diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/EditorHeader.java b/app/src/processing/app/EditorHeader.java
index 432a47179..211017f0d 100755
--- a/app/src/processing/app/EditorHeader.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/EditorHeader.java
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ public class EditorHeader extends JComponent {
   // (total tab width will be this plus TEXT_MARGIN*2)
   static final int NO_TEXT_WIDTH = 10;
 
-  Color backgroundColor;
+  Color bgColor;
+  boolean hiding;
+  Color hideColor;
+  
   Color textColor[] = new Color[2];
   Color tabColor[] = new Color[2];
   Color modifiedColor;
@@ -194,7 +197,11 @@ public class EditorHeader extends JComponent {
       tabArrow = Toolkit.getLibImage("tab-arrow" + suffix);
     }
 
-    backgroundColor = mode.getColor("header.bgcolor");
+    bgColor = mode.getColor("header.bgcolor");
+    
+    hiding = Preferences.getBoolean("buttons.hide.image");
+    hideColor = mode.getColor("buttons.hide.color");
+
     textColor[SELECTED] = mode.getColor("header.text.selected.color");
     textColor[UNSELECTED] = mode.getColor("header.text.unselected.color");
     font = mode.getFont("header.text.font");
@@ -259,24 +266,13 @@ public class EditorHeader extends JComponent {
     }
 
     // set the background for the offscreen
-    g.setColor(backgroundColor);
+    g.setColor(hiding ? hideColor : bgColor);
     g.fillRect(0, 0, imageW, imageH);
 
-//    EditorToolbar toolbar = editor.toolbar;
-//    if (toolbar != null && toolbar.backgroundImage != null) {
-//      g.drawImage(toolbar.backgroundImage,
-//                  0, -toolbar.getHeight(),
-//                  EditorToolbar.BACKGROUND_WIDTH,
-//                  EditorToolbar.BACKGROUND_HEIGHT, null);
-//    }
-    //editor.getMode().drawBackground(g, EditorToolbar.BUTTON_HEIGHT);
-    editor.getMode().drawBackground(g, Preferences.GRID_SIZE);
+    if (!hiding) {
+      editor.getMode().drawBackground(g, Preferences.GRID_SIZE);
+    }
 
-//    int codeCount = sketch.getCodeCount();
-//    if ((tabLeft == null) || (tabLeft.length < codeCount)) {
-//      tabLeft = new int[codeCount];
-//      tabRight = new int[codeCount];
-//    }
     if (tabs.length != sketch.getCodeCount()) {
       tabs = new Tab[sketch.getCodeCount()];
       for (int i = 0; i < tabs.length; i++) {
@@ -285,9 +281,6 @@ public class EditorHeader extends JComponent {
       visitOrder = new Tab[sketch.getCodeCount() - 1];
     }
 
-//    menuRight = sizeW - 16;
-//    menuLeft = menuRight - pieces[0][MENU].getWidth(this);
-//    menuLeft = menuRight - 50;  // FIXME!!
     int leftover =
       ARROW_GAP_WIDTH + ARROW_WIDTH + MARGIN_WIDTH; // + SCROLLBAR_WIDTH;
     int tabMax = getWidth() - leftover;
diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/EditorToolbar.java b/app/src/processing/app/EditorToolbar.java
index 7981cb27e..ecacaa185 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/EditorToolbar.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/EditorToolbar.java
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ public abstract class EditorToolbar extends JComponent implements MouseInputList
   Image offscreen;
   int width, height;
 
-  Color bgcolor;
+  Color bgColor;
+  boolean hiding;
+  Color hideColor;
 
   protected Button rollover;
 
@@ -92,13 +94,16 @@ public abstract class EditorToolbar extends JComponent implements MouseInputList
     rollover = null;
 
     mode = editor.getMode();
-    bgcolor = mode.getColor("buttons.bgcolor");
+    bgColor = mode.getColor("buttons.bgcolor");
     statusFont = mode.getFont("buttons.status.font");
     statusColor = mode.getColor("buttons.status.color");
 //    modeTitle = mode.getTitle().toUpperCase();
     modeTitle = mode.getTitle();
     modeTextFont = mode.getFont("mode.button.font");
     modeButtonColor = mode.getColor("mode.button.color");
+    
+    hiding = Preferences.getBoolean("buttons.hide.image");
+    hideColor = mode.getColor("buttons.hide.color");
 
     if (modeArrow == null) {
       String suffix = Toolkit.highResDisplay() ? "-2x.png" : ".png";
@@ -212,12 +217,14 @@ public abstract class EditorToolbar extends JComponent implements MouseInputList
                           RenderingHints.VALUE_TEXT_ANTIALIAS_ON);
     }
 
-    g.setColor(bgcolor); //getBackground());
+    g.setColor(hiding ? hideColor : bgColor);
     g.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);
 //    if (backgroundImage != null) {
 //      g.drawImage(backgroundImage, 0, 0, BACKGROUND_WIDTH, BACKGROUND_HEIGHT, null);
 //    }
-    mode.drawBackground(g, 0);
+    if (!hiding) {
+      mode.drawBackground(g, 0);
+    }
 
 //    for (int i = 0; i < buttonCount; i++) {
 //      g.drawImage(stateImage[i], x1[i], y1, null);
diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java b/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
index 348b678c1..a73a31606 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/Preferences.java
@@ -109,9 +109,8 @@ public class Preferences {
 
   JTextField sketchbookLocationField;
   JCheckBox editorAntialiasBox;
-//  JCheckBox exportSeparateBox;
   JCheckBox deletePreviousBox;
-//  JCheckBox externalEditorBox;
+  JCheckBox whinyBox;
   JCheckBox memoryOverrideBox;
   JTextField memoryField;
   JCheckBox checkUpdatesBox;
@@ -390,6 +389,16 @@ public class Preferences {
 //    right = Math.max(right, left + d.width);
 //    top += d.height + GUI_BETWEEN;
 
+    
+    // [ ] Use external editor
+
+    whinyBox = new JCheckBox("Hide tab/toolbar background image (requires restart)");
+    pain.add(whinyBox);
+    d = whinyBox.getPreferredSize();
+    whinyBox.setBounds(left, top, d.width + 10, d.height);
+    right = Math.max(right, left + d.width);
+    top += d.height + GUI_BETWEEN;
+
 
     // [ ] Check for updates on startup
 
@@ -602,15 +611,15 @@ public class Preferences {
   protected void applyFrame() {
     setBoolean("editor.antialias", editorAntialiasBox.isSelected()); //$NON-NLS-1$
 
-//    setBoolean("export.applet.separate_jar_files",
-//               exportSeparateBox.isSelected());
     setBoolean("export.delete_target_folder", //$NON-NLS-1$
                deletePreviousBox.isSelected());
 
-//    setBoolean("sketchbook.closing_last_window_quits",
-//               closingLastQuitsBox.isSelected());
-    //setBoolean("sketchbook.prompt", sketchPromptBox.isSelected());
-    //setBoolean("sketchbook.auto_clean", sketchCleanBox.isSelected());
+    boolean wine = whinyBox.isSelected();
+    setBoolean("header.hide.image", wine); //$NON-NLS-1$
+    setBoolean("buttons.hide.image", wine); //$NON-NLS-1$
+    // Could iterate through editors here and repaint them all, but probably 
+    // requires a doLayout() call, and that may have different effects on
+    // each platform, and nobody wants to debug/support that.
 
     // if the sketchbook path has changed, rebuild the menus
     String oldPath = get("sketchbook.path"); //$NON-NLS-1$
@@ -721,6 +730,9 @@ public class Preferences {
     checkUpdatesBox.
       setSelected(getBoolean("update.check")); //$NON-NLS-1$
 
+    whinyBox.setSelected(getBoolean("header.hide.image") || //$NON-NLS-1$
+                         getBoolean("buttons.hide.image")); //$NON-NLS-1$
+
     updateDisplayList();
     int displayNum = getInteger("run.display"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 //    System.out.println("display is " + displayNum + ", d count is " + displayCount);
diff --git a/build/shared/lib/preferences.txt b/build/shared/lib/preferences.txt
index c8f40630e..60c5fabee 100644
--- a/build/shared/lib/preferences.txt
+++ b/build/shared/lib/preferences.txt
@@ -157,6 +157,11 @@ editor.divider.size = 0
 # but keeps it from being annoyingly obtrusive
 editor.divider.size.windows = 2
 
+# Hide the background image. Gross because this is a pref that
+# really lives over in theme.txt but it's split here.
+buttons.hide.image = false
+toolbar.hide.image = false
+
 # font choice and size for the console
 #console.font = Monospaced,plain,11
 #console.font.macosx = Monaco,plain,10
diff --git a/build/shared/lib/theme.txt b/build/shared/lib/theme.txt
index 29b08320f..ab31f72e8 100755
--- a/build/shared/lib/theme.txt
+++ b/build/shared/lib/theme.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ status.font = processing.sans,plain,13
 # TABS
 # Settings for the tab area at the top.
 header.bgcolor = #000000
+#header.hide.image = false # in preferences.txt
+header.hide.color = #0E1B25
 header.text.selected.color = #000000
 header.text.unselected.color = #ffffff
 header.text.font = processing.sans,plain,14
@@ -26,8 +28,10 @@ console.output.color = #cccccc
 console.error.color = #ff3000
 
 # TOOLBAR BUTTONS
-#buttons.bgcolor = #4a545e
 buttons.bgcolor = #000000
+#buttons.hide.image = false # in preferences.txt
+buttons.hide.color = #0E1B25
+buttons.bgimage = true
 
 # TOOLBAR BUTTON TEXT
 buttons.status.font = processing.sans,plain,13
diff --git a/build/shared/revisions.txt b/build/shared/revisions.txt
index 1caa87676..a06073d70 100644
--- a/build/shared/revisions.txt
+++ b/build/shared/revisions.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ two contributed from Josh Giesbrecht. Thanks Josh!
 + Add error message for that reports what line was bad while parsing a table.
   (Otherwise confusing ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException while parsing bad CSV.)
 
++ Added option to remove the background image at the top of the window.
+
 
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
 
diff --git a/todo.txt b/todo.txt
index 9a77f51d5..5debdd08c 100644
--- a/todo.txt
+++ b/todo.txt
@@ -8,13 +8,7 @@ X   fixes from Josh Giesbrecht
 X line ending problem with args.txt for Windows when exporting from others
 X   (exporting from OS X to Windows)
 X   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/1890
-
-_ half-installed mode causes a lot of trouble
-_   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/1875
-
-_ mode install requires restart *and* still doesn't show as installed
-_   even though it gets added to the modes menu properly after the restart
-_   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/1782
+X add option to remove the background image at the top of the window
 
 
 high
@@ -35,6 +29,11 @@ _ figure out Android build w/o javac so we can remove tools.jar and javac
 _   also to the p5 repo with just a JRE
 _   remove initRequirements from Base (no longer need JDI)
 _     move this into Android mode?
+_ half-installed mode causes a lot of trouble
+_   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/1875
+_ mode install requires restart *and* still doesn't show as installed
+_   even though it gets added to the modes menu properly after the restart
+_   https://github.com/processing/processing/issues/1782
 
 
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .