Match the texture to what's on your screen

Your system theme doesn’t always match what you’re looking at. You might use dark mode with a bright web page open, or light mode with a dark code editor. With Texture follows → Screen content, Paperman picks the texture based on what each screen is actually showing.

Turn it on

Open Settings → Textures.
Set Texture follows to Screen content. It’s set to System theme by default.
Use the Light screens and Dark screens toggle to pick a texture for each.

These are the same two textures you know as Daytime and Nighttime. With Screen content on, they’re relabeled because what’s on screen now decides between them, not the time or the theme. The Now label still shows which one is active.

On a Mac, Paperman needs Screen Recording access for this. See below.

How it switches

Mostly light content, like a white document or web page, gets your light screens texture.
Mostly dark content, like a dark editor or video player, gets your dark screens texture.
The middle of the screen counts more than the edges, so a dark sidebar or dock doesn’t tip the balance.
When you switch windows, the texture usually changes in under a second, with a short crossfade.
Paperman waits until the screen is clearly lighter or darker before it switches, so the texture doesn’t flicker back and forth on mixed content.

On a Mac, Paperman notices right away when you switch to a different app. Switching windows or tabs within the same app can take a second or two to show up, or a little longer on battery.

Every display decides for itself

If you use more than one monitor, each one follows its own content. A dark terminal on one screen and a bright document on the other each get the right texture at the same time.

What still follows your system theme

Screen content only changes which texture you see. Your Circadian schedule, the Desk Lamp setting that turns it on only in dark mode, and Paperman’s menu bartray icon all keep following your system’s light or dark appearance.

Screen Recording access on a Mac

To tell whether your screen is light or dark, Paperman has to look at it, and macOS only allows that with Screen Recording access. That’s why the request says “recording”, even though Paperman doesn’t record anything.

Paperman takes a tiny, low-resolution sample of each display, about 64 × 36 pixels, and only measures its brightness. That’s far too small to read any text.
Paperman leaves its own texture out of the sample, so the texture doesn’t affect the reading.
Nothing is saved, and nothing is sent anywhere. It all happens on your Mac.

Paperman only asks for this when you choose Screen content. Without access, it doesn’t sample anything, and everything else in Paperman works as usual.

Allow access

When you choose Screen content, macOS asks whether to allow Paperman. If you miss it, click Open System Settings in the Textures tab.
In Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, switch on Paperman.
Back in the Textures tab, click Relaunch Paperman. Access takes effect once Paperman restarts.

You can turn access off in System Settings whenever you like, or set Texture follows back to System theme.

When to use it

You switch between light and dark apps a lot. For example, a bright browser next to a dark IDE, or a dark video app in the evening.
You keep one system theme all day but the content you look at changes.

If you’d rather textures change with the time of day, use a Circadian schedule instead.