COLORS File

What are COLORS files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a COLORS file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your COLORS files.

What is a COLORS file?

COLORS files have multiple uses, and Ardour Theme is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Ardour Theme

Ardour Theme files define custom color schemes used by the digital audio workstation Ardour to style its user interface. They are written in UTF-8 encoded XML and allow selection among several preset themes or creation of fully user-defined themes. Colors specified within an Ardour Theme file are used for elements like tracks, meters, buttons, transport controls, oscilloscopes, MIDI editors, rulers, markers, and other UI components, so that one consistent visual style is applied across the program. The Ardour application writes and reads these theme files: users can modify, save, or add new theme files under their personal configuration or the shared themes directory. The theme is selected within Ardour's preferences under "Color Theme."

The structure of such files involves several sections. The root element is Ardour, which includes a theme‐name attribute identifying the theme. Under that are a Colors section listing Color elements, each with a name property and a hexadecimal RGBA value (eight digits). A ColorAliases section follows, mapping alias names (for UI roles) to those color names defined earlier. A Modifiers section defines semantic effects like transparency (alpha) or overrides for specific UI states. Theme files are stored under directories like ~/.config/ardourX/themes or under the system-wide installation's share/themes, often named "theme-name-ardour.colors".

Files begin with the ASCII signature <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> at byte offset 0, followed by the <Ardour theme-name=…> element. They contain strings like control point selected outline, transport active option button, crossfade editor point fill, region list missing source, and many others that correspond to named UI elements. These names serve both in the Colors and ColorAliases sections to link colors to UI elements.

How to open COLORS files

Important: Different programs may use files with the COLORS file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your COLORS file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: September 2, 2026

All known file formats using extension .COLORS

While Ardour Theme is a popular type of COLORS-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .COLORS file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Krita Color Scheme

A Krita Color Scheme file defines the look of Krita's user interface by storing colors and effects for UI elements such as menus, buttons, tooltips, text states, and window backgrounds. It serves to theme the appearance of Krita - for example you might use a "Dark" or "Light" scheme - allowing uniform styling for active, inactive, disabled and hovered UI components.

Such files are created and read by Krita itself. Users may edit these text files to modify a theme or make new ones. They reside in Krita's "color-schemes" resource folder, are listed under Settings → Themes, and once loaded they alter Krita's colors at runtime without changing document content. Users typically change color values or toggle effects like contrast, intensity, etc., to refine the visual style.

Internally the format uses a plain-text configuration style called KConfig (a format shared with KDE's config files). It is structured into named groups marked in square brackets (for example [Colors:Button], [ColorEffects:Inactive], [General], [KDE]). Within each group are key-value lines, where some keys represent colors with 3-component RGB triples (e.g. BackgroundNormal=42,42,42), and others control visual effects (keys like ColorEffect, IntensityEffect, ContrastAmount). One signature is that files begin with the ASCII header "[ColorEffects:" near the start, and contain strings such as BACKGROUNDNORMAL, FOREGROUNDACTIVE, DECORATIONFOCUS or VIEW, matching the internal roles Krita uses.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

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