Pinto Module Simplifies and Enhances Drupal Theming

The Pinto module, developed by Daniel Phin and adopted by digital agency PreviousNext, is poised to revolutionize theming in Drupal projects. Pinto introduces a new architecture by encapsulating all theming logic into reusable Theme Objects—PHP classes that manage templates, CSS, and JavaScript in a more structured and maintainable way. This approach replaces the need for traditional Drupal theming mechanisms like theme hooks, preprocessing, field formatters, and Display settings.

One of Pinto’s key strengths is its ability to integrate seamlessly with design system tools like Storybook, enabling front-end developers to reuse templates without duplicating markup. By automatically discovering and registering theme objects within designated namespaces, Pinto dramatically simplifies the development process. It also streamlines asset management, with built-in support for automatically including CSS and JavaScript files, further reducing the manual work developers face when building custom themes.

The Pinto module addresses many of the long-standing issues associated with traditional Drupal theming, such as complex debugging and scattered logic across different parts of the codebase. Its modular design leads to cleaner, more efficient theming workflows, allowing faster development cycles and easier long-term maintenance. Pinto’s potential to enhance both the developer experience and the overall theming process has made it the preferred choice for all new Drupal projects at PreviousNext.