Preferences

The Preferences dialog displaying the System - General page as an example

Summary

The Preferences dialog allows you to define various preference settings for the Altium Designer environment, as well as global options specific to various editors and their features. Settings defined in this dialog apply across projects and relevant documents.

Access

You can access this dialog by clicking the  button in the upper-right hand area of the workspace.

Options/Controls

When signed into a managed content server, a green icon () appears next to the name of a page in the folder region to denote that page is under the server's control.

Left-hand Pane

This area of the dialog lists all of the individual pages of preferences available for editing. Pages are categorized into folders of functionality. Click on a child entry within one of these folder categories to load its associated page of preferences into the main editing region on the right-hand side of the dialog. The following categories are available:

• System - preferences relating to the system in general.
• Data Management - preferences relating to data management features and functionality.
• Schematic - preferences relating to features and functionality within the schematic editing domain.
• PCB Editor - preferences relating to features and functionality with the PCB Editor.
• Text Editors - preferences relating to features and functionality associated with the Text Editor.
• Scripting System - preferences relating to features and functionality of the Scripting System.
• CAM Editor - preferences relating to features and functionality of the CAM Editor.
• Simulation - preferences relating to features and functionality of Simulation.
• Draftsman - preferences relating to features and functionality of Draftsman.
• Multi-board Schematic - preferences relating to features and functionality of Multi-board Schematic.
• Multi-board Assembly  - preferences relating to features and functionality of Multi-board Assembly.

Right-click Menu

The following commands are available from the right-click context menu for the pane:

• Default (Page) - use to set the options and controls on the selected child preferences page back to their defaults.
• Default (Branch) - use to set the options and controls on all child preferences pages of the selected category back to their defaults. Ensure the desired parent category folder is selected otherwise this command will be unavailable.
• Default (All) - use to set the options and controls on all preferences pages back to their defaults.

Main Editing Region

This region of the dialog changes in accordance with the preferences page entry currently selected in the left-hand pane. The banner at the top of the region will display the name of the page being edited, in the format <CategoryName> - <ChildPageName>. The following preferences pages can be loaded (click a link for detail of the options/controls available on a page):

• System - General
• System - View
• System - Account Management
• System - Transparency
• System - Navigation
• System - Design Insight
• System - Projects Panel
• System - Default Locations
• System - File Types
• System - New Document Defaults
• System - Printer Settings
• System - Mouse Wheel Configuration
• System - Installation
• System - Product Improvement
• System - Network Activity
• Data Management - Version Control
• Data Management - Design Repositories
• Data Management - Servers
• Data Management - Publishing Destinations
• Data Management - Backup
• Data Management - File Locking
• Data Management - Local History
• Data Management - Templates
• Data Management - Installed Libraries
• Data Management - Device Sheets
• Data Management - SVN Libraries
• Data Management - Parts Providers
• Data Management - Component Rule Checks
• Schematic - General
• Schematic - Graphical Editing
• Schematic - Compiler
• Schematic - AutoFocus
• Schematic - Library AutoZoom
• Schematic - Grids
• Schematic - Break Wire
• Schematic - Defaults
• PCB Editor - General
• PCB Editor - Display
• PCB Editor - Board Insight Display
• PCB Editor - Board Insight Modes
• PCB Editor - Board Insight Color Overrides
• PCB Editor - DRC Violations Display
• PCB Editor - Interactive Routing
• PCB Editor - True Type Fonts
• PCB Editor - Defaults
• PCB Editor - Reports
• PCB Editor - Layer Colors
• PCB Editor - Models
• Text Editors - General
• Text Editors - Display
• Text Editors - Colors
• Scripting System - Global Projects
• Scripting System - Form Designer
• CAM Editor - General
• CAM Editor - View / Language
• CAM Editor - DRC
• CAM Editor - Import / Export
• CAM Editor - Miscellaneous
• CAM Editor - Drawing Modes
• CAM Editor - Film Box
• CAM Editor - Draw Dimension
• Simulation - General
• Simulation - Mixed Sim
• Simulation - SIMetrix Interface
• Draftsman - Defaults
• Draftsman - Templates
• Multi-board Schematic - Defaults
• Multi-board Assembly - General
• Multi-board Assembly - View Configuration

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 combination of your company's policies and your preferred working environment.

Additional Controls

The following additional controls are provided at the bottom of the dialog:

• Set To Defaults - click to set the preferences on the selected/active child preferences page back to their defaults. The defaults available are identical to the right-click menu options. 
• Save:
  • ​Save to file - click to save your preferences to a DXP Preferences file (*.DXPPrf). A dialog will open in which you can select the location and name of the file.
  • Send to server- click to save your preferences to a connected server. 
• Load:
  • ​Load from file - click to load preferences from a DXP Preferences file (*.DXPPrf). The Load Preferences dialog will appear from where you can browse to and open the desired file.
  • Load from server- click to load your preferences that have been saved to a connected server.
• Import From - click to load preferences from previous versions of Altium Designer. Click to see a list of available versions.