diff --git a/colout.py b/colout.py
index 24cac49..a835351 100755
--- a/colout.py
+++ b/colout.py
@@ -256,6 +256,12 @@ def colorgen(stream, pattern, color="red", style="normal", on_groups=False):
         yield colorup(item, pattern, color, style, on_groups)
 
 
+def colortheme(item, theme):
+    for args in theme:
+        item = colorup(item, *args)
+    return item
+
+
 ######################
 # Command line tools #
 ######################
@@ -405,7 +411,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                 break
             if not item:
                 break
-            colored = themes[pattern].theme(item)
+            th = themes[pattern].theme()
+            colored = colortheme( item, th )
             write(colored)
 
     # if pygments
diff --git a/colout_cmake.py b/colout_cmake.py
index 4638b79..01d74d2 100644
--- a/colout_cmake.py
+++ b/colout_cmake.py
@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
 
-
-import colout
-def theme( item ):
-    item = colout.colorup( item,
-            "^(Scanning dependencies of target)(.*)$",
-            "magenta,blue", "normal,bold" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item,
-            "^(Linking \w+ \w+ library)(\s.*/)(\w+.[aso]+)$",
-            "magenta", "normal,normal,bold" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item,
-            "^\[\s*[0-9]+%\]\s(Built target)(\s.*)$",
-            "cyan,blue", "normal,bold")
-    item = colout.colorup( item,
-            "^\[\s*[0-9]+%\]\s(Building \w* object)(\s.*/)(\w+.cpp)(.o)$",
-            "green", "normal,normal,bold,normal")
+def theme():
+    th = [
+        [ "^(Scanning dependencies of target)(.*)$",
+          "magenta,blue", "normal,bold" ],
+        [ "^(Linking \w+ \w+ library)(\s.*/)(\w+.[aso]+)$",
+          "magenta", "normal,normal,bold" ],
+        [ "^\[\s*[0-9]+%\]\s(Built target)(\s.*)$",
+          "cyan,blue", "normal,bold" ],
+        [ "^\[\s*[0-9]+%\]\s(Building \w* object)(\s.*/)(\w+.cpp)(.o)$",
+            "green", "normal,normal,bold,normal"]
+    ]
 
     percs={
             "\s":("magenta","normal"),
@@ -29,6 +25,6 @@ def theme( item ):
             "10":("red","bold"),
             }
     for p in percs:
-        item = colout.colorup( item, "^(\[)\s*("+p+"[0-9]%)(\])", "black,"+percs[p][0]+",black", percs[p][1] )
+        th.append( [ "^(\[)\s*("+p+"[0-9]%)(\])", "black,"+percs[p][0]+",black", percs[p][1] ] )
 
-    return item
+    return th
diff --git a/colout_g++.py b/colout_g++.py
index ad4daf2..048afe0 100644
--- a/colout_g++.py
+++ b/colout_g++.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-import colout
-def theme( item ):
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "error", "red", "bold" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "warning", "magenta", "bold" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "\[-W.*\]", "magenta", "normal" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "note", "blue", "bold" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, ":([0-9]+):[0-9]*", "yellow", "normal" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "^((/\w+)+)\.(h|cpp)", "white", "normal" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, "'(.*)'", "Cpp", "monokai" )
 
-    return item
+def theme():
+    return [
+        [ "error", "red", "bold" ],
+        [ "warning", "magenta", "bold" ],
+        [ "\[-W.*\]", "magenta", "normal" ],
+        [ "note", "blue", "bold" ],
+        [ ":([0-9]+):[0-9]*", "yellow", "normal" ],
+        [ "^((/\w+)+)\.(h|cpp)", "white", "normal" ],
+        [ "'(.*)'", "Cpp", "monokai" ],
+    ]
 
diff --git a/colout_json.py b/colout_json.py
index a4c8a0b..bc487b5 100644
--- a/colout_json.py
+++ b/colout_json.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 
-import colout
-def theme( item ):
-    item = colout.colorup( item, '[{}]' )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, '[:,]', "blue" )
-    item = colout.colorup( item, '".*"', "green" )
-    return item
+def theme():
+    return [
+        [ '[{}]' ],
+        [ '[:,]', "blue" ],
+        [ '".*"', "green" ]
+    ]
 
diff --git a/colout_perm.py b/colout_perm.py
index 37d5e77..3d2ed6a 100644
--- a/colout_perm.py
+++ b/colout_perm.py
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 
-import colout
-def theme( item ):
+def theme():
     p="([rwxs-])"
     reg="^([d-])"+p*9+"\s.*$"
     colors="blue"+",green"*3+",yellow"*3+",red"*3
     styles="normal"+ ",normal,italic,bold"*3
-    return colout.colorup( item, reg, colors, styles, True)
+    return [ [reg, colors, styles] ]