Appearance Properties

Description

View or edit the appearance attributes of selected points, lines, alignments, polygons, tables, blocks, shapes, text, images and terrain models.

Access

Home / Tools / Attributes or
Home / Layers / New Layer or Edit Layer or Clone Layer

Requirements

A selected object if viewing or editing the appearance in the Attributes tool window.

Point Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the colour.
Plan Symbol	Select the symbol.
Weight	The weight of the point symbol's linework in mm. Note: In the model view, the symbol's line weight is scaled using the Plan Unit Scale. In a CAD Drawing, the symbols line weight is drawn at the specified Weight. In a viewport the line weight is scaled using the viewports Plan Unit Scale and then displayed using the View Scale.
Rotation	Type the rotation of the symbol. A zero rotation displays the symbol as it is displayed in the library.
Width	Type the symbols Width (x dimension if the Rotation is 0).
Length	Type the symbols length (y dimension if the Rotation is 0).
Units	Select one of the following: Ground - Real world size. Type the width and length in the project units. Plan - Plan size. Type the width and length of the symbol on the plan in mm or inches (depending on the project units). Note: If you select Plan, when symbols are drawn in the model view, the size is scaled using the Plan Unit Scale. In a CAD Drawing, the symbol is drawn at the Plan size. In a viewport the symbol is drawn using the viewports Plan Unit Scale. If you select Ground, the symbol is drawn at the ground distance size in the CAD Drawing and the model view.
Orientate To Drawing	If you have configured the symbol Units to Plan and you are displaying the symbol through a viewport in a drawing and rotating the viewport objects, do one of the following: Select the checkbox to apply the symbol rotation from the top of the drawing page. Clear the checkbox to apply the symbol Rotation to the orientation of the symbol as displayed in the library.

Line Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the line colour.
Line Style	Select the line style.
Line Style Scale	Type the scale factor of the line style (e.g. a scale of 2 doubles the library pattern size).
Continuous	Do one of the following: Select the checkbox to continue the line style pattern through the vertices. Clear the checkbox to restart the pattern at each vertex. Note: Non continuous draws the line style with an even amount of the pattern at the beginning and end of each segment.
Reverse Line Style	Reverse the direction of the line style. Use this setting to: change the direction of arrows on a linestyle. change the side that line style detail (e.g. hatching), is displayed on.
Weight	The weight of the line in mm. Note: This setting is compatible with AutoCAD weight. Width is used in preference to weight if Width is non zero. In the model view, the line weight is scaled using the Plan Unit Scale. In a CAD Drawing, the line weight is drawn at the specified Weight. In a viewport the line weight is scaled using the viewports Plan Unit Scale and then displayed using the View Scale
Width	The width of the line. Use Width in preference to Weight to ensure a line is shown at its real world width regardless of the viewing or plotting scale.

Polygon Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Fill Colour	Select the polygon fill colour.
Edge Colour	Select the polygon edge colour.
Fill	Select the polygon fill pattern.
Fill Scale	Type the scale of the polygon fill pattern (Type 1 for normal spacing).

Block Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the block colour. Note: This colour is only used if the original objects in the block definition have their colour set to By Block.
Visibility	The blocks visibility is determined from its layer. In addition, you can control the visibility of objects in the block. Select one of the following: By Block Layer - Control the visibility of objects in the block by the blocks layer. By Object Layer - Control the visibility of objects in the block using the layers of the original objects used to define the block. Note: A blocks layer could be visible but have the visibility of all its objects turned off. If a blocks layer is not visible then objects within the block will not be displayed regardless of the visibility setting. If one or more of the objects in the block is another block then the Visibility setting of the nested blocks objects is also considered. See the example in Create Blocks
Line Style	Select the line style. Note: This line style is only used if the original objects in the block definition have their line style set to By Block.
Weight	Select the weight of linework for lines and point symbols in a block. Note: This weight is only used if the original objects in the block definition have their weight set to By Block.
Rotation	Type the rotation of the block around the Z-axis of the blocks internal coordinate system.
Scale Uniformly	Do one of the following: Select the checkbox to apply the same scale in the X, Y and Z direction. Clear the checkbox to apply different scales in the X, Y and Z direction.
Scale X	Type the scale in the X direction of the blocks internal coordinate system.
Scale Y	Type the scale in the Y direction of the blocks internal coordinate system. Note: This control is disabled if the Scale Uniformly checkbox is selected.
Scale Z	Type the scale in the Z direction of the blocks internal coordinate system. Note: This control is disabled if the Scale Uniformly checkbox is selected.
Orientate To Drawing	If you are displaying the block through a viewport in a drawing and applying a rotation to the viewport objects , do one of the following: Select the checkbox to apply the block Rotation from the top of the drawing page in the x-y plane. Clear the checkbox to apply the block Rotation from the viewports North direction in the x-y plane. Note: Only the Orientate To Drawing configuration on the block object impacts the orientation of the block. Settings on objects in the block do not impact the orientation of the block in the viewport.

Shape Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Face Colour	Select the shape face colour.
Edge Colour	Select the shape edge colour.

Text Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the text colour.
Font	Select the text font.
Bold	Select the checkbox to make the text bold.
Italic	Select the checkbox to make the text italic.
StrikeThrough	Select the checkbox to display a single line strikethrough with the text.
Backward	Select the checkbox to mirror the text around the x axis.
Underline	Select a line style to underline the text at the descender height.
Size	Type the height of the text characters.
Units	Select one of the following: Ground - Type the Size of the text in real world size in the current project units. Plan - Type the Size of the text as it appears on the plan, in mm or inches depending on the project units. In the model view the text size is scaled using the Plan Unit Scale.
Alignment	Select the Text Alignment
Line Spacing	Type the spacing between lines of text. (Set 1 for normal spacing).
Character Spacing	Scale the spacing between the characters without increasing the character width. Type 1 for no scaling.
Width Factor	Scale the text horizontally, increasing the character width and the space between the characters. Type 1 for no scaling.
Background	Select one of the following: On - Display a text background. Off - Do not display a text background. By Project Background - Display a text background using the project background colour. By Layer - Refer to the layer settings to determine if the text background is displayed. If By Layer is selected and the layer Background setting is set to On, the colour and size of the text background is determined by the Background Colour, Background Height Factor and Background Width Factor set in the text style. If a style has not been selected for the text, then the colour and size of the text background is determined by the Background Colour, Background Height Factor and Background Width Factor set for the layer.
Background Colour	Select the colour to use as a background to the text when text background is displayed. If Background is set to By Project Background then the project background colour controls the text background colour.
Background Height Factor	Type a value between 1 and 20 to be applied to the font size. This will control the height of the rectangle encompassing the text object. A value of 1 results in a rectangle height that just encompasses the text object. A value of 1.1 adds 10% of the font height to the height of the background rectangle (5% above the text and 5% below).
Background Width Factor	Type a value between 1 and 20 to be applied to the font size. This will control the width of the rectangle encompassing the text object. A value of 1 results in a rectangle width that just encompasses the text object. A value of 1.1 adds 10% of the font height to the width of the background rectangle (5% to the left of the text and 5% to the right).
Orientate To Drawing	If you have configured the text Units to Plan and you are displaying the text through a viewport in a drawing, do one of the following: Select the checkbox to apply the text rotation from the top of the drawing page. Clear the checkbox to apply the text Rotation from the North direction in the viewport. Note: Text is rotated around the vertex of the text. If you create text when a 2D user coordinate system is applied the initial rotation computed for the text is relative to the user coordinate system. If you then orientate the viewport to be the same as the orientation of the user coordinate system your text will already be orientated to the drawing and you should leave this checkbox clear.

Image Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Alignment	Select the insertion point for the Image. Image alignment follows the same rules as the Text Alignment topic.
Rotation	Type the rotation of the Image (measured clockwise).
Width	Type the image planimetric width (x dimension of the image).
Length	Type the image planimetric length (y dimension of the image).
Units	Select one of the following: Ground - Real world size Plan - Size is scaled to plot at the entered width and length in mm or inches at the plan unit scale.

Terrain Model Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Face Colour	Select the colour of the triangular faces.
Edge Colour	Select the colour of the triangle edges.
Contour Colour	Select the colour of the displayed contours.
Texture	When terrain model faces are displayed, select one of the following: Automatic - Apply a texture to the triangular faces in the 3D view using the visible background image with the most coverage. Terrain model faces not covered by the image will be transparent. If there is not an image that at least partially covers the terrain model, the terrain model face colour is used. Face Colour - Display triangular faces in the face colour specified for the model. *Background Image* - Apply a texture to the triangular faces using a specified georeferenced image.

Viewport Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the line colour.
Line Style	Select the line style.
Line Style Scale	Type the scale factor for the line style (e.g. a scale of 2 doubles the library pattern size). Note: The library pattern size is in millimetres.
Continuous	Do one of the following: Select the checkbox to continue the line style pattern through vertices. Clear the checkbox to restart the pattern at each vertex. Note: For continuous, the line style pattern begins at the bottom left vertex of a rectangle or free form viewport. Non continuous draws the line style with an even amount of the pattern at the beginning and end of each segment.
Reverse Line Style	Reverse the direction of the line style. Use this setting to: change the direction of arrows on a linestyle. change the side, line style detail (e.g. hatching), is displayed on.
Weight	The weight of the line in mm.

Alignment Appearance Controls

Control	Description
Colour	Select the alignment colour.
Line Style	Select the line style.
Line Style Scale	Type the scale factor of the line style (e.g. a scale of 2 doubles the library pattern size).
Continuous	Do one of the following: Select the checkbox to continue the line style pattern through the vertices. Clear the checkbox to restart the pattern at each vertex. Note: Non continuous draws the line style with an even amount of the pattern at the beginning and end of each segment.
Reverse Line Style	Reverse the direction of the line style. Use this setting to: change the direction of arrows on a linestyle. change the side that line style detail (e.g. hatching), is displayed on.
Weight	The weight of the line in mm. Note: This setting is compatible with AutoCAD weight. Width is used in preference to weight if Width is non zero. In the model view, the line weight is scaled using the Plan Unit Scale. In a CAD drawing, the line weight is drawn at the specified Weight. In a viewport the line weight is scaled using the viewports Plan Unit Scale and then displayed using the View Scale
Width	The width of the line. Use Width in preference to Weight to ensure a line is shown at its real world width regardless of the viewing or plotting scale.

Notes

Configure dimension units in Tools Options.
Dimension Attributes take precedence over appearance dimensions.
Select By Layer for an object to inherit the layers current setting for the object type.
Select By Block to inherit the block layers current setting for block object types.
Select By Background to display a polygon using the background colour. Use this with the Colour Inversion setting to hide objects in the drawing.
You can control the transparency of polygons, shapes, blocks and terrain model faces in the Display settings of the Options tool.
Objects in the model view are automatically inverted if the colour is the same as the background.
If you export text with character spacing to DWG, you can view the text spacing in the 2dWireframe view.