Reading comfortably with inverted brightness but preserved hue
Night Reader Extension
The majority of websites mainly use very light colors, but some already have a refreshing dark theme. For these the user can disable the domain, essentially setting it on a blacklist of the application.
Its goal is, in contrast to the approach of creating new webpage–specific templates, to be as general as possible. This is best achieved by applying the CSS filter invert to the document root, because it inverts the whole area in one swoop after it got rendered normally instead of going through every element. This is even more efficient because CSS filters rely on the browser implementation, meaning all the good stuff like hardware acceleration or other system specific optimizations.
Images should still show normally, but single elements cannot be excluded from the filter. This is no problem, since they can just get inverted on their own before the whole document gets inverted, reverting the images to their original color.
To preserve the visual appearance of websites which may be iconic like the blue theme of Facebook, another filter is applied that rotates the hue back by 180 degrees. However, due to certain limitations of the RGB color model, very saturated colors get clipped in their value component that would have to exceed the maximum, resulting in occasional weird–looking images after they got reverted. Where an exact representation is needed, the hue–rotation can be disabled.
[TODO]
more ideas to be implemented in future releases are:
— serve options page to input custom CSS rules to optimize other websites
— friendly ui for options page (e.g. click [+] to add a rule, specify the case e.g. as regex, input CSS to be applied into text field)
— keyboard shortcuts for enabling/disabling on domain and more
— (maybe) make only–invert option domain specific
— (maybe) optionally stop inverting input text fields
— (do YOU have an idea? contact me!)
[KNOWN BUGS]
— (confirmed for Chrome) Prints get heavily pixelated when NightReader is enabled (even with \"enabled globally\" unchecked). There might be a possible fix in a future Version.
Workaround: disable Extension for printing
[CHANGELOG]
[Version 1.7.41]
fix for changed Twitter CSS
improvements and tweaks for YouTube, Twitch, Twitch Beta, Wikipedia, TED and Bandcamp
[Version 1.7.4]
made popup visually respond like websites (bg + css filter)
adjustment for new YT theme (and other domains)
updated preset blacklist
[Version 1.7.3]
Updated predefined custom rules for twitch.tv (not inverting the dark theme)
added predefined custom rules for bandcamp.com
[Version 1.7.2]
Fixed/improved some of the predefined custom rules
added message encouraging feedback
[Version 1.7.1]
Bugfix: extension won't install because options page (WIP) was referenced but not found because it got excluded when packing extension
[Version 1.7]
First public release of Night Reader
Working:
- inverting webpages via css filter at earliest possible stage (when loading a webpage)
- inverting images etc. back to display normally
- hue-rotating by 180 deg to achieve a brightness invert effect/preserving hues to keep the visual appearence as close to the original as possible
- global quick extension disable switch
- domain based blacklist managed by user
- hidden CSS rules to further enhace and smoothen some features of a couple of popular websites like Facebook and Twitter
- hue-rotation disable switch as workaround for loss of color information with very saturated colors
Source Manifest.json
How to download and manually install Night Reader extension for Chrome
Looking for a way to install Night Reader extensions for Chrome, you can search for them in the Chrome Web Store, clicking the "Add to Chrome" button, and following the straightforward process.
However, you may need to install Night Reader extensions manually, this article outlines two simple methods to effortlessly install Night Reader extensions, whether they come as unpacked folders in compressed formats like .zip or as .crx files.
Method 1: Download Night Reader extension and manually install through Drag &Drop
If you ever need to manually install a Night Reader extension for Chrome, don't worry, it's a simple process. Just follow these easy steps, and you will have your extension ready to use in no time.
Step 1: Download the Night Reader Extension by clicking the "Download CRX" button on the website.
Look for the Night Reader extension you wish to install. Go to the website and download the Night Reader extension package, which is usually a .CRX file and comes in a zipped file. Here ".crx" file is the format for Night Reader extension that contains all the data.
Step 2: Extract &Arrange Files
Once the file is downloaded, extract that file into its own folder. Similarly, give that extension files a permanent home. In other words, keep it in a folder that you don't accidentally delete it because these files will be needed to make that extension work.
Step 3: Go to the Chrome Extensions Page
Open Google Chrome and in the address bar, type chrome://extensions; it will open the Google Chrome extensions page. Make sure that "My extensions" is selected in the sidebar.
Step 4: Drag and Drop the Extension
Now, go to the folder where you extracted the Night Reader extension and drag &drop the extension file from there anywhere onto the extension page within Google Chrome.
Step 5: Complete the Installation
Once you drag and drop the extension file, follow the steps that Google Chrome takes you through. Similarly, if the extension file is of .crx file format, you will be required to review the permissions and then add the extension.
Now, you can manage that added extension as you would like to with any other Chrome extension that you added through Chrome Webstore. Its icon will also appear in the Google Chrome Menu on the right side of the address bar once you activate it.
Method 2: Download Night Reader extension for Chrome and install in Developer Mode
This is another method to install Night Reader extension manually, but the twist is that here, you install by enabling the developer mode option provided in Google Chrome. This mode is commonly used for testing extensions or running unpublished tools.
Step 1: Download the Night Reader extension file
Select and download the Night Reader extension by clicking the 'Download CRX' button on the website.
Step 2: Extract the downloaded contents
Convert the file to a ZIP file if it is in CRX format then extract the Night Reader extension zip file or folder that you downloaded. Make sure you extract it using the same folder name and keep it safely in another folder, so you don't delete it by mistake. The extracted folder will be needed to keep your Night Reader extension running.
Step 3: Open Chrome Extension Setting Page
In the address bar of Google Chrome, type chrome://extensions and open the Chrome Extension Page.
Step 4: Enable Developer Mode
After opening the Chrome Extension page, look at the top right side, and you will find the toggle option of "Developer mode."Simply enable that developer mode option.
Step 5: Load the Unpacked Extension
Once you enable the developer mode option, you will see the menu of Load Unpacked, Pack Extensions and Update. From that, select the option "Load unpacked."
Step 6: Select the Extension Folder
Once the pop-up opens upon clicking Load unpacked, select the Night Reader extension directory and click on the "Select Folder "button.
Step 7: Confirm and Install
After you select an extension folder of a Google Chrome extension you're installing manually, confirm its installation for the final time and let the installation complete.
Conclusion
Here we've made a step-by-step guide on How to manually install Night Reader extension in 2 ways. We hope this guide proves helpful.
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