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description: A configuration to make org-mode look even better.
keywords: org-mode emacs
author: Yann Esposito
email: yann@esposito.host
date: [2021-08-21 Sat]
______
TL;DR: My tweaked configuration to make org-mode even more pleasant to use.
______
At the end of this article there is a long digression about why I ended up here.
But instead of bothering you with the why here is a what it looks like, and
how to achieve it.
First you need to install some dependencies.
1. Install nerdfonts[fn:nerdfonts]
2. Tell org-mode to use =variable-pitch-mode= (variable width font)
3. Use ~(setq org-hide-emphasis-markers t)~
4. Configure a lot of org-mode specific faces to still use a monospaced font.
Here are some images of the result.
Notice one important factor of the feel is that I work on a mac with retina
display.
Often font rendering feel too bold by default.
But this is perfect to have a writing environment even if screenshot does
not look as slick as other ones, the usage is superior.
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: top
caption: org-mode headers
name: fig:top
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: img-with-caption
caption: org-mode some inline image
name: fig:img-with-caption
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: code
caption: org-mode with some code block
name: fig:img-with-caption
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: Org mode with a modified doom-solarized light theme (use a grey background)
caption: Org mode with a modified doom-solarized light theme (use a grey background)
name: fig:nano-emacs
The main trick is to change org-mode to use different font depending on the
kind of bloc.
I use two fonts variant which are an iA Writer clone fonts; iM Writing Nerd Font.
First you need to install nerd-fonts[fn:nerdfonts].
You will get that =iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font=.
If you look at the code block; I support the case when the font is
not installed and fall back to Georgia or PT Serif.
One nice little bonus of the config is to make the fixed width fonts smaller.
This is often something I like when writing in org-mode.
There is a minor dependency on =doom= as I use =doom-color= for the color of
the links.
But you could easily use any color you like if you do not use doom.
(setq org-ellipsis " [+]")
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'variable-pitch-mode)
(let* ((variable-tuple
(cond
((x-list-fonts "iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font") '(:family "iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font"))
((x-list-fonts "Georgia") '(:family "Georgia"))
((x-list-fonts "PT Serif") '(:family "PT Serif"))))
(fixed-tuple
(cond
((x-list-fonts "iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font Mono") '(:family "iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font Mono" :height 160))
((x-list-fonts "Menlo") '(:family "Menlo" :height 120))
((x-list-fonts "PT Mono") '(:family "PT Mono" :height 120))))
(headline `(:inherit default :weight bold)))
(custom-theme-set-faces
'user
`(org-level-1 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-2 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-3 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-4 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-5 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-6 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-7 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-level-8 ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(org-document-title ((t (,@headline ,@variable-tuple))))
`(variable-pitch ((t ,@variable-tuple)))
`(fixed-pitch ((t ,@fixed-tuple)))
'(org-ellipsis ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch :foreground "gray40" :underline nil))))
'(org-block ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-block-begin-line ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-block-end-line ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-src ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-properties ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-code ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-date ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-document-info ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-document-info-keyword ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-drawer ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-indent ((t (:inherit (org-hide fixed-pitch)))))
`(org-link ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch :foreground ,(doom-color 'blue) :underline t))))
'(org-meta-line ((t (:inherit (font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-property-value ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))) t)
'(org-special-keyword ((t (:inherit (font-lock-comment-face fixed-pitch)))))
'(org-table ((t (:inherit fixed-pitch))))
'(org-tag ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch) :weight bold :height 0.8))))
'(org-verbatim ((t (:inherit (shadow fixed-pitch)))))))
[fn:nerdfonts] https://www.nerdfonts.com
For some reason a went to the rabbit hole of tweaking my emacs.
In fact, it first started as; let's try to switch from
=doom-emacs=[fn:doom-emacs] to =nano-emacs=[fn:nano-emacs].
But, doing so, I realized I wouldn't be able to reach the quality and
optimization provided by doom-emacs myself.
So instead of doing this, I first tried to copy the theme of nano.
Then I realized one of the biggest factor of nano look & feel was
its usage of "Roboto Mono" but with weight light (or Thin).
See
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: nano-emacs look (light theme)
caption: GNU Emacs / N Λ N O Look (light theme)
name: fig:nano-emacs
attr_org: :width 560
attr_html: nano-emacs look (dark theme)
caption: GNU Emacs / N Λ N O Look (dark theme)
name: fig:nano-emacs
OK so...
I just tried to match the theme colors.
It was easy to create a theme with matching colors.
colors; it would mean a lot more work than anyone could expect.
For most emacs mode you probably need to add a set of specific font faces.
This choice is also what makes nano looks so good too.
This is not just about the color, but about a lot more details than that.
Using the good colors only at the right place is difficult to achieve.
And not only the colors, but also, the correct fonts, the spacing of text
elements etc...
Unfortunately if you want the nano look and feel in doom, it is much more
work than just copying the nano theme.
But this research of look and feel opened the door to using thin fonts in
emacs.
And also tweaking the fonts which really improve the look & feel of emacs.
With this conf, I do not use the same font for coding and for writing
prose or a blog post with code blocks.
So far, I like this new look and feel.
[fn:doom-emacs] https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs
[fn:nano-emacs] https://github.com/rougier/nano-emacs
After lot of try, I finally switched my default coding font to SauceCodePro
Nerd Font Mono with weight ~semi-light~.
This is a clone of Adobe =SourceCode Pro=.
And on a retina display it is really nice to use.
(setq doom-font (font-spec :family "SauceCodePro Nerd Font Mono" :size 12 :weight 'semi-light)
doom-variable-pitch-font (font-spec :family "iMWritingDuoS Nerd Font" :size 14))
Even though the result is not 100% satisfactory, you could start using my work.
Save this file into =~/.doom.d/themes/doom-nano-theme.el=:
;;; doom-nano-theme.el --- inspired by Nicolas Rougier nano-theme -*- lexical-binding: t; no-byte-compile: t; -*-
;;
;; Author: Yann Esposito <https://yannesposito.com>
;; Created: August 16, 2021
;; Version: 1.0.0
;; Keywords: custom themes, faces
;; Homepage: https://github.com/hlissner/emacs-doom-themes
;; Package-Requires: ((emacs "25.1") (cl-lib "0.5") (doom-themes "2.2.1"))
;;
;;; Commentary:
;;
;; Ported from nano-theme: https://github.com/rougier/nano-theme
;;
;;; Code:
(require 'doom-themes)
;;; Variables
(defgroup doom-plain-theme nil
"Options for the `doom-plain' theme."
:group 'doom-themes)
(defcustom doom-plain-padded-modeline doom-themes-padded-modeline
"If non-nil, adds a 4px padding to the mode-line.
Can be an integer to determine the exact padding."
:group 'doom-plain-theme
:type '(or integer boolean))
;;
;;; Theme definition
(def-doom-theme doom-nano
"Theme inspired by Nicolas Rougier nano-theme"
;; name default/256/16
((nano-color-foreground '("#37474F")) ;; Blue Grey / L800
(nano-color-background '("#FFFFFF")) ;; White
(nano-color-highlight '("#FAFAFA")) ;; Very Light Grey
(nano-color-critical '("#FF6F00")) ;; Amber / L900
(nano-color-salient '("#673AB7")) ;; Deep Purple / L500
(nano-color-strong '("#000000")) ;; Black
(nano-color-popout '("#FFAB91")) ;; Deep Orange / L200
(nano-color-subtle '("#ECEFF1")) ;; Blue Grey / L50
(nano-color-faded '("#B0BEC5")) ;; Blue Grey / L200
(bg nano-color-background)
(bg-alt nano-color-highlight)
(base0 '("#18282f"))
(base1 '("#24323a"))
(base2 '("#556066"))
(base3 '("#6f787d"))
(base4 '("#8a9296"))
(base5 '("#a6acaf"))
(base6 '("#e7e8e9"))
(base7 '("#f6f6f6"))
(base8 '("#fafafa"))
(fg nano-color-foreground)
(fg-alt nano-color-faded)
(grey fg)
(red fg)
(blue fg)
(dark-blue fg)
(orange fg)
(green fg)
(teal fg)
(yellow fg)
(magenta fg)
(violet fg)
(cyan fg)
(dark-cyan fg)
;; face categories -- required for all themes
(highlight nano-color-salient)
(vertical-bar base5)
(selection nano-color-highlight)
(builtin nano-color-salient)
(comments nano-color-faded)
(doc-comments nano-color-faded)
(constants nano-color-strong)
(functions nano-color-salient)
(keywords nano-color-strong)
(methods nano-color-salient)
(operators nano-color-strong)
(type nano-color-strong)
(strings base0)
(variables base0)
(numbers base0)
(region base4)
(error nano-color-critical)
(warning nano-color-popout)
(success nano-color-salient)
(vc-modified nano-color-salient)
(vc-added fg-alt)
(vc-deleted nano-color-critical)
;; custom categories
(-modeline-pad
(when doom-plain-padded-modeline
(if (integerp doom-plain-padded-modeline) doom-plain-padded-modeline 4)))
(modeline-bg (doom-darken bg-alt 0.15))
(modeline-bg-alt (doom-darken bg-alt 0.1))
(modeline-bg-inactive (doom-darken bg-alt 0.1))
(modeline-bg-inactive-alt bg-alt)
(modeline-fg fg)
(modeline-fg-alt (doom-darken modeline-bg-inactive 0.35)))
;;;; Base theme face overrides
((error :underline `(:style wave :color ,error))
(warning :underline `(:style wave :color ,warning))
((font-lock-constant-face &override) :slant 'italic)
((font-lock-comment-face &override) :slant 'italic)
((font-lock-function-name-face &override) :slant 'italic)
((font-lock-type-face &override) :slant 'italic)
;;(hl-line :background base8)
((line-number &override) :foreground base3)
((line-number-current-line &override) :foreground base2)
(mode-line
:background modeline-bg :foreground modeline-fg
:box (if -modeline-pad `(:line-width ,-modeline-pad :color ,modeline-bg)))
(mode-line-inactive
:background modeline-bg-inactive :foreground modeline-fg-alt
:box (if -modeline-pad `(:line-width ,-modeline-pad :color ,modeline-bg-inactive)))
(mode-line-emphasis :foreground highlight)
;;;; doom-modeline
(doom-modeline-bar :background modeline-bg)
(doom-modeline-bar-inactive :inherit 'doom-modeline-bar)
(doom-modeline-project-dir :foreground fg)
(doom-modeline-buffer-file :foreground fg)
(doom-modeline-buffer-modified :weight 'bold :foreground "#000000")
(doom-modeline-panel :inherit 'mode-line-highlight :background base3 :foreground fg)
;;;; ivy
(ivy-posframe :background bg-alt)
;;;; magit
((magit-diff-added-highlight &override) :foreground fg :background (doom-blend vc-added bg 0.3))
((magit-diff-removed &override) :foreground (doom-lighten fg 0.4) :background (doom-blend vc-deleted bg 0.1))
((magit-diff-removed-highlight &override) :foreground fg :background (doom-blend vc-deleted bg 0.22))
;;;; lsp-mode
(lsp-headerline-breadcrumb-symbols-face :foreground keywords :weight 'bold)
;;;; outline <built-in>
(outline-1 :slant 'italic :foreground fg-alt)
(outline-2 :inherit 'outline-1 :foreground base2)
(outline-3 :inherit 'outline-2)
(outline-4 :inherit 'outline-3)
(outline-5 :inherit 'outline-4)
(outline-6 :inherit 'outline-5)
(outline-7 :inherit 'outline-6)
(outline-8 :inherit 'outline-7)
(org-level-1 :inherit 'org-level-1 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-2 :inherit 'org-level-2 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-3 :inherit 'org-level-3 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-4 :inherit 'org-level-4 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-5 :inherit 'org-level-5 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-6 :inherit 'org-level-6 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-7 :inherit 'org-level-7 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-level-8 :inherit 'org-level-8 :foreground nano-color-strong)
(org-code :inherit 'org-code
:foreground nano-color-salient
:weight 'bold)
(org-verbatim :inherit 'org-verbatim
:foreground nano-color-salient
:weight 'bold)
(org-upcoming-deadline :inherit 'org-upcoming-deadline
:foreground nano-color-critical
:weight 'bold)
(org-upcoming-distant-deadline :inherit 'org-upcoming-distant-deadline
:foreground nano-color-salient)
(org-habit-overdue-face
:inherit 'org-habit-overdue-face
:background fg-alt)
(org-habit-overdue-future-face
:inherit 'org-habit-overdue-future-face
:background nano-color-subtle)
(org-habit-alert-face
:inherit 'org-habit-alert-face
:background nano-color-critical)
(org-habit-alert-future-face
:inherit 'org-habit-alert-future-face
:background nano-color-subtle)
(org-scheduled-today :inherit 'org-scheduled-today :foreground fg)
(org-scheduled-previously :inherit 'org-scheduled-previously :foreground fg)
;;;; org <built-in>
((org-block &override) :background bg-alt)
((org-block-begin-line &override) :foreground base5)
;;;; solaire-mode
(solaire-mode-line-face
:inherit 'mode-line
:background modeline-bg-alt
:box (if -modeline-pad `(:line-width ,-modeline-pad :color ,modeline-bg-alt)))
(solaire-mode-line-inactive-face
:inherit 'mode-line-inactive
:background modeline-bg-inactive-alt
:box (if -modeline-pad `(:line-width ,-modeline-pad :color ,modeline-bg-inactive-alt)))))
;;; doom-plain-theme.el ends here
You will probably need more work to achieve the colors you expect.
For that, using ~SPC-u C-x =~ will probably be useful.
It will show the font face under the cursor.
Best of luck.