AutoCAD Drawing Area - what color do you use?

[bumblebbabe]

I prefer black, however I almost always use white.

I find black is better when ur just playing around in CAD. However the reason I use white more is because I find when I have black as my model space and I have colours set to certain lines, they are either easier or harder to see than on the white background (obviously).....but seeing as the end result will be printed on a white background, I tend to find myself working that way to i can visualise the end product from the get go

[Isham_Dean21]

i use 18,18,18 for both Model and Layout Space...i used to get real bad headaches whenever my old company switched to large, dual flat screen LED monitors. A friend of mine said that if i lighted up the black a little, it would help. To my surprise, it was very much the case. I guess the brightness of everything really made a huge difference. Since then, i haven't looked back...

[Chilidawg]

This is a pet peeve of mine. I used Cad programs on the old CRT monitors back in the 90's and i used to hate the white on black drawing space. I worked in Turbocad for a while and loved the fact that I could draw on white.

 

I use AC2007 now, (soon to upgrade) and do all my work in a white space.

 

I also never use yellow as a layer color if I can help it.

 

Frankly the white on black was a technological limitation and should be abandoned as far as I am conconcerned.

[RobDraw]

On a CRT monitor, you could cause damage to your eyes if the background was white and you were in front of it for long periods of time on a daily basis. Especially if the brightness was too high, which could be necessary in a well lit environment. Even with panel monitors, I prefer a dark background. And yes, I have tried using white for a while when I first started using Revit as an easy indicator of which program I was using. I found that things look different when I look away from the monitor when I've been using a white background for an extended period. I don't believe there is chance of causing any damage with a panel monitor but I do notice a difference when I look away from a white screen.

[ReMark]

While your preference may be for creating black linework on a white background many of us still prefer the "technical limitation" you are so eager to see abandoned. So why don't we agree to disagree and not make blanket statements about getting rid of a feature that has been around for quite some time. OK?

[Chilidawg]

Like I said, I don't use it that way.

 

You might as well attach a parallel bar to the monitor.

[RobDraw]

Insulting us is not a good way to start, new guy.

[Currahee]

STOP...There are 16.75 million colors on a PC palette and this has gone thru 9 pages of post?.....Why not argue how one goes about setting up Navigator in Architecture of Projects, Constructs, Views and Sheets; their should be at least that many answers to that question. Yes, I like a lot of colors....but when you are dealing with hundreds of different layers, what does it matter......I am only going to print in one. BLACK

[Currahee]

Like I said, I don't use it that way.

 

You might as well attach a parallel bar to the monitor.

 

Welcome to the board Chilidawg!!! Anyway we can help, let us know:beer:

[ReMark]

Obviously I wasn't asking you to use it "that way". Maybe you misunderstood.

[Chilidawg]

Don't be cranky. If you learned to use it that way and are comfortable with that set up, fine.

 

On the other hand, newcomers should not have to learn using an archaic setup.

 

As for me, I never was comforatable with the original setup. It never looked "right" to me.

[ReMark]

I'm not cranky I was merely stating a point of view much like yourself except I'm willing to let people choose their own option whereas you wish to dictate the option for all of us.

[nestly]

Did you view the poll results? Only 11% prefer a light background. As part of the minority, you of all people should appreciate having the choice... and I say this as part of the 11% myself.

[RobDraw]

Stating your opinions as facts and insults will get you into trouble someday. Luckily others here are more tolerant than I am. Personally, your future posts will be looked at very closely before I can accept anything you say as good advice.

[Currahee]

You know where all this "light background" came from dont you board? Its from that Google Sketcha thingy. " Thou that does not know, no better than thou knowest"

[BlackBox]

[backOnTopic]

 

I actually find that adding a layer of 'visual feedback' is quite useful during production.

 

 

 

At the risk of spoiling an upcoming project release ....

 

I coded a small application a couple of years ago, which allows me to select a color for each Model, Paper, and PViewport Active... What this does for me, is allow me to visually determine what space I am in, based on the color of my crosshairs (without the need to glance elsewhere on the screen to determine same).

 

 

 

I call this application XCOLOR... And am in the process of porting my Visual LISP code to .NET for both expediency (there's a +/-0.25 sec lag manipulating the COM PreferencesDisplay each time I change space; only noticeable on really slow machines, but still), and to make it more portable to others via Autodesk Exchange.

 

My XCOLOR Command, allows me to change the setting for each space's crosshair color, regardless of what space I am currently in:

 

 

 

 

... Meaning I can be in Model, and change the PViewport Active color, the next time I go there (PViewport Active), the color is programmatically changed accordingly:

 

 

 

 

 

I also built-in the ability to turn off this functionality mid-session, which would restore the user's original default COM DisplayPreferences setting:

 

 

 

 

 

The user's original default color is stored up front, and restored at session close, just in case the application is not loaded next time, etc..

 

This application accounts for both different tabs within the same drawing, as well as any drawing opened in the Editor at the time the user switches.

Edited June 24, 2013 by BlackBox
DisplayPreferences should have been PreferencesDisplay, link added.

[Currahee]

You know where all this "light background" came from dont you board? Its from that Google Sketcha thingy. " Thou that does not know, no better than thou knowest"

 

In other words...If you are playing Army as a child and if you are playing with a toy gun...how would you know how to operate a real gun?

[Currahee]

I actually find that adding a layer of 'visual feedback' is quite useful during production.

 

 

 

At the risk of spoiling an upcoming project release ....

 

I coded a small application a couple of years ago, which allows me to select a color for each Model, Paper, and PViewport Active... What this does for me, is allow me to visually determine what space I am in, based on the color of my crosshairs (without the need to glance elsewhere on the screen to determine same).

 

 

 

I call this application XCOLOR... And am in the process of porting my Visual LISP code to .NET for both expediency (there's a +/-0.25 sec lag manipulating the COM DisplayPreferences each time I change space), and to make it more portable to others via Autodesk Exchange.

 

My XCOLOR Command, allows me to change the setting for each space's color, regardless of what space I am currently in:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42600[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

... Meaning I can be in Model, and change the PViewport Active color, the next time I go there (PViewport Active), the color is programmatically changed accordingly:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42601[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42602[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

I also built-in the ability to turn off this functionality mid-session, which would restore the user's original default COM DisplayPreferences setting:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42603[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42604[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

The user's original default color is stored up front, and restored at session close, just in case the application is not loaded next time, etc..

 

This application accounts for both different tabs within the same drawing, as well as any drawing opened in the Editor at the time the user switches.

 

Thats old technology

[BlackBox]

I actually find that adding a layer of 'visual feedback' is quite useful during production.

 

Ohh! Forgot to mention, that this custom 'visual feedback' can be applied to any aspect of AutoCAD that the user can colorize... Background color, etc., say you wanted your crosshairs to remain static.

 

Cheers

[BlackBox]

Thats old technology

 

Sorry, the link to your reference didn't come through?