Bug 167656 - PDF: 'Export to PDF' option in LO Draw 'File' tab exports with dark background when using System dark mode in 'Tools' > 'Options' > 'Appearance'.
Summary: PDF: 'Export to PDF' option in LO Draw 'File' tab exports with dark backgroun...
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 165803
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Draw (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
25.2.4.3 release
Hardware: All Windows (All)
: medium minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
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Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-07-23 17:53 UTC by Thomas Halficher
Modified: 2025-07-24 11:18 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description Thomas Halficher 2025-07-23 17:53:52 UTC
Description:
I wanted to use dark mode but like everything matching on system. This bug appears in LO Draw, but not LO Writer.

So, in 'Tools' > 'Options' > 'Appearance', 
I set 'LibreOffice Themes' to 'Automatic' and set 'Options' > 'Appearance' to 'System', which is already set to dark mode.
Specifically, go to Windows 11 Settings > 'Personalization' > 'Colors' > 'Choose your mode' > 'Dark'.

When I go to export my work as PDF -- **not directly as PDF** -- and choose lossless compression, my final PDF has the "correct" font color (being default black) but a dark background. This is not expected as I have not set the background color of the document itself to be black. 

Critically, **I have confirmed**: in 'Tools' > 'Options' > 'Appearance' > 'Customizations' > 'Items', when I select 'Document background' and change the color from 'Automatic' to... well, anything, **the PDF exports with that background color**.

So in essence, I, user, am expecting background appearance in Draw to *not* affect export appearance in PDF. As mentioned earlier, works as expected in Writer.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Set system to dark mode (Windows 11 Settings > 'Personalization' > 'Colors' > 'Choose your mode' > 'Dark')
2. Create document in draw with text boxes
3. Set appearance preferences to dark ( 'Tools' > 'Options' > 'Appearance',
set 'LibreOffice Themes' to 'Automatic' and set 'Options' > 'Appearance' to 'System')
4. In the same menu, confirm that 'Customizations' > 'Items' > 'Document Page' is set to 'Automatic'
5. Confirm that page background is set to 'None' ('Page' > 'Page Properties')
6. Export as PDF ('File' > 'Export As' > 'Export as PDF...'). Note: I export with lossless compression and no other checked boxes.
7. View PDF

Actual Results:
The PDF that I exported had a dark background (not quite "black", but very dark gray making the PDF all but unreadable). The text was black as expected.

Expected Results:
The software, as Writer does, should have exported the PDF with a white background, ignoring the 'Appearance' color settings.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
Version: 25.2.4.3 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 33e196637044ead23f5c3226cde09b47731f7e27
CPU threads: 16; OS: Windows 11 X86_64 (10.0 build 26100); UI render: Skia/Vulkan; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: CL threaded
Comment 1 V Stuart Foote 2025-07-24 11:18:27 UTC
Corrected [1] in the upcoming 25.8.0 release where it has been refactored and a user control provided in UI. Defaults follow os/DE System color themes better with a default WYSIWYG document canvas.

Meanwhile, if remaining on 25.2, install and enable the 'Light Application Colors' extension. Available from Tools -> Options -> Appearance panel, or the full LO Extension manager. 

That activates the appearance theme support. Toggling between the System/Dark/Light radio button control of the UI can require profile clear to reset to a stable--I'd avoid the RB controls and use an Appearance theme.

Restart LO between any Appearance theme os/DE adjustment.

And if you install/activate appearance themes, be sure to grab one designed for 25.2 and NOT one of the newer >=25.8 flavors--newer themes are incompatible bcz of appearance framework rework 25.2 --> 25.8. 

=-ref-=
[1] https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/185388

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 165803 ***