Preferences

The application preferences are accessed through the Preferences command from the VectorStyler menu.

When opened, the Preferences view is restored to the previously used section.

Preference settings can be saved and restored from files, using the Preferences field. Files saved to the Preference Folders (in Folders section) are listed in the Preferences field automatically.

The left side of the view contains the list of preference sections. The various application settings are organized into preference sections.

Interface settings

• UI Style - Select the user interface style (or theme). Currently this can be Dark or Light.
• Interaction Indicators - Select an indicator type used in an interactive editor to customize its appearance.
• Indicator Outline - Select the current indicator outline color, width and opacity. The current indicator is selected in the Interaction Indicators field.
• Indicator Fill - Select the current indicator fill color and opacity.
• Interface Font - Select the font used in the user interface.
• Text Size Scale - Adjust the size of text in the user interface.
• Interface Scaling - Uniformly scale the user interface appearance, for better accessibility.
• Editor Node Scaling - Uniformly scale all nodes shown in interactive editors, for better accessibility.
• Cursor Scaling - Adjust the cursor size scaling factor.
• Context Menu - Select the size of fonts used in context menus.
• Font Family Menu - Select the size of fonts used when displaying the list of font families in the menu.
• Panel Menu - Select the size of fonts used in panel menus.
• Dropbox Menu - Select the size of fonts used in drop box fields.
• Tooltip Delay - Adjust the delay of showing tooltips when hovering over UI elements.
• Frame Persistence - Check to remember position and size of panels and dialogs.
• Calibrated Colors in UI - Check to calibrate colors in the user interface.

Document View settings

• Document Background - Select the background color used in the document view.
• Navigator Background - Select the background color used in the document navigator panel.
• Style Preview - Set the default style preview size used in menus.
• Large Canvas - Set the size of large canvases.
• Large Margin - Set the margin of large canvases.
• Minimum Artboard - Set the size of the smallest artboard.
• Minimum Slice - Set the size of the smallest export slice.
• Linked Update Time - Time interval in seconds, used to check linked documents for changes.
• Update Linked Documents - Enable or disable the automatic updating of linked documents.
• Revert on Focus - Enable or disable the automatic reverting of the document from a changed file.
• Show Document Ruler - Enable or disable the document ruler.

Document Editor settings

• Recent Documents - Set number of recent documents shown in the menu.
• Double Click - Select the action to be taken when double clicking on the selected objects.
• Status Info - Select the type of information shown in the status bar.
• Status Timer - Set the update delay of the status bar.
• Modified Document - Edit the name suffix added to modified document view titles.
• Zooming Speed - Adjust the speed of zooming when using the mouse scroll wheel.
• Panning Speed - Adjust the speed of panning when using the mouse scroll wheel.
• Smooth Zooming - Check to enable smooth zooming of the document view. When unchecked, the document view is zoomed in discrete steps.
• Smooth Panning - Check to enable smooth panning of the document view. When unchecked, the document view is panned in discrete steps.
• Scrolling Zooms Out - Check to zoom out when scrolling down with the mouse wheel (and holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows). Otherwise scrolling down zooms in.
• Mouse Wheel Zooms - Check to enable zooming directly with the mouse wheel without holding a modifier key.
• Area Zoom Mode - Check to enable area zoom mode in the zoom tool.
• Rotate View with Trackpad - Check to allow the rotation of document view using trackpad gestures.
• Opacity Editing Keys - Check to enable the setting of opacity in the main document view when typing numbers.
• Preview Shape Combine - Check to preview the shape combination operations when hovering over the buttons in the tool bar.
• Cursor Centered Zoom - Check to center the zoom at the cursor position.
• Double Click with Tablet - Check to allow tablet double click in editors.
• Keep Selection Mode - Enable or disable the persistence of the transform tool selection mode.
• Select Text on Path Anchor - Enable or disable the selection of the anchor path, when a text on path is selected.
• Shape Text on Frame Dragging - Check to create a text shape when drawing a frame with the text tool. When enabled, use the modifier key to draw frames. When disabled, use the modifier key to draw text shape.
• Context Menu on Mouse Release - Check to open the context menu when the mouse button is released.

Document Files settings

• Document Format - Select the default format used when saving new documents.
• New Template - Select the default template used when creating new documents.
• Backup Place - Select a backup folder for document backup files.
• Backup Time - Set the backup time interval, for automatic document backups.
• Saving Time - Set the saving time interval, used for automatic document saving.
• Lorem Text - Select a file containing initial text content for text frames.
• Create text with Lorem - Enable or disable the use of initial text content. When disabled, text frames are created empty.
• Automatic Save - Enable or disable the automatic saving of edited documents.
• Automatic Backup - Enable or disable the automatic backing up of edited documents.
• Backup in the Same Folder - Create automatic document backups in the same folder as the document file.
• Reopen Documents at Start - Enable or disable the reopening of documents after launching the application.
• New Document at Startup - Enable or disable the creation of a new document after launching the application.
• Incremental Save in Folder - Enable or disable the creation of a separate folder using the file name, when saving incremental versions of the document.
• Store Display Options - Enable or disable the storing of display options in the document file.
• Import Adobe Illustrator - Enable or disable the importing of native Adobe Illustrator files. When disabled, the PDF stream of the AI file is imported.
• Import AI Data from EPS - Enable or disable the importing of native Adobe Illustrator data from EPS files, when available.
• Import AI Data from PDF - Enable or disable the importing of native Adobe Illustrator data from PDF files, when available.
• Import Replaces Fonts - Enable or disable font substitutions while importing vector graphics files.
• Import Text Positions - Enable or disable the precise recovery of text positions when importing PDF files.

Document Display settings

• Selected Guideline Color - Select the color used for selected guidelines.
• Default Guideline Color - Select the default color for guidelines.
• Default Grid Color - Select the default color for grids.
• Default Slice Color - Select the default color for export slices.
• Small Text Color - Select the color used to display small text.
• Limit Corners - Limit corner rounding below the specified angle at segment nodes.
• Minimum Zoom - Set the smallest zoom level.
• Maximum Zoom - Set the largest zoom level.
• Linked Preview Size - Set the size of previews used to display linked content, in the Links panel.
• Image Preview Size - Set the size of previews used to display image content, in the Links panel.

Text Display settings

• Missing Font - Select the font used to indicate missing fonts in text flows.
• Missing Font Color - Select the color used to indicate missing fonts in text flows.
• Missing Font Opacity - Select the opacity used to indicate missing fonts in text flows.
• Baseline Color - Select the color used to indicate the baseline positions in a text frame.
• Baseline Width - Select the line width used to indicate the baseline positions in a text frame.
• Text Cursor Timer - Select the time interval for the text cursor blinking in text editors.
• Preview Fonts in Menu - Enable or disable the previewing of font families in the main menu.
• Frame Links in Transform Tool - Enable or disable the linking of text frames in the transform tool.

Performance settings

• Compute Engine - Select the compute engine used to program the GPU for image effects.

• Document Display Mode - Select the document displaying mode.

• Rendering Threads - Enable or disable a limit on the number of CPU threads used when displaying documents.

• Document Threads - Enable or disable a limit on the number of CPU threads used when processing documents.

• Image Threads - Enable or disable a limit on the number of CPU threads used when processing images.

• GPU for Distortion - Enable or disable the use of GPU for image distortion effects.

• GPU for Mesh - Enable or disable the use of GPU for mesh distortion effects.

• Direct Preview of Changes - Enable or disable the direct preview of changes made in the document.

• Hovering Selection - Enable or disable the display of a possible object selection, when hovering over objects.

• Background Printing - Enable or disable printing in a background process.

• Automatic Scrolling - Enable or disable automatic scrolling of the document, when dragging the mouse.

• Show Position in Ruler - Enable or disable cursor position and selection size indicators in the ruler.

• Paste Adobe Illustrator - Enable or disable the pasting of native Adobe Illustrator content from the clipboard.

• Copy as Objects - Enable or disable the copying of VectorStyler specific content to the clipboard.

• Copy as PDF - Enable or disable the copying content to the clipboard in PDF format.

• Copy as SVG - Enable or disable the copying content to the clipboard in SVG format.

• Copy as PNG - Enable or disable the copying content to the clipboard in PNG format.

• Copy as TIFF - Enable or disable the copying content to the clipboard in TIFF format.

Editing Options

• Control Handle Mode - Select how to display path node control handles.
• Guideline Constraint - Select the rotation angle constraint used when restricting guideline rotations.
• Angle Constraint - Select the rotation angle constraint used when restricting object rotation by holding the Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) key.
• Scaling Constraint - Select the scaling constraint used when restricting object scaling by holding the Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) key.
• Show Transform Outline - Set the maximum complexity of shapes shown as individual outlines when moving, scaling or rotating objects.
• Snapping Gap - Set the snapping tolerance in screen points.
• Intersecting Selection - Enable or disable the use of intersecting section mode. When enabled, objects intersecting the marque are selected. When disabled, the objects inside the marque are selected.
• Shape by Outline - Enable or disable the selection of shapes by clicking on their outline.
• Show Editor Popups - Enable or disable the display of information related to the current editing operation.
• Show Interior Controls - Enable or disable the showing of curve node handles, when an interior point of a curve is selected.
• Referencing Shape Picker - Enable or disable the creation of shape references (links between object shapes) in the shape picker tool.
• Pick Shape Effects - Enable or disable the picking of shape effects along with shapes, in the shape picker tool.
• Show Nodes of Selected Shapes - Enable or disable the display of anchor points of the selected shapes while using various transform tools.
• Show Nodes of Selected Shapes - Show the nodes of selected shapes while using the transform tools.
• Show Nodes when Hovering - Show the nodes of shapes while hovering over the shape with the selection tool.
• Magic Wand Selects Siblings - Enable or disable the limiting of selection to sibling objects only (same group or layer), when using the magic wand tool.
• Single Corner Adjustment - Check to adjust single corners by default, using the Option (Alt) key or selection to adjust all corners.
• Edit Corners in Transform Tool - Enable or disable the use of corner editing with the Transform tool.
• Transform in Text Editor - Enable the transform tool while in the text editor.
• Edit Corners in Node Tool - Enable or disable the use of corner editing with the Node tool.
• Select Nodes from All Objects - Check to select nodes from any editable object.
• Common Snapping Options - Enable or disable the use of common global snapping options. When disabled, each document may contain different snapping options.
• Adjust Node Removal Curvature - Check to approximate the original shape with a single segment, when removing nodes from a path.

Changing Options

• Pencil Smoothness - Set the smoothness used in the pencil tool.

• Expand Stroke - Set the precision used when expanding strokes into filled shapes.

• Undo/Redo Info Timeout - Set the amount of time used to show the last undo or redo type.

• Merge Shape Effect Undo - Merge multiple shape effect changes undo a single undo step, using the selected gap in seconds.

• Merge Image Effect Undo - Merge multiple image effect changes undo a single undo step, using the selected gap in seconds.

• Display Undo/Redo Info - Enable or disable the displaying of undo and redo information.

• Don’t Extend with Pencil - Enable or disable the extension of existing paths with the pencil tool.

• Simplified New Mesh Sides - Check to create new mesh sides using single curve segments.

• Show Segment in Pen Tool - Check to show next segment while hovering with the pen tool.

• Filled Shapes with Pen Tool - Check to allow filled shapes when drawing with the pen tool.

• Outlined New Objects - Check to create new objects with a thin outline and no fill. If not checked, new objects are created with a solid fill and no outline.

• Opacity in New Objects - Check to select the last selected opacity when creating new objects.

• Drop Fonts on Selection - Enable or disable the selection of font files as fonts, when dragged and dropped over a text object in the document.

• Even-Odd Winding Rule Mode - Check to use even-odd winding rule by default for new shapes.

• Expand Group Styles - Check to copy group object level styles (fill and outline) to constituent objects, when ungrouping.

• Expand Group Opacity - Check to copy group level opacity and transparency options to constituent objects, when ungrouping.

• Adjusted Transform Center - Check to enable the editing of object transform center. When unchecked, objects are transformed around the center of their bounding box.

• Proportional Object Scaling - Check to scale objects proportionally by default.

• Proportional Text Scaling - Check to scale text shapes proportionally by default.

• Proportional Image Scaling - Check to scale images proportionally by default.

• Proportional Content Scaling - Check to scale linked content proportionally by default.

• Adjusted Transform Center - Check to enable the editing of object transform center. When unchecked, objects are transformed around the center of their bounding box.

• Remove Empty Stroke - Check to remove stroke content if its color (or paint) is set to be empty.

• Paste Keeps Position - Check to keep the object position when pasting in the same document and artboard.

Adjustment Options

• Selection Box - Select the style of frame used in the transform tool.
• Duplicate Mode - Select the default duplication mode.
• Duplicate Offset - Select the offset used when duplicating objects.
• Stroke Width Change - Edit the amount of change of the stroke width, when using the stroke width nudging commands.
• Move by Keyboard - Set the amount of movement of objects by keyboard nudging, by pressing the Arrow keys.
• Scale by Keyboard - Set the amount of scaling of objects by keyboard nudging, by holding Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) and pressing the Arrow keys.
• Rotate by Keyboard - Set the amount of rotating of objects by keyboard nudging, by holding Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) and pressing the Arrow keys.
• Font Size Change - Set the amount of change, when increasing or decreasing font sizes.
• Text Leading Change - Set the amount of change, when increasing or decreasing the text leading.
• Baseline Change - Set the amount of change, when increasing or decreasing the text baseline.
• Tracking Change - Set the amount of change, when increasing or decreasing the character tracking.
• Shared Brush Options - Enable or disable the sharing of brush options in distortion brushes.
• Update Brush Tool Width - Enable or disable the use of current width value from the brush panel as a brush tool width.

Number Editors settings

• Stroke Units - Select the default units used in stroke width editing.
• Font Size Units - Select the default units used in font size editing.
• Point Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Points.
• Inch Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Inches.
• Millimeter Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Millimeters.
• Centimeter Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Centimeters.
• Pica Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Picas.
• Feet Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Feet.
• Yard Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Yards.
• Meter Decimals - Set the number of decimals shown for values in Meters.
• Limit Precision - Check to limit the precision in number editors to the selected number of decimals.
• Paste Replaces Number - Check to replace the whole number when pasting text into the number editor fields.

Artboards settings

• Artboard Label - Select the font used to display the artboard label.
• Slice Label - Select the font used to display the slice label.
• Artboard Margin - Select the color indicating the artboard margins.
• Artboard Shade - Select the shade color of artboards.
• Artboard Frame - Select the color of the artboard frame.
• Artboard Margin Width - Select the line width indicating the artboard margins.
• Artboard Margin Opacity - Select the opacity indicating the artboard margins.
• Artboard Shade Offset - Select the offset of the artboard shade.
• Artboard Shade Opacity - Select the opacity of the artboard shade.
• Artboard Frame Width - Select the width of the artboard frame.

Panels settings

• Color Spectrum - Select the color spectrum type used in the color panel.
• Toolbox Size - Set the size of icons in the toolbox.
• Toolbox Lines - Set the number of rows in the toolbox.
• Recent Fonts - Set the maximum number of recent fonts, shown in the recent fonts collection.
• Recent Blends - Set the maximum number of recent blending modes.
• Overrides Limit - Set the maximum complexity of objects searched for styles, by the Override panel.
• History Members - Set the maximum depth of the undo/redo history menu.
• Ellipse Limit - Set the maximum number of bands in an ellipse shape.
• Dash Limit - Set the maximum number of dashes allowed in the dash editor.
• Stripe Limit - Set the maximum number of stripes allowed in the stripe editor.
• Show Hex Color - Enable or disable the Hex Color field in the color panel.
• Layer Panel Previews - Enable or disable the display of object previews in the Layers panel.
• Transparency Previews - Enable or disable the display of transparency mask previews in the Layers panel.

Direct Preview settings

• The direct preview settings are used to enable or disable the previewing of changes in interactive editors as the changes are made.
• Use the check boxes in the Direct Preview Mode to enable or disable direct preview in individual editors.

Size Amounts settings

• The Stroke Width, Brush Width and Font Size editors show a list of predefined sizes.
• Customize this list of sizes, by adding, removing or changing sizes.

Folders settings

• The Folders section contains collections of folders used to scan files for various features of VetorStyler.
• Select the type of the folders to edit in the Folder Mode list.
• Add a new folder by clicking on the Add Folder button.
• Remove the selected folder by clicking on the Remove Folder button.

Modifier Key settings

• The Modifier Keys list shows the list of modifier keys with the feature name. See Modifier Keys for a more detailed description.
• Assign a different modifier key to a feature by selecting the key from the drop down in the Key column.
• To restore the modifier keys to initial assignment, press the Restore Keys button
• By default, only a restricted subset of modifiers are show. Use the Show All check box to show all modifier keys.
• When all modifier keys are shown (with Show All checked), the Select column can be used to mark preferred modifiers that are available in the restricted list.

Indicator Shape settings

• The Indicator Shapes list shows the list of selection nodes and their associated indicator shapes.
• Assign a different indicator shape to a selection node by selecting the shape from the drop down in the Shape column.

Tolerance settings

• The Tolerance list contains pixel tolerance values used by various editors.
• Adjust an editor specific tolerance value to customize the behavior of that editor.

Preview Sizes settings

• The Preview Sizes list contains preview size used in various places in the user interface.
• The preview sizes are used to create images for previewing some visual attribute or style.
• Edit the values in the Width and Height columns to adjust the preview sizes in screen points.