Obsidian Celluloid

A cinematic pair of native Visual Studio Code themes with precise syntax colors, quiet surfaces and original mechanical file icons. Choose studio-light clarity or near-black Noir. Both share vermilion signals, cobalt symbols and cinema amber.

Free · MIT licensed · Native themes and SVG file icons · No runtime dependencies

The intended first public release is 0.3.1, under Marketplace publisher zmmartins. Source: GitHub repository. This repository preparation does not publish the extension.

Light

White code paper, warm chalk chrome, carbon text and restrained red indicators.

Noir

A deep black code stage, layered near-black chrome, phosphor text, cobalt functions and amber strings/numbers, with subdued gray comments.

These are real native VS Code workbench captures on macOS, using the optional settings preset and installed JetBrains Mono. They show sample files in an isolated Extension Development Host; no custom UI or design mockup is overlaid.

Install and select

After publication, search Obsidian Celluloid in VS Code's Extensions view. For a downloaded release package, run Extensions: Install from VSIX… and choose obsidian-celluloid-0.3.1.vsix.

1. Run Preferences: Color Theme and select Obsidian Celluloid (Light) or Obsidian Celluloid Noir. On macOS, use ⌘K, ⌘T to open the picker.
2. Run Preferences: File Icon Theme and select Obsidian Celluloid Icons.

The CLI alternative for a configured release package is:

code --install-extension obsidian-celluloid-0.3.1.vsix

VS Code 1.95 or newer is required. Selecting a theme does not change fonts, layout, sidebar visibility or your existing settings.

File icons

The shared icon theme contains 45 original 16px glyphs, 129 extension associations and specific filename mappings. Related formats share coherent silhouettes; contrast-selected variants adapt automatically between Light and Noir.

PDF, archives, CSV, Dockerfile, SQL and notebooks have distinct glyphs. Unknown formats intentionally keep a generic file icon. Read the file icon coverage notes for association details.

Optional typography

Install JetBrains Mono, then manually merge only the settings you want from either preset:

• Light typography and layout
• Noir typography and layout

Both recommend 13px JetBrains Mono, 20px editor rows, regular weight, compact native layout and the existing terminal sizing. Menlo/Monaco provide macOS fallbacks. No fonts are bundled or downloaded, and presets are never applied by the extension. Merge keys into your existing settings; do not replace the entire file.

For optional switching with the macOS or Windows appearance, manually merge:

{
  "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true,
  "workbench.preferredLightColorTheme": "Obsidian Celluloid (Light)",
  "workbench.preferredDarkColorTheme": "Obsidian Celluloid Noir"
}

This uses VS Code's native appearance settings. The appearance preset contains the same opt-in snippet. High contrast preferences remain separate.

Native by design

Obsidian Celluloid themes editor/workbench colors, TextMate scopes, semantic tokens and file icons through official VS Code contributions. It creates no webviews, dashboards, decorative telemetry or additional panels. Native controls retain VS Code's Codicons. Workbench typography, glass blur, glow, grain overlays and custom control geometry remain outside the theme API.

Semantic colors depend on the active language provider. Python semantic highlighting needs a provider; TextMate fallback works without one. ANSI colors can also act as terminal backgrounds, so terminal applications may affect their final appearance.

Credits and license

Original theme source, mechanical SVG glyphs and the reconstructed OC logo are licensed under MIT, copyright Jose Maria Pereira. The OC logo was rebuilt as editable vector geometry from the project owner's supplied reference; it is not an enlarged screenshot. Visual direction comes from the project's Google Stitch references. Those reference materials are not distributed in the VSIX.

JetBrains Mono supplies the recommended code font; the extension does not redistribute it. Visual Studio Code and its native UI belong to Microsoft. No third-party icon packs or brand-logo artwork are used. See asset provenance.

Developers and release maintainers can use the release guide.