter a username and password) fail when run in TextEdit on Lion.
• Load times. Again, because of Lion’s very robust caching of windows and window content, the process of logging in when running CCI can take much longer than on Snow Leopard. Sometimes, login goes quickly... other times not. Loading into individual apps also seems to be a bit slower than on Snow Leopard.

What about Application Compatibility?

Few third-party apps have been tested yet on Lion, so at this time, the list I maintain covers only apps running on Snow Leopard. The current list is shown in the “Tips and Gotchas” section of this Guide.

Using Preset Themes

CrystalClear Interface includes eight prebuilt themes with fanciful names, designed to complement the set of Frosted Crystal desktop pictures that are included in the CCI download package).

• Sunrise
• Sienna Shine
• Dark Fire
• Teal Lover
• Sunset
• Dark Light
• Emerald
• Rose Garden

To use one of these themes, simply click on the theme's thumbnail image. Doing so will instantly apply the settings from that theme to all of your open windows. The curently active theme in this tab view is the one highlighted with the shiny rectangular "lozenge."

CCI's preset themes are simply a fast shortcut for switching the frame style, transparency, and color of windows and text areas . . . all at once! Starting with version 2.5.5, you can switch among these themes right from the CCI global menu.

Selecting Window Frames

CrystalClear Interface includes a variety of custom window frames that you can select for the various kinds of windows in Cocoa applications. There are 9 different frame styles for regular windows, 7 for non-Utility panels (most Preferences windows are included here, as well as windows such as About panels), and 3 each for sheets and alerts.

You can change the frame styles at any time to suit your taste, also combining the styles with different window colors to achieve the window appearance you'd like. Selecting one of the preset themes also modifies frame styles for the different window types. To modify a frame style for a particular kind of window, first select the Frames tab from the CCI Preferences window. This tab has three sub-tabs, described below. In each tab, the currently active frame style is highlighted in blue.

• Window Frames.

  To choose one of the 9 frame styles in this tab, simply click on the frame image.

• Panel Frames.

  To change frame styles for panel windows, switch to the Panels tab and click on the frame image of your choice.

• Sheets and Alerts.

  You can find the style choices for these types of windows in the "Other" tab.

Notes about the window frame styles

• Utility panels. Utility panels—such as the Font and Color panels, as well as Inspector panels for applications like Pages and iPhoto—are automatically themed in the translucent black Heads-Up Display ("HUD") style. These kinds of panels are not affected by changes you make in the Window Frames tabs.
• Gradient frame. This frame style is completely redesigned and reprogrammed from that in earlier versions of CCI. The style is now customized separately for sheets and for windows with and without toolbars. If you have elected to show text labels for toolbar items, that choice gets a custom gradient frame as well. Note that the Gradient frames are not affected by window colors you select in the Colors tab.

• Glass HUD frame. This window style is redesigned for 2.5. Like the Gradient frame style, window colors you select in the Colors tab have no effect on this style.

Adjusting Window Transparency

Once installed, CrystalClear Interface is set with factory defaults that you can customize to suit your taste, as explained below. By default, CCI sets the alpha value (transparency) of front-most windows to 99.9%, that of background windows in your current application to 44%, and that of windows of your current application when it is "inactive" (if they appear at all) to 33%.

In this view, the sliders on the left control the level of transparency for different types of windows.

• Sliders

  The setting you choose in each slider will be remembered and applied as a new default for your current application.

• "Set As Default" Buttons

  Clicking a "Set As Default" button saves the slider's setting as a new default for all your applications.

• Frontmost Windows

  The first slider settings control the transparency of your frontmost window (the one you're currently working in). This setting also controls the transparency of auxiliary panels, such as Inspectors and Font or Color panels, since they are programmed to match the main window's setting.

• Background Windows

  The first slider settings control the transparency of your frontmost window (the one you're currently working in). This setting also controls the transparency of auxiliary panels, such as Inspectors and Font or Color panels, since they are programmed to match the main window's setting.

• Background Application Windows

  The first slider settings control the transparency of your frontmost window (the one you're currently working in). This setting also controls the transparency of auxiliary panels, such as Inspectors and Font or Color panels, since they are programmed to match the main window's setting.

In many cases, you may find it convenient to change—either permanently or temporarily—the transparency setting of individual windows in an application. CCI gives you two ways of accomplishing this

• Windows with Specific Titles.

  The upper section of the Advanced Alpha tab shows all of the titled windows in your current application. Click on any of these, and you can adjust its transparency using the slider below. The setting for this window becomes its unique default until you remove it, by moving the slider all the way to the left.

  Using this function, you can, for example, tell Safari to never to dim the Downloads window or the JavaScript Console window. Likewise, in iChat you may always want the buddy list window to remain (nearly) fully opaque. If a window always has the same title, this is a handy way to customize your CrystalClear Interface.

• Windows of a Certain Size (But No Title).

  In some cases, you may want to customize the transparency of a window that has no title at all. You can use the settings in the bottom part of this tab for that. Simply select the checkbox, specify the size in x (width) and y (height) values, and set the slider. From then on, all windows with no titles that fit those dimensions will take on the transparency setting you've selected.

Customizing Colors

CrystalClear Interface lets you set custom colors (including transparency) for your windows and text backgrounds. The software sets some defaults when first installed, but you can change them to whatever values you like. (The quickest way to try some combinations out is to apply one of the preset themes.)

The Colors tab has six options. The top two are for text areas, and the bottom four are for windows.

• Text backgrounds.

  The color selection here applies to areas of text that aren't editable but that have scrollbars.

• Outline views.

  This color is applied to outline views, which typically have an expandable/collapsable tree structure.

• Windows.

  Changing this color affects regular windows—those that aren't preference panels, utility panels (such as Fonts, Colors, and Inspectors), sheets, or alerts.

• Panels.

  You can also set a different color for panels than for regular windows.

• Sheets.

  This color is applied to sheet windows.

• Alert panels.

  This color is applied to windows that pop up with alert-style messages. In addition, it's used on panels you use to open and save files.

What else does CCI do to customize colors on my Mac?

CCI makes some automatic adjustments to colors that are designed to enhance the beauty and consistency of the CrystalClear Interface experience. Some examples include:

• Color picker. CCI adjusts the default Color Picker panel to let you adjust color transparency, even in apps that don't normally include such an option.
• Boxes. CCI transforms traditional Mac OS X beveled box areas into rounded, colored ones. The box color is based on the window's current color.
• Focus color. CCI 2.5 introduced an experiment whereby CCI changes the focus color of some buttons to match your current window color.
• Table rows. CCI dynamically changes the color of table rows—including those with alternating colors—to match your current window and text area colors.
• CoverFlow views. CoverFlow views get themed with a dark background matching your current outline view color setting.

Using the Crystal Document Icons

CrystalClear Interface 2.5 contains an installer (and uninstaller) for the Crystal Document icon set. These icons are designed to complement my set of Crystal Albook icons, released some years ago and based on the Albook icons designed by Laurent Baumann.

The initial set of 74 icons covers most of the document types used by Apple's applications, as well as a limited set of document types for third-party applications. The icon set for third-party apps will be augmented substantially as time permits.

• Standard Mac OS X applications.

  Check this box to install icons for Automator, Font Book, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, iWeb, Preview, QuickTime Player, Safari, System Preferences, TextEdit, AppleScript Editor, Console, Archive Utility, DiskImage Mounter, and Installer. (The specific document types are listed in the Technical Notes section.)

• Mac OS X developer tools.

  If you have Apple's Developer Tools installed, check this box to install icons for Xcode, Interface Builder, and PackageMaker. (The specific document types are listed in the Technical Notes section.)

• Apple's iWork suite.

  If you use the iWork applications, check this box to install icons for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

• Supported third-party applications.

  Checking this box will let you installs icons for these apps the next time you launch them: Amadeus Pro, BannerZest Pro, Coda, DevonThink Pro, Edgies, Espresso, Photoshop, Smultron, and ThemePark. (The specific document types are listed in the Technical Notes section.) Note: CCI 2.5.8 removes the previous option to "Install without asking me first." This option was more confusing than helpful.

• Install Crystal Docs Icons button.

  If you have selected any of the first three checkboxes, clicking this button will proceed to install your selections. If you already have the selected set(s) installed, clicking the button will let you know this.

  • Uninstalling the Crystal Docs icons.

    If you have already installed one of the first three icon sets and you deselect its checkbox, CCI will offer to uninstall that set immediately. You can decline the offer if you wish. As of CCI 2.5.8, you can also uninstall the third-party application icons.

Notes about the Crystal Document icons

• Source files. You can find both the zipped and the unzipped versions of all the Crystal Docs icons in the /Library/Application Support/MarsThemes/CCI/CrystalDocs folder. You can use these files to reinstall or to install manually. If you uninstall CCI, a copy of the Crystal Docs are added to your ~/Library/Application Support/MarsThemes/CCI/ folder.

Extra Options

This tab provides a variety of additional options for customizing your Mac's interface and functionality. These Extra options have been divided into five separate tabs, each covering a particular set of options: Paradigms, Graphics, Fluff, App Mods, and "Other."

Alternate Interface Paradigms

This tab gathers CCI options that require you to Think Different about ways to use the Mac interface.

• Single Application Mode (SAM). SAM's basic function is to automatically hide all other applications and their windows whenever you switch applications. This almost elimimates window clutter but still lets you bring windows of different apps together by holding the Shift key while selecting other apps in the Finder. You'll get the most out of SAM by using Mac OS X's built-in application switcher (⌘-Tab). Starting with CCI 2.5.7, this option is disabled by default because it takes some getting used to and isn't everyone's "cup of tea." However, SAM is provided as an option because it lets you get the most out of using CrystalClear Interface. Whether you end up using it as a default or not, I encourage you to give SAM a try.
Single Application Mode (SAM)
So... What is SAM? It frequently appears as an option in applications that have some application-switching functionality, but many users don't really know what it is or how to use it. Here are some of the apps I know of that offer SAM as an option:
• Application Switcher Menu
• Quicksilver
• LiteSwitch
• MenuStrip
• Application Wizard
• Spirited Away
• AutoHide
• Shoo Apps
• Drag Thing
• Even pre-release versions of Mac OS X!
SAM reduces window clutter better than any other method I've found, and, together with CCI's control over window transparency, provides a superior way to keep focus on your frontmost, active window.
Think of it as an automated way of clicking on "Hide Others" (⌥⌘H) each time you switch apps. But what if you need to see the windows of two apps at the same time? No problem! In CCI, as in many other apps that implement SAM, you just hold down the Shift key while switching. Once you learn that you can drag and drop files, folders, images, etc., without having the source and target windows visible, you'll become a SAM expert in no time!
For the full scoop on Single Application Mode, check out my Mars article from March 2010: "The Ultimate Solution To Window Clutter: You Can Call Me SAM."
• Suppress shadows for inactive windows. As one more aid to helping distinguish the front window from the others in your current app, as well as any visible windows from other running applications, CrystalClear Interface can eliminate shadows for any inactive windows. Click this checkbox to to turn this feature on.
• Make windows resizable. Select this checkbox to add a "resize corner" to all your windows.
• Hide focus rings. This option lets you choose whether or not to show the blue or graphite "focus ring" surrounding the currently active text field or button.

Additional information about these options

• SAM. In CrystalClear Interface, SAM is enabled through use of the Crystal Menubar application, which runs in the background. As of CCI 2.5.8, you can hide the Crystal Menubar by using an option in the Extras->Graphics tab of the CCI Preferences panel. By hiding the menubar, you can still use the SAM function even if you don't want the menubar to show.
• Resizable windows. Note that some windows are resistant to this setting—for example, the System Preferences application's main window.
• Moving windows by their backgrounds. This option was removed in CCI 2.5.8, because it's actually superfluous given the other changes CCI makes in theming windows.

Graphics Options

• Button Themes. This setting lets you choose between three (on Snow Leopard) or two (on Lion) different "themes" for your window's buttons and other widgets. Selecting a different radio button initiates an alert verifying that you do want to change themes. Afterwards, CCI switches the graphics files to implement the different themes and requires that you log out to put the change into effect.
• Use recessed-style popup buttons. Click this checkbox if you prefer to use the recessed button style for popup buttons throughout the interface. Click it again to return to the default style. (Not available on Lion.)
• Suppress horizontal scroller in file browsers. This feature eliminates the horizontal scrollbar—but not horizontal scrolling—in file browsers with multiple columns. The change is purely aesthetic, for those who prefer their windows less cluttered up with scrollbars. If you don't have a mouse that includes horizontal scrolling, however, you will want to keep this feature turned off.
• Use small scrollbars. This option may appeal to you if you mostly use a scrollwheel (or equivalent—check out the amazing Magic Mouse for the ultimate scrolling experience!) rather than physically dragging scrollbars. The main advantage in this case is that it reduces "widget clutter" and saves some of your window's real estate for content.
• Hide Crystal Menubar. Prior to CCI 2.5.8, users could toggle the menubar off for a session, but it would relaunch on each login. Many users have requested the ability to permanently hide the menubar... So here it is! The setting persists between sessions and is easy to change back and forth as needed.

More information about graphic options

• Button themes. Lion caches the system graphics even more aggressively than Snow Leopard did, so it's more difficult to replace the cached graphics with new ones. As a result, on Lion you will need to restart your Mac after making this change.

Interface Fluff

• Use window animations. This version of the software enables a fade animation when your windows open, and a zoom animation when they close. Starting with CCI 2.5.7, window animations are disabled by default, because they can seriously delay application launch on slower systems such as MacBooks or MacMinis.
• Blur window backgrounds. This was a hard-wired default introduced in CCI 2.0, and now is included as an option you can enable or disable as needed. Why disable the blur? It turns out that the graphics function that supports the blur may strain some older systems with less memory. In addition, even the latest Macs can experience some flickering when system memory runs low, with the blur function running. Note that a change to this feature only takes effect once you close and reopen any windows already open.
• Window overlay options. An earlier version of CrystalClear Interface experimented with using a glossy (shiny) overlay for windows, but I removed it some time ago because the implementation was buggy. For 2.5, however, the overlay idea is back and much better than before. You can use these options to set one of two different kinds of "shine," or elect to have no shine at all.

Additional information about fluff

• Window animations. If you find your apps feeling a little sluggish, especially when opening new windows or switching from one to another, try disabling window animations. This option requires a newer Mac with a good graphics card to work smoothly.
• Window overlays. By default, overlays are not applied to windows that contain documents for editing, since in such windows very little of the overlay would be visible.

Application-Specific Options

These two options are new in CCI 2.5.7. Both options were introduced in Crystal Black 1.0.

• Split Mail's message viewer vertically. By default, Mail splits the message viewer horizontally, with the preview area at the bottom. Some prefer to split the viewer vertically, so that the mail preview area is on the right. This option lets you toggle between the two modes.
• Make Fresh show twice as many items. By default, the quick-access application Fresh shows two rows of very large icons for you to use and manage recent and favorite items. This option doubles the number of items and uses smaller icons.'

Other Options

• Show application icon in menubar. By default, CCI replaces the name of Cocoa applications with the application's icon in the system menubar. This control lets you toggle that display. As of CCI 2.5.8, the option works with any application that loads CCI, both on Snow Leopard and Lion.
• Make all toolbars customizable. Select this option if you want to be able to customize toolbars that normally aren't customizable. The most common type of window for which this is useful is an application's preferences panel. Normally, you can't change options for icon size, or for showing only icons or only text, etc., for such windows. But with this option turned on, you can. Note for Lion users: On Lion, you no longer have access to a toolbar button, which on prior versions of Mac OS X could be used to toggle the toolbar. As a result, using the "customizable" option gives you handy access to that "hide/show" toolbar function.
• Show CCI Global Menu in the menubar. By default, the global CCI menu icon appears in the main menu of all applications in which it's loaded. You can use this checkbox to move the CCI menu to the application's first submenu instead if you like.
• Show CCI Global Menu in the window titlebar. Prior to CCI 2.5.8, this was the built-in default. With this function, if you right-click (ctrl-click) on the titlebar, up pops the CCI menu. However, you may not want that, so here's is a way of option out.
• Restore Default CCI Options. The button at the bottom of this tab will reset all of CCI's settings to their factory defaults. This includes any application-specific preferences you may have saved. If you click this button, you'll see a message reminding you of this and letting you opt out if you change your mind.

Text Tools

I added these tools to CCI out of frustration that many of the fine apps I use for formatting text leave out one or more of the various text format panels that are part of Apple’s Cocoa frameworks. Sometimes you can’t find a Color panel, sometimes the Font panel is hidden, and outside of RTF editors like TextEdit, Bean, and DevonThink Pro, you hardly ever have easy access to the Table panel. And if you want to make a list or use your defined text styles, you can toggle the formatting Ruler on and off as well.

Contextual Menu. Most of the text tools are also available in a handy contextual menu available wherever you can write and edit rich text.

Between the global menu and the contextual menu, the CCI Text Tools include the following text editing functions:

• Show Fonts
• Show Colors
• Font Options
• Styles. A lot of editing apps provide a style menu by default, but it doesn't always have the same set of tools I like at my disposal. In particular, these are usually missing:
• Strikethrough
• Copy Style
• Paste Style
• Paste as Text (sometimes called "Paste Using Current Style")
• Paste as Rich Text
• Formatting. A "Formats" menu is also built in to Mac OS X's text system, but it appears less frequently even than the Styles menu. In particular, I can't do without these now that I always have 'em at my fingertips:
• Add Link
• Table (Add/Edit)
• List (Add/Edit)
• Spacing
• Toggle Ruler
• Copy/Paste Ruler