diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a03a95c..4ccdf8d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,19 +17,26 @@ options:
 .c.o:
 	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $<
 
-config.h:
-	cp config.def.h $@
+theme.h:
+	./xtheme
 
-$(OBJ): arg.h config.h config.mk drw.h
+theme_beg.h:
+	./themesetup
+
+config.h: theme.h
+	cp -n config.def.h $@
+
+$(OBJ): arg.h config.h config.mk drw.h theme_beg.h
 
 dmenu: dmenu.o drw.o util.o
 	$(CC) -o $@ dmenu.o drw.o util.o $(LDFLAGS)
+	rm -f theme_{beg,end}.h
 
 stest: stest.o
 	$(CC) -o $@ stest.o $(LDFLAGS)
 
 clean:
-	rm -f dmenu stest $(OBJ) dmenu-$(VERSION).tar.gz
+	rm -f dmenu stest $(OBJ) theme_{beg,end}.h dmenu-$(VERSION).tar.gz
 
 dist: clean
 	mkdir -p dmenu-$(VERSION)
diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..c072c86 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
 /* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */
 /* Default settings; can be overriden by command line. */
 
-static int topbar = 1;                      /* -b  option; if 0, dmenu appears at bottom     */
+/* theme management */
+# include "theme_beg.h" /* this is a compile-time generated header file */
+# include "theme.h"
+
+static int topbar = DMENU_TOPBAR;                      /* -b  option; if 0, dmenu appears at bottom     */
 /* -fn option overrides fonts[0]; default X11 font or font set */
-static const char *fonts[] = {
-	"monospace:size=10"
-};
+static const char *fonts[] = DMENU_FONTS;
 static const char *prompt      = NULL;      /* -p  option; prompt to the left of input field */
 static const char *colors[SchemeLast][2] = {
 	/*     fg         bg       */
-	[SchemeNorm] = { "#bbbbbb", "#222222" },
-	[SchemeSel] = { "#eeeeee", "#005577" },
-	[SchemeOut] = { "#000000", "#00ffff" },
+	[SchemeNorm] = { DMENU_FOREGROUND, DMENU_BACKGROUND },
+	[SchemeSel] = { DMENU_SELFOREGROUND, DMENU_SELBACKGROUND },
+	[SchemeOut] = { DMENU_OUTFOREGROUND, DMENU_OUTBACKGROUND },
 };
 /* -l option; if nonzero, dmenu uses vertical list with given number of lines */
 static unsigned int lines      = 0;
@@ -21,3 +23,6 @@ static unsigned int lines      = 0;
  * for example: " /?\"&[]"
  */
 static const char worddelimiters[] = " ";
+
+/* theme management */
+# include "theme_end.h" /* this is a compile-time generated header file */
diff --git a/theme.h b/theme.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e25c106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/theme.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# define DMENU_TOPBAR 1
+# define DMENU_FONTS {"monospace:size=10"}
+# define DMENU_FOREGROUND "#839496"
+# define DMENU_BACKGROUND "#002b36"
+# define DMENU_SELFOREGROUND "#002b36"
+# define DMENU_SELBACKGROUND "#839496"
+# define DMENU_OUTFOREGROUND "#000000"
+# define DMENU_OUTBACKGROUND "#00ffff"
diff --git a/themesetup b/themesetup
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e8710c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themesetup
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo \# if $(cat theme.h | cut -d' ' -f3 | sed "s/^/defined /;s/$/ ||/" | tr "\n" " ") 0 > theme_beg.h
+echo -e "# error (conflicting macro names)\n# endif" >> theme_beg.h
+cat theme.h | cut -d' ' -f3 | sed "s/^/# undef /;" > theme_end.h
diff --git a/xtable.md b/xtable.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cda7c05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xtable.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+|	TYPE	|	RESOURCE		|	DEFAULT VALUE			|	[ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE]	|
+|:---------:|:-----------------:|:-------------------------:|:-------------------------:|
+|	I		|	topbar			|	1						|							|
+|	SA		|	fonts			|	monospace:size=10		|							|
+|	S		|	foreground		|	#bbbbbb					|							|
+|	S		|	background		|	#222222					|							|
+|	S		|	selforeground	|	#eeeeee					|	background				|
+|	S		|	selbackground	|	#005577					|	foreground				|
+|	S		|	outforeground	|	#000000					|							|
+|	S		|	outbackground	|	#00ffff					|							|
diff --git a/xtheme b/xtheme
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4cc3067
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xtheme
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+prefix=dmenu
+themeout=theme.h
+xtable=xtable.md
+
+rm -f $themeout
+
+set_resource ()
+{
+	T=$1
+	M=$2
+	V=$3
+
+	case $T in
+		S)
+			V=\"$V\"
+			;;
+		SA)
+			V="{\"$(echo $V | sed 's/, /", "/g')\"}"
+	esac
+
+	[[ $V == '{""}' ]] && V="{}"
+
+	echo "# define $M $V" >> $themeout
+}
+
+cat "$xtable"											|
+	sed '1,2d;s/\t*|\t*/|/g;s/\(^|\)\|\(|$\)//g'		|
+	while IFS='|' read T R D A
+	do
+		m=$(echo "$prefix"'_'"$R" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]')
+
+		l=''
+
+		for r in "$R" "$A"
+		do
+			[[ "$r" == '' ]] && continue
+
+			l=$(xgetres "$prefix.$r")
+
+			if [[ "$l" != '' ]]
+			then
+				set_resource $T $m "$l"
+				break
+			fi
+		done
+
+		[[ "$l" == '' ]] &&
+			set_resource $T $m "$D"
+	done