Settings & Preferences

Opening Settings

Access settings from the menubar: File > Settings (or press the keyboard shortcut if configured). The settings dialog has two tabs:

• Appearance — Theme, grid, and snap preferences
• Export — Default export format, scale, ICC profile, bleed, and text outlining

Appearance Settings

Theme

Varve ships with three complete themes, each audited for WCAG AA contrast compliance (96/96 token pairs verified):

• Light — Clean white-based interface with teal accent
• Dark — Dark background with lighter-on-dark hierarchy (front-lit: higher surfaces are brighter)
• High Contrast — Maximum contrast mode for accessibility, with distinctive colors per layer type (e.g., purple for image layers)

All themes use OKLCH color space for perceptually uniform color ramps. The 12-step neutral and teal ramps ensure consistent contrast across every surface and text combination.

Canvas Grid

• Pixel Grid — Toggle the pixel-level grid overlay on the canvas
• Layout Grid — Toggle layout grid overlay for alignment reference

Snap

• Snap to Grid — Snap objects to the grid lines and intersections
• Snap to Objects — Snap to edges and centers of other objects (smart snapping)
• Snap threshold — Distance in pixels within which snapping activates

Canvas Mode

The default canvas mode on startup: Full (all fills and effects), Outline (structure-only), or Preview (clean display).

Export Settings

Default Format

Choose the default export format: PNG, SVG, or PDF. This preselected option appears first in the Export dialog.

Scale

Default raster export scale: 1x, 2x, or 3x. Higher scales produce larger images suitable for Retina/HiDPI displays.

PDF Export Defaults

• ICC Profile — Default color profile for PDF output (sRGB, Adobe RGB, Fogra39, GRACoL, SWOP)
• Bleed — Default bleed width in mm for print documents
• Outline Text — Whether to convert text to vector paths by default in PDF output
• Rendering Intent — Perceptual, Relative Colorimetric, Absolute Colorimetric, or Saturation
• Color Profile — Document color space for PDF (RGB or CMYK)

Naming

Configure the output file naming template. Use variables like {name}, {format}, {scale} to create consistent naming patterns.

Auto-Save Configuration

Varve includes a robust auto-save system that protects your work:

• Interval — How often auto-save runs (default: 5 minutes, configurable 1-30 minutes)
• Save on visibility change — Auto-saves when you switch tabs or minimize the window
• Save on page hide — Last-chance save before the page unloads
• Recovery points — Automatic recovery snapshots created periodically, kept for up to 7 days

The auto-save service uses an idle-driven architecture: it debounces rapid edits and only saves when the document has actually changed. A concurrency guard prevents overlapping save operations, and retry with exponential backoff handles transient failures gracefully. The service state machine transitions between idle, saving, and error states.

Resetting Settings

If you need to start fresh, the settings dialog includes a "Reset to Defaults" button. This restores all settings to their factory defaults without affecting your documents.