How to change the menubar color on a mac?

Question

How one is supposed to change the menubar color on MAC OS X 10.6 without having to pay a buck off?

Answer 1

You could use one of two apps I know, both free: LeoColorBar or Nocturne.

• LeoColorBar lets you choose a desktop background and a color for the menubar, and it modifies the picture adding a colored rectangle right beneath the menubar, so that when you set the menubar to be translucent it seems like it is colored (basically it automates what Daniel Beck was suggesting);
• Nocturne lets you invert the colors and change the hue of your entire screen, but you can set it to invert just the colors of the menubar (so that the background becomes dark grey and the text white).

I know they're probably not exactly what you're looking for, but still...

Answer 2

You can change the menubar translucency in

System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver, Desktop, Translucent Menu Bar.

It's either solid gray, or translucent (desktop background shines through). If you set it to the latter, you can influence its "color" through a desktop background image or background color.

There is no dedicated "color" setting.