Chimera Commands Index

Usage:
background solidcolor_name | current | none )

Usage:
background gradientcolor1,color2,... | palette_name | current | none ) [ discrete | RGB | HLS ] [ opacity alpha ]

Usage:
background imageimage_file | current | none ) [ zoomed | stretched | centered | tiled ] [ scale factor ] [ opacity alpha ]

The background command sets the graphics window background to a single solid color, a gradient of multiple colors, or an image from a file. These settings can also be adjusted (and saved for later uses of Chimera) with the Background preferences. Background transparency in Chimera-rendered PNG or TIFF images can be specified in the Save Image dialog or at startup with the --bgopacity option (e.g., if images will be saved with the copy command instead of the dialog). For background transparency in raytraced images, see the POV-Ray Options preferences. See also: color, colordef, set, Effects, the Color Editor, the Palette Editor, coloring, movie-related commands

Except for the words current and none, the keywords can be truncated and their case does not matter. Optional keywords can be given in any order. Examples:

background solid light blue
back grad coral,deep sky blue,navy blue rgb
back image ~/Desktop/scenery.png sc 0.5 center
back im current op 0.25

The command background solid is equivalent to set bgColor and sets the background to a single solid color. The color can be specified as:

By default, the color used for depth cueing will match the solid background color, but it can be changed independently (for example, with the command set dcColor).

Background gradient sets the background to a vertical gradient of multiple colors, given as one of the following:

The gradient colors can be shown as discrete bands or interpolated in the RGB (red-green-blue) or HLS (hue-lightness-saturation) color space, where the latter is the default. If an interpolation method is specified along with a palette name, the specification will override the method included in the palette. The alpha value can range from 0.0, meaning complete transparency, to 1.0, meaning complete opacity (default). If the gradient is transparent, the current solid color will show through. If a transparent gradient is used together with a transparent background, the background of an image saved from Chimera as PNG or TIFF will not only show the blending of the gradient over the solid color, but also have the same overall opacity as was specified for the gradient.

Background image specifies using an image from a file. Accepted formats include PNG, TIFF, and JPEG. The word current can be used to indicate a previously specified image. The word none indicates resetting the current image to nothing and changing the background to the current solid color. If image is the last word of the command (in this case, it can be placed after the options), a dialog for browsing the filesystem will appear. The image is fit into the graphics window according to one of the following modes:

The scale is expressed as a factor relative to the actual image size and only affects the centered and tiled modes. The opacity value alpha can range from 0.0, meaning complete transparency, to 1.0, meaning complete opacity (default). If the image is transparent, the current solid color will show through. If a transparent background image is used together with a transparent background, the background of an image saved from Chimera as PNG or TIFF will not only show the blending of the background image over the solid color, but also have the same overall opacity as was specified for the background image.