Linux Mint is an excellent distribution based on Ubuntu. It always wins the crown of the “Beginners-Friendly Linux Distribution“. That’s why many new users prefer it as their daily driver. It is rock solid and works fine out of the box.
Linux Mint comes in three flavors Cinnamon, MATE, and XFCE. MATE and XFCE are highly stable and low on resources. But the main candidate here is the Cinnamon Edition. Cinnamon Desktop Environment is the default Desktop Environment. It is the most popular version and is primarily developed for and by Linux Mint.
But one thing that bothers me most is its look. Yes, Mint is not that great when it comes to aesthetics. The icons and themes look dated and the overall experience lags. Even though the Cinnamon Desktop Environment offers light and dark themes with many accent colors, the overall look is not very impressive.
Fortunately, we can change that. In this tutorial, I will give the Cinnamon Desktop a stunning look.
Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have the correct setup for this tutorial.
- Cinnamon Edition 21.1 “Vera”.
- Up-to-date system.
Update Your Linux Mint
Updating Linux Mint is very easy. You can use the Update Manager app or you can use the terminal. To use the Update Manager app, open the Application Menu and search for Update Manager.
It will show you if any updates are available. Click on Install Updates and enter your password to continue.
But for me, I prefer the terminal to update my system. Open the terminal using Ctrl+Alt+T simultaneously and enter the following command.
sudo apt update
This command will not update the system. It only updates the cache and checks if your system needs to be updated. Use the following command to install the updates.
sudo apt upgrade
After updating your system, we can proceed.
Download Graphite GTK Theme
Now we need to download and install the theme for our Mint customization. I am going to use the Graphite GTK Theme made by vinceliuice. He is a great guy who creates themes for Linux. Graphite GTK Theme is one of them.
The main Graphite GTK Theme looks overwhelming because of its variations. So I am going to use the dark variant of this theme. The dark variant looks stunning and gives a fresh new look.
First, we need to download the theme from the link below.
Click on the Code button and download the Zip file.
Install Graphite GTK Theme And Customize The Cinnamon Desktop
Extract the file and find the “Graphite-gtk-theme-main” folder. Open it and you will see an “install.sh” file. Now start a terminal here from the right-click menu.
Enter the following command.
./install.sh
It will install all the variations of the Graphite GTK Theme.
Now click on Application Menu and search for Themes.
Under the Themes tab, click on Applications and select Graphite-Dark. It will change the default theme of all applications. And click on the Desktop button and select Graphite-Dark. It will change the default shell theme.
Download Colloid Icon Theme
After setting up the theme, it’s time to set up the icon pack. I am going to use the Colloid Icon Theme. This icon pack is also developed by vinceliuice. It looks great and blends well with the Graphite Theme.
Download the Colloid Icon Theme from the link below.
Click on the Code button and download the Zip file.
Install Colloid Icon Theme And Customize
Extract the file and find the “Colloid-icon-theme-main” folder. Open it and you will see an “install.sh” file. Now start a terminal here from the right-click menu.
Enter the following command.
./install.sh
It will install all the variations of the Colloid Icon Theme.
Now click on Application Menu and search for Themes.
Under the Themes tab, click on Icons and select Colloid-Dark. It will change the default icons of your system.
Setting Up Desktop Wallpaper
The final process is to set up the wallpaper. Go to the Desktop, open the right-click menu, and click on Change Desktop Background.
Select Vera from the left and scroll down. Find Computer Art wallpaper and select it. The desktop background will change.
Additional Tweaks And Customizations
We can do some minor adjustments to make it more convenient. I don’t understand why the developers didn’t make it correct in the first place. Anyway, this is not a dealbreaker and only needs a setting change.
If you use any third-party app that has a system tray icon, you will notice the system icons and app tray icon sizes are not the same. It looks weird and breaks the aesthetic.
But this is an easy fix. Right-click on the taskbar and select Panel Settings.
Click on Right Zone and change the Colored icon size to 16px. Make sure the Colored icon size and the Symbolic icon size are the same. Close the window to save it.
Now, right-click on the taskbar and toggle the Panel edit mode. This will let you move the applets.
Here we will drag the Show Desklets applet to the end of the taskbar.
Right-click on the taskbar and toggle the Panel edit mode to exit.
Now, right-click on the Menu applet and select Configure.
Under the Panel tab, toggle on the Use a custom icon and label option. Click on the Icon option and search for appset, select it, and change the Icon size (px) to 28.
Go to the Menu tab and toggle on the Use a fixed menu height option. Set the Menu height (px) to 550. And change the Favorite icon size (px) to 22.
Change The GRUB Boot Menu Theme
If you are dual-booting Linux Mint alongside Windows or another OS, then you should theme your GRUB bootloader. The Graphite GTK Theme also has a GRUB theme. This GRUB theme only supports 1080p, 2k, and 4k display resolutions. If your monitor supports a different resolution, then I would suggest not doing it.
1080p resolution is active by default. if you have a 1080p monitor, then you are good to go.
Go to the “Graphite-gtk-theme-main” folder. Then go to others>grub2 and open a terminal here. Enter the following command
sudo ./install.sh
Enter your password and it will start installing the GRUB theme. If you have a different resolution, then use the following command.
For a 2k resolution display, use the following command.
sudo ./install.sh -s 2k
And for a 4k resolution display, use the following command.
sudo ./install.sh -s 4k
If you want to remove the GRUB theme, then use the following command.
sudo ./install.sh -r
Conclusion
The whole customization process is best suitable for 1080p displays. If you have a lower or higher resolution display, then you may need to change certain things according to your needs. You may need to change the Panel size, Taskbar Icon size, font sizes, etc. But if you are on a 1080p display, then you are good to go.
If you like this customization, don’t forget to share this with your close ones. Maybe sharing this on social media will be great. It will help me get motivated to write Linux blogs. If you have any questions or you are facing issues while customizing Linux Mint, feel free to ask me in the comment section. I will surely try to help you out. Until then, have a great day.
