Accessing, Defining & Managing System Preferences

Your Altium Design Software provides a central location from where you can set up various preferences across different functional areas. These are global system settings that apply across projects and relevant documents.

Configuration of preferences is performed from within the Preferences dialog (click on the  control at the top-right of the workspace). Use the controls and options available on the loaded page to configure your preferences for that area of the software as required. This could be a mixture of satisfying company policy, and your preferred working environment.

The Preferences dialog provides a number of useful tools to ensure your set of preferences is just as you require, including:

• Ability to import preferences defined in a previous instance, or version of the software.
• Ability to save preferences to, and load preferences from, a Preferences file (*.DXPPrf).
• Ability to set the options and controls on the active child preferences page, or all pages, back to their defaults.

If you have a managed content server, you can formally release your Altium Design Preferences into a target Item (and revision thereof) in that server. Once the preferences set has been released, and its lifecycle state set to a level that the organization views as ready for use at the design level, the preferences can be reused across installations of the software.

When signed into a managed content server, a green icon () appears next to Data Management Preferences pages that are subject to the server's control.

Preferences are divided over the following categories:

• System Preferences
• Data Management Preferences
• Schematic Preferences
• PCB Editor Preferences
• Text Editors Preferences
• Scripting System Preferences
• CAM Editor Preferences
• Simulation Preferences
• Draftsman Preferences
• Multi-board Schematic Preferences
• Multi-board Assembly Preferences