Working in Tool Settings Dialog Boxes

Tool settings dialog boxes can be accessed from the Toolbox, the Info Box palette, or from context menus. They contain the settings that define the appearance and parameters of the elements drawn using the tools.

To open a Tool Settings dialog box, do one of the following:

Double-click the tool icon in the Toolbox.
Click the tool icon in the Info Box.
With an element selected, choose Edit > Element Settings > (Tool) Settings.
Click an element with the right mouse button (Mac: Ctrl key), and choose the (Tool) Selection Settings command from the appearing Context menu.

The title bar of the dialog box displays whether you are viewing Default settings or those of Selected elements.

The information at right of a tool settings dialog box alerts you to the status of the current settings in the box:

Default: These settings will be used as the default for new elements.
Selected: These settings are applied to the currently selected elements (the number of selected elements is displayed).
Editable: Displays the number of selected elements which are also editable.

Favorites Button in Tool Settings

The Favorites (star) button in the top left corner of all Tool Settings dialog boxes (except Camera) opens a list of the Favorites stored for that tool only.

Archicad comes with predefined Favorite settings for each tool, and you can define your own Favorites.

For more information, see Favorites.

Panel Visibility in Tool Settings

The settings for each tool are organized into several panels that can be opened or closed individually by clicking the caption of the panel. You can also choose to show or hide any of the panels, if you prefer, at: Options > Work Environment > Tool Settings Dialog Boxes.

See Tool Settings Dialog Box Customization.

When you open new panels, some visible panels may shut automatically, and/or the dialog box will move upward on the screen to prevent an overcrowded or too-large dialog box. To turn off these automatic functions, set the checkboxes in Options > Work Environment > Dialog Boxes and Palettes.

For details, see Dialog Boxes and Palettes.

Navigating Within Tool Settings Panels

A few keyboard shortcuts make it easy to navigate in any of the Tool Settings dialog boxes:

To open and close the unfoldable settings groups within a particular panel, use the right- and left-arrow keys.
To move from one setting field to the next within a particular panel, use the up- and down-arrow keys.
As you move onto the next field, the edit field is already highlighted, so you can type in values directly.
To activate/deactivate a checkbox in the current field, use the Spacebar.
To open the pop-up menu indicated by an arrow icon (such as a Fill Type or Pen Color chooser), press Alt + Down Arrow. Press ESC to close.
To exit a settings list within a particular panel, press TAB.
To jump to the next panel or control, press TAB. To jump to the preview panel/control, use Shift+TAB.

Layer Definition in Tool Settings

At the bottom of each Tool Settings dialog box, the current Layer choice is displayed in a drop-down list. To change the current element’s layer, choose a different layer in this pop-up menu.

For more information, see Layers.

Listing Panel

This panel controls the handling of the current Tool in calculations. It is not visible by default. Use the Work Environment’s Tool Settings Dialog Boxes section to activate this panel for any of the design and documenting Tools.

For more information on the Calculation function, see Calculation (Legacy) and the Archicad Calculation Guide.pdf.

Link Property Objects by Criteria: Use this control to link a Property Object to the element for calculations.
Individually: Check this box to assign additional information, such as strengthened reinforcement, to selected items, or to create an assignment outside of the norm of the criteria; the Choose button becomes active. Use this to link a single Property Object to this element. (To link multiple Property Objects, use the Link Property Objects by Criteria option.)