Arcadia Theme for Obsidian

Arcadia turns Obsidian into a calm, book-like writing environment. It ships 34 color schemes (16 dark, 18 light), OneNote-style paper and sticky notes, 50+ file type icons, 21 alternate checkboxes, and deep customization through the Style Settings plugin. It is free and always will be.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Getting Started
• Installation
• Color Schemes
• Style Settings Configuration
• Feature Guide
• Accessibility
• Plugin Compatibility
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• More from Arcadia Studio
• Support This Theme
• License
• Changelog

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Features

• 34 color schemes: 16 dark and 18 light, including newspaper, encyclopedia, publishing, and genealogy-inspired collections
• 14 content fonts and 6 code fonts, selectable in Style Settings
• 50+ file type icons with per-type colors in the file explorer
• 21 alternate checkboxes for task states (- [!], - [?], - [*], and more)
• Paper styles: lined, grid, dot, graph, legal pad, Cornell, music staff, plus page tints
• Sticky note callouts in 8 colors with pushpin, folded corner, and flat variations
• Custom callouts: timeline, profile, definition, pro/con, recipe, kanban, stats, and more
• Polished media embedding: shadows, rounded corners, styled audio and video players
• Cards view for Dataview tables, rainbow folders, tag color pills
• Code block enhancements: language badges, optional line numbers, Dracula/Nord/GitHub syntax themes
• Accessibility: OpenDyslexic mode, high contrast mode, reduced motion support

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Getting Started

1. Install the theme (see Installation below)
2. Install the Style Settings plugin (Settings > Community plugins > Browse > "Style Settings")
3. Pick a color scheme: Settings > Style Settings > Arcadia Color Schemes
4. Choose your fonts: Settings > Style Settings > Arcadia Typography
5. Explore features: alternate checkboxes, paper styles, sticky notes, and custom callouts

Without Style Settings, Arcadia uses sensible defaults (Granite dark, Marble light). With it, you unlock 50+ customization options.

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Installation

From Community Themes (Recommended)

1. Open Obsidian Settings
2. Go to Appearance > Themes
3. Click Manage and search for "Arcadia"
4. Click Install and use

Manual Installation

1. Download theme.css and manifest.json from this repository
2. In your vault, navigate to .obsidian/themes/
3. Create a folder called Arcadia
4. Place both files inside the Arcadia folder
5. In Obsidian: Settings > Appearance > Themes > select "Arcadia"

Requirements

• Obsidian 0.16.0 or higher
• Style Settings plugin (optional, strongly recommended for customization)

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Color Schemes

Dark Themes (16)

Theme	Description	Best For
Granite (Default)	Neutral dark gray	General use
Stone	Cool slate tones	Minimalist preference
Olive	Warm earthy greens	Nature lovers
Flint	Cool professional blue-gray	Focused work
Navy	Deep ocean blues	Late night writing
Ember	Warm firelight oranges	Cozy reading
Twilight	Purple dusk tones	Creative work
Forest	Deep woodland greens	Calm focus
Crimson	Elegant wine reds	Dramatic appearance
Slate	Modern cool gray	Clean aesthetic
Amber	Golden warmth	Nostalgic feel
Parchment	Aged document sepia	Genealogy, archival work
Heritage	Leather and gold tones	Family records, formal study
Sepia	Vintage photograph	Classic, warm nostalgia
Registry	Iron gall ink blue	Parish records, court documents
Rootwood	Walnut and earth tones	Natural, family tree research

Light Themes (18)

Theme	Description	Best For
Marble (Default)	Clean white	Daytime use
Sage	Soft green tint	Gentle on eyes
Pearl	Cool ivory	Elegant writing
Cloud	Soft blue	Calm atmosphere
Dawn	Warm peach	Morning sessions
Lavender	Purple tint	Creative mood
Mint	Fresh green	Energizing
Rose	Soft pink	Gentle aesthetic
Silver	Cool gray	Professional
Cream	Golden white	Warm comfort
NY Times	Classic newspaper	Long-form reading
Wikipedia	Encyclopedia style	Research and reference
Crownwell	Classic publishing	Academic writing, theology
Parchment	Aged paper cream	Genealogy, archival reading
Heritage	Ivory with burgundy	Family history, formal documents
Sepia	Vintage warm tones	Old photograph aesthetic
Registry	Blue-gray ledger	Parish registers, court ledgers
Rootwood	Earthy birch white	Natural, family tree research

How to Change Color Scheme

1. Open Settings > Style Settings
2. Expand Arcadia Color Schemes
3. Choose Dark Theme Flavor or Light Theme Flavor from the dropdowns

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Style Settings Configuration

After installing the Style Settings plugin, you will find these sections under Settings > Style Settings:

Arcadia Color Schemes

• Dark Theme Flavor: 16 dark schemes
• Light Theme Flavor: 18 light schemes

Arcadia Theme Settings

• Accent color override: Indigo, Emerald, Rose, or Teal (replaces the scheme's built-in accent)

Arcadia Typography

• Font Size Scale: Small, Normal, Large, Extra Large
• Line Height: Compact, Normal, Relaxed, Loose
• Reading Width: Narrow, Normal, Wide, Full
• Content Font: Vollkorn, Georgia, Merriweather, Crimson Pro, Lora, Literata, EB Garamond, Libre Caslon Text, Cormorant Garamond, Source Serif 4, Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, System Sans-Serif
• Code Font: JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, Source Code Pro, Cascadia Code, IBM Plex Mono, Consolas/Courier

Font choices apply when the font is installed on your system; otherwise a fallback stack (Georgia, system serif, system sans, or monospace) is used. The theme does not download fonts.

Arcadia Editor

• Active Line Highlighting: Off, Subtle, Moderate, Strong
• Focus Mode: dim inactive paragraphs
• Show Line Numbers

Arcadia Links & Tags

• Link Style: Underlined, No Underline, Underline on Hover, Dotted
• Tag Style: Pill, Hashtag, Badge
• Highlight Color: Yellow, Blue, Green, Pink, Orange

Arcadia Lists & Checkboxes

• Checkbox Style: Square, Circle, Rounded Square
• List Bullet Style: Default, Arrows, Diamonds, Stars
• Indentation Guides toggle

Arcadia Tables

• Table Style: Default, Striped Rows, Borderless, Compact
• Sticky Table Headers toggle

Arcadia Workspace

• Tab Style: Default, Rounded, Squared, Minimal

Arcadia Accessibility

• High Contrast Mode, Reduce Motion, Dyslexia-Friendly Mode

Arcadia Advanced Features

Rainbow folders, Cards view, image grid, code line numbers, syntax themes (Dracula, Nord, GitHub), animated graph connections, stacked tabs, bordered embeds, and media options (polished borders, large controls, waveform, no shadows, extra rounding).

Arcadia Paper & Notes

Paper style toggles (lined, grid, dot, Cornell) and sticky note options (pushpin, folded corner, flat, handwriting font).

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Feature Guide

File Icons

Colored icons appear automatically next to files in the file explorer, covering 50+ extensions:

Category	Extensions
Documents	.md, .txt, .rtf, .pdf
Microsoft Office	.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx
Images	.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .webp, .svg
Audio	.mp3, .wav, .ogg
Video	.mp4, .mkv, .avi
Code	.js, .ts, .py, .java, .html, .css, .json, .xml, .yaml
Archives	.zip, .rar, .7z, .tar, .gz
Ebooks	.epub, .mobi, .azw
Fonts	.ttf, .otf, .woff, .woff2

Alternate Checkboxes

Type a special character inside the brackets:

Syntax	Result	Use Case
- [x]	Green checkmark	Completed task
- [-]	Red strikethrough	Canceled task
- [>]	Blue arrow right	Forwarded/Deferred
- [<]	Purple calendar	Scheduled
- [?]	Blue question mark	Question to answer
- [!]	Red exclamation	Important/Urgent
- [*]	Gold star	Starred/Favorite
- ["]	Cyan quote marks	Quote or citation
- [l]	Orange pin	Location
- [i]	Blue info circle	Information
- [b]	Pink bookmark	Bookmark
- [S]	Green dollar	Savings/Money
- [p]	Green thumbs up	Pro/Positive
- [c]	Red thumbs down	Con/Negative
- [/]	Orange half-fill	In Progress
- [u]	Red up arrow	High Priority
- [d]	Blue down arrow	Low Priority
- [w]	Gold trophy	Win/Achievement
- [k]	Yellow key	Key point
- [f]	Orange flame	Urgent/Hot
- [I]	Yellow lightbulb	Idea

Custom Callouts

Extended callout types beyond Obsidian's defaults: timeline, profile, aside, definition, pro, con, goal, bookmark, question, answer, recipe, kanban, paraphrase, stats.

> [!timeline] Project History
> **2024-01** - Project started
> **2024-06** - Version 1.0

> [!pro] Advantages
> - Fast performance

Sticky Notes

OneNote-style sticky note callouts in 8 colors: yellow, pink, blue, green, purple, orange, gray, teal.

> [!sticky-yellow] Remember
> Meeting at 3pm.

Style variations (enable in Style Settings): Pushpin, Folded Corner, Flat, Handwriting font. Add -sm or -small for compact stickies, -wide for full width.

Paper Styles

Transform the editor into a notebook page. Enable via Style Settings toggles (lined, grid, dot, Cornell) or per-note with cssclasses in frontmatter:

cssclass	Style
paper-lined	College ruled with red margin
paper-grid	Square graph paper (-sm/-lg variants)
paper-dot	Bullet journal dot grid
paper-graph	Engineering graph paper
paper-legal	Yellow legal pad
paper-cornell	Cornell note-taking layout
paper-music	Musical staff lines
paper-iso	Isometric grid

Page tints: paper-cream, paper-blue, paper-green, paper-pink, paper-yellow, paper-lavender (adjusted automatically in dark mode).

Media Embedding

Polished images, video, and audio with shadows, rounded corners, and hover effects. Size and layout via per-note cssclasses:

img-small / img-medium / img-large / img-full   (max width presets)
img-center, img-circle, img-rounded, img-border, img-shadow
img-float-left, img-float-right, img-grid, img-banner
img-invert   (invert diagrams in dark mode)

Code Blocks

Language badges on fenced code blocks, optional line numbers, styled copy button, and three syntax themes (Dracula, Nord, GitHub) toggled in Style Settings > Arcadia Advanced Features.

Cards View

Display Dataview TABLE results as a grid of cards. Enable in Style Settings > Arcadia Advanced Features, or per note with cssclasses: cards. Options: cards-cover, cards-cols-1 through cards-cols-6, cards-align-bottom.

Rainbow Folders

Color-code folders in the file explorer with a 10-color cycle. Subfolders use muted variants. Enable in Style Settings > Arcadia Advanced Features.

Tag Colors

Tags display as colored pills. Common tag names (#todo, #done, #urgent, #project, #meeting, and others) are automatically color-coded by pattern.

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Accessibility

• High contrast ratios across all 34 color schemes (documented per scheme in theme.css)
• OpenDyslexic font option (Settings > Style Settings > Arcadia Accessibility); requires the OpenDyslexic font installed on your system
• Reduced motion: respects the system prefers-reduced-motion preference, plus a manual toggle
• High contrast mode toggle

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Plugin Compatibility

Plugin	Compatibility
Style Settings	Full integration (required for customization)
Dataview	Styled tables, lists, and cards view
Tasks	Checkbox styling
Kanban	Board styling
Calendar	Date styling
Excalidraw	Canvas integration
Templater	Compatible
Periodic Notes	Compatible
Advanced Tables	Table styling applies
Outliner	List styling applies
Obsidian Git	Compatible

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Troubleshooting

Theme not loading

• Verify both theme.css and manifest.json are in .obsidian/themes/Arcadia/
• Restart Obsidian after manual installation
• Check that no other theme is selected (Settings > Appearance > Themes)

Style Settings options not appearing

• Install and enable the Style Settings plugin
• Check Settings > Style Settings for the Arcadia sections
• If options are missing, switch themes and switch back

Fonts not displaying as selected

• Arcadia does not download fonts (Obsidian developer policies prohibit remote assets in themes); a font choice applies when that font is installed on your system
• If a chosen font is not installed, the fallback stack (Georgia, system serif, or system sans) is used
• Most content and code fonts are free downloads from Google Fonts; OpenDyslexic is available at opendyslexic.org

Paper styles not showing

• Enable a paper toggle in Style Settings > Arcadia Paper & Notes, or
• Add cssclasses: paper-lined (or another style) to the note's frontmatter

Conflicts with snippets

• CSS snippets load after the theme and can override it; disable snippets temporarily to test

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FAQ

Is Arcadia free? Yes. Arcadia is free under the MIT license. You can use, modify, and redistribute it.

Does Arcadia work on mobile? Yes. Most features work on mobile. Hover effects are disabled on touch screens, and some paper styles render best on larger screens.

Do I need Style Settings? No, but it is strongly recommended. Without it you get the Granite (dark) and Marble (light) defaults; with it you unlock all 34 schemes and 50+ options.

Can I create my own color scheme? Yes, by editing theme.css. Each scheme defines about 20 CSS custom properties in RGB triplet format; copy an existing scheme block as a starting point.

How do I report a bug or request a feature? Open an issue on GitHub using the Bug Report or Feature Request template. Include your Obsidian version, OS, and steps to reproduce.

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More from Arcadia Studio

Arcadia is the free centerpiece of the Arcadia Studio suite for Obsidian. If you like the theme, these plugins pair well with it:

• Arcadia Toolbar: word-processor-style ribbon toolbar with tabs for formatting, insertion, and navigation
• Arcadia Projects: table and Kanban project views over your vault notes, with filtering and sorting
• Arcadia Connect: personal CRM with @-mention contacts, interaction logs, and a deal pipeline
• Arcadia Publisher: publish notes as HTML, PDF, and ePub with customizable themes and templates
• Arcadia Hub: GitHub integration for browsing issues, pull requests, and repos from your notes

Browse the full catalog at arcadia-studio.lemonsqueezy.com or visit the Arcadia Studio GitHub organization.

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Support This Theme

If Arcadia is useful in your daily work, you can support development here:

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Credits

Author: Peter J. Carter Website: theologyinfocus.org

License

MIT License: free to use, modify, and distribute. See LICENSE.

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Changelog

Version 2.1.1 (Current)

• Removed remote font loading (the Google Fonts and jsDelivr @import lines) to comply with Obsidian developer policies; all font options now resolve from locally installed fonts with safe fallback stacks
• Fixed a malformed CSS comment that closed early and caused the entire base variable block to be discarded by the CSS parser
• Light mode completeness: palette, status, and surface colors are now defined for all light schemes (close buttons, quick switcher hotkeys, and error states were previously unreadable or unstyled in light mode)
• Mapped the Arcadia palette onto official Obsidian CSS variables (--background-primary, --text-normal, --text-accent, --interactive-accent, --text-selection, scrollbar variables) so core UI and plugins follow the active scheme
• Theme fonts now load through Obsidian's theme font variables, so fonts chosen in Settings > Appearance take precedence
• Updated live preview selectors to current CodeMirror 6 classes (code blocks, blockquotes, tables); removed stale CM5 selectors that no longer matched
• Removed vertical margins on editor lines that could misplace the cursor in live preview
• Removed a layout rule that constrained the first editor pane to a fixed 280px width
• Removed a folder collapse animation hack that clipped folders longer than 5000px
• Fixed unreadable text while renaming files in dark mode, and top-level folder labels rendering at 8px
• Performance: media transitions limited to transform and box-shadow; hover lift effects disabled on small screens
• Bordered Embeds toggle in Style Settings now works; removed two settings that had no effect (font family override, border radius)
• Accent hover color now follows the scheme accent instead of a fixed teal
• Added Caveat to the sticky note handwriting font stack (used when the font is installed on your system)

Version 2.1.0

• 34 color schemes (16 dark + 18 light)
• 5 genealogy-inspired schemes (Parchment, Heritage, Sepia, Registry, Rootwood)
• Font loading consolidated to 2 HTTP requests
• 4 additional fonts (EB Garamond, Libre Caslon Text, Cormorant Garamond, Source Serif 4)
• 50+ file type icons, 21 alternate checkbox types
• OneNote-style media embedding, paper styles, sticky notes
• Code syntax themes (Dracula, Nord, GitHub)
• Rainbow folders, cards view, tag color pills
• Full Style Settings integration

Version 2.0.0

• Initial community release with 23 color schemes
• Core feature set established