tannerc/spf

A simple, open source Mac OS app for presentations on low-contrast monitors.

Spf 1.2.1

A simple, open source Mac OS app for presenting on monitors or projectors that blowout highlights and details.

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Screen polarization function (Spf)

Spf is an easy-to-use, open source app written in Swift to add a semi-opaque layer over your screen in order to better show highlights and low-visiblity elements in your designs or presentations.

Have you ever been in a meeting or presentation, trying to show work or a deck on a screen or projector that just isn't calibrated well for showing things like highlights or fine-details? Hairline grays not showing up in critique? Lightweight icons practically invisible in your presentation? Highlights in imagery vanishing when presenting for an audience? Is the background wash of your design not stark enough to show card containers? Spf can help!

How to use it

Just build the app in Xcode and open to run as you would any other app. You'll see a new menu icon in your status bar which then allows you to select one of several options for polarizing all screens currently active.

Once a polarizing filter has been applied, you can clear it using the same status bar menu.

Just download the app

Not interested in the source code? You can get Spf directly in the Mac App Store.

Or you can download a pre-compiled version of the app directly from this repo: Download pre-compiled

Why Spf?

While working at Facebook we had a little tool known as Preso Saver (code-name "Banana") created by my former mentor and co-founder of software company Sofa, Dirk Stoop. Once I left Facebook I found myself in meetings or presentations where the screens being presented on simply weren't calibrated or capable of showing off the fine details of my work.

Light grays or hairlines in designs were too washed-out and therefore invisible on the screen. Highlights of elements—such as composed glare or highlight states for interactive elements—were practically invisible. To help solve my problem, I re-created the Preso Saver tool from Facebook days using Swift. The tool is lightweight and remarkably simple, so much so that it only made sense to open source so others can use it and customize to better meet their needs.

Spf comes from the title "Screen polarization function", as the original concept for this tool was "Polarizer" but I wanted something a bit quirkier, Spf (pronouned "sp-iff" was the result).

Spf was created by Tanner Christensen.

spf's Issues

Multipule screens

trying to use with Mojave and 3 screens. SPF only works on 2 of the screens, but I can change the menu bar setting on all three.

tia

Vignette Effect?

It would be super awesome if you can add a Vignette effect similar to the one f.lux provides on windows, It adds a vignette like overlay to the screen with the edges a little bit darker than the center, Super useful for reducing eye strain.

SPF doesn't work across multiple spaces

Is there a way to permanently enable SPF universally (including the menubar)

Because right now while on my mac I enable 5% opacity on my main space, but when i swipe over to Desktop 2, it doesn't carry over. So then I enable it on Desktop 2 but when I go back to Desktop 1 it gets cleared again.

I also notice that when I go fullscreen on a video it opens on a new space that is cleared again. And I have to renable SPF every time I go fullscreen on a video.

So it would be nice if the 5% can apply to all desktops/spaces and if it could match the menubar because the opacity doesn't seem to affect the menubar which can be obtrusive when being on high brightness.

Macbook Pro 16" 2021 M1 Pro
The PWM on these Pro XDR Mini-LED displays are atrocious and cause eye strain like mad, your app has helped alot!

pitch black

idk if its just occurring with mine but whenever i jump off opacity levels, the entire screen goes glitching then pitching black. same as when i completely shut off the luminosity then brighten it lol