Tool Palette Features

Both the standard tool palettes (Basic and Tool Sets) and any custom tool palettes have special features that other palettes do not. Tool palettes and their tool sets can be created and customized using the Workspace Editor (see Creating or Editing Workspaces).

Pop-out Tools

On tool palettes and sets, an arrow on the right side of a tool icon or label indicates additional, related pop-out tools. Click and hold down the mouse button to open the menu of pop-out tools.

popouttool.png 

Utility Menus

Each tool palette has a button at the bottom that opens a utility menu, which controls the palette and tool display.

Utilitymenu.png 

Menu / Command
Action

View Tools As

 

Icons

Display only an icon for each tool

Icons and Text

Display both an icon and a text label for each tool

Text

Display only a text label for each tool

Sort Tools By

 

Manual Placement

Display tools in the order appearing in the Workspace Editor

Ascending Alphabetical

Display tools in ascending alphabetical order according to text labels

Descending Alphabetical

Display tools in descending alphabetical order according to text labels

View Tool Sets As

(These options are available only for tool palettes with multiple tool sets)

Icons

Display only an icon for each tool set in the palette

Icons and Text

Display both an icon and a text label for each tool set in the palette

Text

Display only a text label for each tool set in the palette

Sort Tool Sets By

(These options are available only for tool palettes with multiple tool sets)

Manual Placement

Display tool sets in the order appearing in the Workspace Editor

Ascending Alphabetical

Display tool sets in ascending alphabetical order according to text labels

Descending Alphabetical

Display tool sets in descending alphabetical order according to text labels

Place Tool Sets At

(These options are available only for tool palettes with multiple tool sets)

Top of Palette

Display tool set selection buttons at the top of the tool palette

Bottom of Palette

Display tool set selection buttons at the bottom of the tool palette

Customize

Opens the Workspace Editor Options dialog box (see Creating or Editing Workspaces for details)

Tool Set Selection Buttons and Tear-off Palettes

If a tool palette has multiple tool sets (as does the Tool Sets palette), selection buttons for each tool set display on the palette. To display a tool set’s tools, click the appropriate button. The button is highlighted to indicate which tool set is active.

To see multiple tool sets at once, drag a tool set’s selection button off the main palette. This creates a separate, temporary palette for the tool set, with a “perforated” top edge. Like other palettes, these tear-off palettes can be docked, resized, and minimized. To close a tear-off palette, click its close button. On Windows, a docked tear-off palette does not have a perforated edge; instead, it has a special close button in the shape of a curved arrow.

tearoffpalette.png 

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Palette Layout Options

Docking Palettes

Vectorworks Workspaces

 

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