Interface Preferences
Next, move to the Interface tab in the Preferences dialog, where you can customize a few of the key display elements (FIGURE 4.8).
Figure 4.8 The Interface settings refer to presentation features for Panels, Lights Out, Background, Filmstrip, and Tweaks.
The defaults as suggested here are good starting points, but if you are over 40 years of age, I would recommend pulling down the menu Panel Font Size to Large Font Size. The Lights Out and Background defaults are fine. I especially think the medium gray default background is great for viewing images. Other choices I prefer are to turn off "Show ratings and picks in filmstrip," "Show badges in filmstrip," and "Show image info tooltips in filmstrip." Turning these off helps avoid screen clutter within the interface.
One of my favorite interface features is the Lights Out mode. The dim level of the image surrounded by a selected screen color is adjustable within the Lightroom interface. Lights Out allows you to turn off the surrounding interface clutter and focus only on the image(s) selected, without the distractions of the interface (more on the interface in Chapter 5).