Working with Tool palettes

You can add blocks, hatches and commands for quick access in the Tool Palettes panel.

To use a tool, either drag it from the palette onto the graphic screen or click it.

Opening the Tool Palettes panel

Do one of the following:

  • Hover the cursor over a toolbar or ribbon panel, then right-click and choose Panels > Tool Palettes in the context menu.
  • Launch the TOOLPALETTES command to open the Tool Palettes panel.

Setting the view options

Open the context menu from the three dots menu on the upper right side of the Tool Palettes panel or by right-clicking an empty space of the icon area of the panel.

Choose View Options... in the context menu to open the View Options dialog box.

  1. Drag the Image Size slider to adjust the image size.
  2. Set the view style: Icon with text, Icon only or List view.
  3. Choose either Current Palette or All Palettes from the Apply to list button.
Note: You can also switch the view style in the current palette using the three buttons found in the upper right side of the panel.
  • Icon with text
  • Icon only
  • List view

Customizing tool palettes

Open the context menu and choose Customize Palettes... to open the Customize dialog box.

Note: The default folder for tool palettes is defined by the TOOLPALETTEPATH system variable.
Importing a tool palette
In the Palettes section, right-click and choose Import in the context menu to open the Import Palette dialog box.

Select a palette file to add it to the list. Supported file formats are XTP, BTC and ATC.

Creating a palette group
Right-click the Palette Groups section to open the context menu and choose New Group to create a new palette group.

You can add multiple sub-groups by right-clicking on an existing group and choosing New Group from the context menu.

Note: Importing a palette group works similarly as importing a tool palette. Supported file formats are XPG and BWS.
Managing palettes and groups
Add a palette to a group by dragging it from the Palettes section and dropping it on a group folder in the Palette Groups section.

You can remove a palette from a group by right-clicking it to open the context menu and selecting Remove. Similarly, you can delete a group and its sub-groups by selecting Delete from the context menu.

Once a group has a palette added, you can select Set current to make it current in the Tool Palettes panel.

Note: The current palette group can also be quickly selected from the context menu.

Managing tool palette tabs

Open the context menu from the three dots menu on the upper right side of the Tool Palettes panel or by right-clicking an empty space of the icon area of the panel.

The context menu offers additional options to create a new palette, rename or delete an existing one or update the palettes to show all changes made.

Note: You can rename a tool palette tab also by double-clicking it.

Managing tools

The Tool Palettes panel offers a highly customizable interface where you can easily add, remove and reorganize tools and their categories.

Right-click a tool to open a context menu containing additional options. For more information, see the Tool Palettes panel article.

The following items can be added to a tool palette:

  • Hatch patterns
  • Blocks
  • Components
  • Commands
Note:
  • All texts, separators and tools can be moved in the panel by clicking them and dragging them to another location.
  • Rectangle selection is available to select multiple tools.

Adding hatch patterns

  1. In the Tool Palettes panel, select the palette where you want to add the hatch pattern.
  2. Open the Hatch and Gradient dialog box.
  3. Select either Predefined or Custom from the Type drop-down button.
  4. Click the Swatch field to open the Hatch Pattern Palette dialog box.
  5. Right-click a pattern and choose Add to Current Tool Palette to add the pattern to the palette.

Adding blocks

Blocks can be added from the following locations:

  • The current drawing.
  • Any drawing.
  • All drawings in a selected folder.

To add blocks from the current drawing:

  1. Open the Drawing Explorer dialog box and select the Blocks category or launch the EXPBLOCKS command.
  2. Select the block(s) you want to add. Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple blocks.
  3. Right-click and choose Add to Current Tool Palette from the context menu.

To add blocks from any drawing:

  1. Open the Drawing Explorer dialog box.
  2. Select Folders on the left hand pane.
  3. If not already available, click the Add local folder… button to add the containing folder to the Folders list.
  4. Select the drawing in the Local Folders tree view.
  5. Click the Expand icon (+) of the containing drawing and select Blocks to display all blocks in the selected drawing in the Details pane.
  6. Select the block(s) you want to add. Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple blocks.
  7. Right-click and choose Add to Current Tool Palette in the context menu.
Note:
  • To add a drawing as a block or component to the current tool palette, right-click the drawing in the Local Folders tree view and choose Add to Current Tool Palette as block or Add to Current Tool Palette as component.
  • To add all blocks from multiple drawings to the current tool palette, right-click a folder containing the drawings and choose Add to current Tool Palette as blocks.

Adding commands

  1. Right-click to open the context menu and choose Add tool... to open the Customize dialog box.
  2. In the Available Tools panel, expand a group and right-click a tool to open the context menu.
  3. Choose the Add to Current Tool Palette option to add the selected tool to the current palette.
Note:
  • Use the Add selected to tool palette () button to quickly add a selected hatch or block in the drawing to the current palette. If the selection is not a hatch or block, the command used to create the entity is added instead.
  • The selection can also be added to the current palette by right-clicking it and choosing Add to Current Tool Palette from the context menu or by using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy it from the drawing and paste it into the Tool Palettes panel.

Searching a tool

In the Tool Palettes panel it is possible to search for specific tools in the current palette using the following steps:

  1. Click the search button .
  2. Start typing a name.
  3. The results are filtered to display only tools that include the entered character sequence in their names.