On thing I always liked about the Gwenview KPart is that when I view images, the background is a nice gray that does not interfere with the picture. However, in KDE 4.2, it's glaring white, and I can't seem to find a way to change it. Anyone know how to make it a different color?

There might be a setting somewhere under $KDEHOME. other wise I can only recommend you file a feature request.

Yeah, I'll probably report it sometime... Probably too late for 4.2 already.