Release v2.6.0

.gitignore

@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ venv.bak/
 
 # macOS
 .DS_Store
+**/.DS_Store
 
 # Windows
 Thumbs.db
@@ -92,6 +93,9 @@ softwareX/
 # Local roadmap
 /ROADMAP.md
 
+# Commit plan (local development only)
+/COMMIT_PLAN.md
+
 # Kilo local configuration
 /kilo.json
 # Image files (test output, not committed)
@@ -107,3 +111,7 @@ softwareX/
 # README reference images are tracked
 !/imgs/
 !/imgs/**
+
+# GUI assets are tracked
+!/colorcast/assets/
+!/colorcast/assets/**

.zenodo.json

@@ -41,6 +41,6 @@
   ],
   "references": [],
   "communities": [],
-  "version": "2.5.0",
+  "version": "2.6.0",
   "language": "eng"
 }

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,27 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [2.6.0] – 2026-08-05
+
+### Added
+
+- Perceptually uniform appearance-space abstraction in `colorcast/analysis/appearance.py` with two backends: **CIELAB** (legacy, D65) and **ICtCp** (ITU-R BT.2100, HDR-aware, ΔE scaled ×720). The `AppearanceSpace` protocol exposes `from_rgb(rgb)` and `delta_E(a, b)` methods.
+- `ErrorMap` carries two new optional fields — `appearance_delta` (per-pixel ΔE) and `appearance_delta_name` (space identifier) — populated when an `AppearanceSpace` is passed to `get_error_map()`.
+- `get_error_map()` accepts an optional keyword `appearance=` parameter for computing appearance-based ΔE alongside the existing Euclidean and CIEDE2000 metrics.
+- `compute_dashboard()` accepts an `appearance=` keyword and ranks deficiencies by the appearance metric when available; `_summarize` prefers `appearance_delta` over `chroma_error_dE00` over `chroma_error`.
+- New CLI subcommand: `colorcast dashboard IMAGE [-o OUTPUT] [--appearance {cielab,ictcp}]` generates a full-resolution CVD accessibility report.
+- GUI Dashboard dialog gained a "ΔE metric" dropdown (CIELAB / ICtCp) in the bottom button bar; changing it re-triggers computation.
+- `make_appearance_space(name)` factory function centralizes appearance-space creation by name; CLI and GUI now route through it, eliminating duplicated selection logic and brittle combobox-index coupling.
+- `ErrorMap.preferred_metric()` method encapsulates the metric-priority rule (appearance_delta > chroma_error_dE00 > chroma_error), so dashboard summaries no longer encode this domain judgment directly.
+- Consolidated `srgb_to_linear` gamma-decoding utility into `colorcast/utils/color_utils.py`, removing duplicate implementations from `appearance.py` and `simulation.py`.
+- `AppearanceSpace` ABC docstring now documents thread-safety requirements for concurrent `delta_E` calls on shared instances; JND threshold comment restored in `dashboard.py:136` explaining why 1.0 ΔE ≈ one just-noticeable-difference for both CIEDE2000 and ΔE_ITP.
+- Report filename and title now include the ΔE metric label (e.g. ``dashboard_report_ictcp.png``, ``"CVD Accessibility Dashboard – ICtCp"``), derived from ``DashboardResult.metric_label``.
+
+### Changed
+
+- `CIELABSpace` default metric changed from `cie76` to `ciede2000` for better perceptual uniformity.
+- Replaced the QDarkStyle dependency with a custom QSS stylesheet and redesigned the GUI with a dark canvas (#171717), white pill buttons, hairline borders (#3d3d3d), and no drop shadows.
+- README test metrics updated: 378 passing, 1 skipped (up from 361 in v2.5.0).
+
 ## [2.5.0] – 2026-08-02
 
 ### Added

CITATION.cff

@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ cff-version: 1.2.0
 message: "If you use this software, please cite it as below."
 type: software
 title: "ColorCast: Color Transfer Toolkit for Python"
-version: 2.5.0
-date-released: 2026-08-02
+version: 2.6.0
+date-released: 2026-08-05
 abstract: "ColorCast is a Python toolkit for color and style transfer between images. Its accessibility pipeline simulates protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia using Vienot (1999) and Brettel (1997) linear-RGB matrices; the Daltonization module re-encodes lost chromatic information into surviving perceptual channels, making color differences visible to dichromatic observers. It also provides histogram matching, mean/std transfer, LUT-based curves, and selective regional transfer via CLI, GUI, and library API."
 authors:
   - family-names: Semoglou

MANIFEST.in

@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ recursive-include tests *.py
 # Include reference images (for README screenshots)
 graft imgs
 
+# Include GUI assets (combo box chevron)
+recursive-include colorcast/assets *.png
+
 # Exclude unnecessary files
 global-exclude __pycache__
 global-exclude *.py[cod]

README.md

@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@
 - **Selective Regional Transfer** - Target shadows, midtones, or highlights specifically
 - **Modular Package** - Use as Python API or run GUI/CLI
 - **Performance Optimized** - LRU caching and batch processing support
-- **Tested** - 75% test coverage with 361 passing tests
-- **Documented** - API documentation and examples
-- **Plugin Architecture** - Easy to add custom transfer methods
+- **Tested** – 75% test coverage with 378 passing tests
+- **Documented** – API documentation and examples
+- **Perceptually Uniform ΔE Metrics** – CIELAB (defaults to CIEDE2000) and ICtCp (HDR, BT.2100) appearance spaces for ranking CVD deficiency severity
+- **Plugin Architecture** – Add custom transfer methods through plugins
+- **Minimal Dark Theme** – Dark interface with a neutral canvas, bordered cards, and white action buttons
 
 ### Transfer Methods
 
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ _CVD Accessibility Dashboard: side-by-side simulations and error maps for all th
 
 _Method comparison: ranked results across multiple metrics and transfer algorithms_
 
-![Dashboard Report](imgs/dashboard_report.png)
+![Dashboard Report](imgs/dashboard_report_ICtCp.png)
 
 _Full dashboard report summarizing simulation results and Daltonization efficacy_
 
@@ -166,6 +168,12 @@ Get package information:
 colorcast info --version
 ```
 
+Generate a CVD accessibility dashboard report:
+
+```bash
+colorcast dashboard image.jpg -o report.png --appearance ictcp
+```
+
 **CLI Options:**
 
 - `-m, --method`: Transfer method (histogram, meanstd, lab_reinhard, lut_linear, lut_scurve, lut_contrast, selective_shadows, selective_midtones, selective_highlights, simulate_protanopia, simulate_deuteranopia, simulate_tritanopia, daltonize_protanopia, daltonize_deuteranopia, daltonize_tritanopia)
@@ -239,6 +247,30 @@ method = registry.get_method("histogram")
 result = method.transfer(content, style)
 ```
 
+#### Using Appearance Spaces for Perceptually Uniform Metrics
+
+```python
+from colorcast.analysis import make_appearance_space, get_error_map
+from colorcast.processing.simulation import ColorBlindSimulator
+from colorcast import load_image
+
+# Load image and simulate color-vision deficiency
+image = load_image("content.jpg")
+simulator = ColorBlindSimulator()
+simulated = simulator.transform_color_space(image, "deuteranopia")
+
+# Create appearance space by name (CIELAB defaults to CIEDE2000)
+cielab = make_appearance_space("cielab")
+ictcp = make_appearance_space("ictcp")  # HDR-aware BT.2100
+
+# Compute error map with appearance-based ΔE
+error_map = get_error_map(image, simulated, appearance=ictcp)
+
+# Access the appearance delta
+print(f"Space: {error_map.appearance_delta_name}")
+print(f"Mean ΔE: {error_map.appearance_delta.mean():.2f}")
+```
+
 #### Batch Processing
 
 ```python
@@ -330,7 +362,7 @@ pytest tests/test_transfer_methods.py
 pytest -v
 ```
 
-**Test Coverage:** 75% (361 passing, 1 skipped)
+**Test Coverage:** 75% (378 passing, 1 skipped)
 
 - Core transfer methods: 100% coverage
 - Full test suite including integration, performance, and property-based tests
@@ -440,7 +472,7 @@ If you use ColorCast in academic work, please cite it as:
   title     = {ColorCast: Color Transfer Toolkit for Python},
   doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.18550038},
   url       = {https://github.com/MichailSemoglou/ColorCast},
-  version   = {2.5.0},
+  version   = {2.6.0},
   year      = {2026},
 }
 ```

colorcast/__main__.py

@@ -190,6 +190,36 @@ def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
         help="Show version information",
     )
 
+    # Dashboard command
+    dashboard_parser = subparsers.add_parser(
+        "dashboard",
+        help="Generate a CVD accessibility dashboard report",
+    )
+    dashboard_parser.add_argument(
+        "--verbose",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=argparse.SUPPRESS,
+        help="Show traceback on errors",
+    )
+    dashboard_parser.add_argument(
+        "image",
+        type=Path,
+        help="Path to the image to analyze",
+    )
+    dashboard_parser.add_argument(
+        "-o",
+        "--output",
+        type=Path,
+        default=Path("dashboard_report.png"),
+        help="Output path for the dashboard report (default: dashboard_report.png)",
+    )
+    dashboard_parser.add_argument(
+        "--appearance",
+        choices=["cielab", "ictcp"],
+        default="cielab",
+        help="Appearance space for ΔE ranking (default: cielab)",
+    )
+
     return parser.parse_args()
 
 
@@ -332,6 +362,34 @@ def cmd_info(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
         print("Visit https://github.com/MichailSemoglou/ColorCast for more info.")
 
 
+def cmd_dashboard(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
+    """Handle dashboard command."""
+    from colorcast.analysis.appearance import make_appearance_space
+    from colorcast.analysis.dashboard import compute_dashboard, generate_dashboard_report
+
+    image = load_image(str(args.image))
+    appearance = make_appearance_space(args.appearance)
+
+    print(f"Computing CVD dashboard (appearance space: {appearance.name})…")
+    result = compute_dashboard(image, appearance=appearance)
+
+    print("Summary:")
+    for deficiency in ("protanopia", "deuteranopia", "tritanopia"):
+        stats = result.summary[deficiency]
+        print(
+            f"  {deficiency:14}  mean={stats['mean_error']:7.2f}  "
+            f"median={stats['median_error']:7.2f}  "
+            f"p95={stats['p95_error']:7.2f}  "
+            f"affected={stats['percent_affected']:5.1f}%"
+        )
+
+    metric_label = result.metric_label
+    title = f"CVD Accessibility Dashboard – {metric_label}"
+    print(f"\nGenerating report: {args.output}")
+    generate_dashboard_report(result, str(args.output), title=title)
+    print(f"Dashboard saved to {args.output}")
+
+
 def main() -> None:
     """Main entry point for CLI."""
     args = parse_args()
@@ -350,6 +408,8 @@ def main() -> None:
             cmd_list_methods()
         elif args.command == "info":
             cmd_info(args)
+        elif args.command == "dashboard":
+            cmd_dashboard(args)
         else:
             print(f"Error: Unknown command '{args.command}'", file=sys.stderr)
             sys.exit(1)

colorcast/_version.py

@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 copy; update all of them in sync when cutting a release.
 """
 
-__version__ = "2.5.0"
+__version__ = "2.6.0"

colorcast/analysis/__init__.py

@@ -7,8 +7,16 @@
 - Error map / difference analysis for colour-blindness simulation
 - Daltonization: re-encoding lost chromatic information
 - CVD accessibility dashboard: compare deficiencies at once
+- Perceptually uniform appearance spaces (ICtCp, CIELAB)
 """
 
+from colorcast.analysis.appearance import (
+    AppearanceDelta,
+    AppearanceSpace,
+    CIELABSpace,
+    ICtCpSpace,
+    make_appearance_space,
+)
 from colorcast.analysis.comparison import MethodComparison
 from colorcast.analysis.daltonization import (
     apply_daltonization,
@@ -33,6 +41,11 @@
 )
 
 __all__ = [
+    "AppearanceSpace",
+    "AppearanceDelta",
+    "CIELABSpace",
+    "ICtCpSpace",
+    "make_appearance_space",
     "MethodComparison",
     "visualize_transfer_result",
     "visualize_method_comparison",