Controlling Sketch Entity and Annotation Colors in Drawings

I recently came across a case where a user inserted a drawing view, and started dimensioning the view.  Every dimension created was green, despite the dimensions not being assigned to any layer.

This article walks through options to control the color of sketch entities and annotations that already exist in a drawing, and set the base color options for sketch entities and annotations that have not yet been created.  

Changing color of existing sketch entities/annotations

To follow along with this article, enable the line format toolbar by right clicking in the command manager or standard toolbar and selecting line Line Format.

The line format toolbar has an option called Line Color, with a paintbrush icon.

If a sketch entity or annotation in a drawing is already selected when the Line Color option is clicked, the Edit Line Color menu will appear.

If the Default box is checked, the selected sketch entity or annotation will pull its color from the layer it is on, or the color specified in Tools>Options>System Options>Colors if it is not on a layer.  

If the Default box is unchecked, the selected sketch entity or annotation will pull its color from the selection in the basic colors or custom colors section of the menu.

Setting Color options for new sketch entities/annotations

If a sketch entity or annotation is not selected and the Line Color option is clicked, a similar menu appears with a different name.  This menu is titled Set Next Line Color.

The Set Next Line Color menu allows you to choose the base color settings for new sketch entities or annotations.  For example, if Default was checked in the Set Next Line Color menu, each sketch entity or annotation created after that would have the default option checked.  

In summary, the Edit Line Color menu allows us to modify color settings for existing sketch entities/annotations, while the Set Next Line Color menu allows us to choose the base color settings for sketch entities/annotations created from that point forward.  

If you have any questions after reading this article, please call Hawk Ridge Technical Support at US 877.266.4469 CAN 866.587.6803 and we will be happy to assist you further.