Long hours in front of glowing molecules can take their toll. If you’re a molecular modeler working late into the night, or simply prefer a more comfortable visual environment, SAMSON’s Dark mode preferences may help reduce eye strain and give your eyes a break.
Thankfully, enabling and customizing the dark visual theme in SAMSON is quick and straightforward. In this post, we’ll look at how to activate Dark mode and what it changes in your interface — so you can make your modeling experience a little easier on the eyes, especially during extended sessions.
Why Dark Mode Matters in Molecular Modeling
Visualization platforms like SAMSON involve a lot of contrast-intensive graphics. Molecule renderings, atom selections, 3D structure depth cues, all contribute to high luminance demand on your screen. Genomic and structural biology researchers, chemoinformaticians, and educational users alike frequently spend long periods analyzing structures. Over time, even small improvements in visual ergonomics make a difference.
While personal preferences vary, dark themes are especially appreciated in:
- Low-light or shared lab environments
- Recordings or presentations with dark UIs
- Users sensitive to bright white backgrounds
Enabling Dark Mode in SAMSON
Open the Preferences panel via: Interface > Preferences, or use the shortcut:
Ctrl + Kon Windows and LinuxCmd + ,on macOS
Then, navigate to Interface > Dark mode.
You will see a simple toggle that lets you switch between Dark mode and the default Light theme. The change applies immediately. This allows you to preview the theme and decide if you want to keep it without restarting SAMSON or reloading your workspace.
What Changes in Dark Mode?
The interface colors shift to darker backgrounds, blending visual elements to reduce contrast. The sidebar, selection windows, toolbars, and module panels adopt a monochrome palette better suited for dim surroundings. This can also make visual content — such as molecular renderings — stand out more strongly, especially on colorful datasets.
Additional Visual Enhancements
Dark mode can pair especially well with some of SAMSON’s rendering options, such as:
- Ambient Occlusion for enhanced depth contrast
- Bloom for vivid molecular lighting
- Activating Transparent Background in Interface > Captures for publication-ready outputs
Tuning SAMSON’s look and feel isn’t only about aesthetics — it’s about comfort and efficiency. No more switching back and forth between themes at night, or reaching for sunglasses in brightly lit labs. Whether you work alone at midnight or share modeling sessions in class, visuals that suit your need make a difference.
Ready to make the switch? You can read more in the official SAMSON Preferences documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download the platform at https://www.samson-connect.net.